A particular NIA court docket in Visakhapatnam has handed down jail sentences to 2 key operatives linked to a overseas espionage community within the high-profile naval spying case. They’ve been given jail phrases of 5 and a half and 6 years, marking one other important improvement within the ongoing investigation.
With this verdict, the variety of convictions within the case has risen to 4, additional exposing how a well-coordinated racket managed to leak delicate data from essential Indian Navy bases.
These convicted are Mohammad Haroon Haji Abdul Rehman Lakdawala from Mumbai, who has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years of straightforward imprisonment, and Imran Yakub Giteli from Godhra, Gujarat, who has acquired six years of straightforward imprisonment. Each had been discovered responsible below Sections 17 and 18 of the Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act (UAPA), underscoring the intense nationwide safety implications of their actions.
NIA Particular Court docket Sentences 2 extra Accused in Visakhapatnam Navy Spying Case pic.twitter.com/kZEYpz4nci
— NIA India (@NIA_India) October 17, 2025
The NIA took over the probe in December 2019, uncovering what investigators described as a large-scale espionage module allegedly backed by Pakistani intelligence handlers. Thus far, 15 folks have been arrested in reference to the case, together with 11 Indian Navy personnel, pointing to deep infiltration makes an attempt throughout a number of naval stations not solely in Visakhapatnam but additionally in Karwar and Kochi.
In accordance with the NIA’s investigation, this was not only a random try at espionage however a fastidiously structured community created to extract and leak categorised particulars about Indian Navy ships, submarines, and their operational actions.
The racket relied closely on honey-trapping and unlawful cash channels to lure and preserve contacts.
Investigators discovered that the handlers, believed to be primarily based in Pakistan, created pretend identities on social media to succeed in out to people linked to naval and defence institutions. Utilizing misleading interactions, usually below the guise of friendship or romance, they regularly drew the targets into sharing data.
As soon as these people had been compromised, they had been directed to go on delicate inputs by apps like WhatsApp, holding the move of intelligence regular and discreet.
The monetary path uncovered one other layer of the operation. Lakdawala and Giteli, now convicted, had been discovered to be in common contact with Pakistani handlers and performed an important function in shifting funds throughout borders. With household connections in Pakistan and frequent visits there, they reportedly engaged in unauthorised cross-border commerce involving clothes and different items.
The income generated by this unlawful enterprise was used to pay naval personnel and civilian informants in alternate for categorised data, serving to preserve the espionage community energetic and well-funded.