Udupi police makes third arrest in Navy ship spying case

The Udupi police on Sunday arrested Hirendra Kumar, 34, of Kailas Nagari in Anand Taluk of Gujarat, in connection with a case of sharing unauthorised information on Indian Navy ships being built at Udupi Cochin Shipyard and Cochin Shipyard Ltd.’s Kochi Shipyard and information related to ships with some people in Pakistan.

In a statement, the police said Kumar had obtained a mobile SIM card in his name and gave it for use by the two accused arrested in the same case earlier in exchange for money. The accused had used this mobile phone to transfer sensitive information of Indian Navy ships with people in Pakistan.

On the complaint by the CEO, Udupi Cochin Shipyard, on November 19, the Malpe police had arrested Rohit, 29, and Santri, 37, both from Sultanpur District in Uttar Pradesh. The two worked for Shushma Marine Private Ltd., a subcontractor of Udupi Cochin Shipyard in Malpe. They were accused of unauthorised sharing of information to Pakistani people, through WhatsApp, the confidential list of numbers of ships related to the Indian Navy, along with other sensitive information, and obtaining illegal financial gain.

Apart from Section 152 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, the accused were booked under Sections 17 and 18 of the Unauthorised Activities (Prevention) Act. A team led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Harsha Priyamvada is continuing with the investigation, said Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar.