New Delhi, Jun 26: A clerk working at the Indian Navy's headquarters in New Delhi has been arrested on charges of espionage, accused of leaking sensitive military information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), including during the recently concluded Operation Sindoor, according to media reports.

The accused, identified as Vishal Yadav, a resident of Haryana, was nabbed by the Intelligence Wing of the Rajasthan Police.

Authorities say Yadav had been spying for the ISI for an extended period and had shared confidential information about the Navy and other defence units through his mobile phone, reports NDTV.

According to senior police officer Vishnukant Gupta, the CID Intelligence Unit of Rajasthan had been closely monitoring espionage activities by Pakistani intelligence operatives when Yadav came under scrutiny. Surveillance revealed that he was in constant contact with a female ISI handler, operating under the alias Priya Sharma, via social media platforms.

Gupta stated that the handler lured Yadav into a honeytrap and paid him to extract strategic and confidential defence information.

Investigators also discovered that Yadav, who was addicted to online gaming, had fallen into debt and began sharing information in exchange for money to cover his losses.

Payments were made to him through a cryptocurrency trading account as well as direct transfers to his bank accounts, officials said.

Yadav is currently being interrogated at the Central Interrogation Center in Jaipur by a joint team of intelligence agencies.

Investigators are working to ascertain the full extent of the security breach, including how much sensitive information was leaked and whether any others are linked to the spy network.

The nationwide crackdown on suspected Pakistani espionage networks has intensified following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists.

In the past few weeks, several people, including Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, have been detained in various parts of India for purportedly having connections with Pakistani intelligence agents via social media and other communication methods.

(IANS)

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