Mumbai: Dockyard Staff Arrested For Spying, Honeytrapped By Pakistani Agent

The Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) arrested a 31-year-old officer employed at Mumbai’s Mazagaon dockyard based on accusations of espionage after he was allegedly found leaking sensitive information to a Pakistan-based intelligence operative.

Identified as Kalpesh Baiker, the accused reportedly works as a structural fabricator at the Mazagaon dockyard. Baiker was honeytrapped and then forced to reveal critical information to the Pakistani operative, according to officials. The Pakistani female agent had connected with Baiker on social media, keeping in touch for months. As per the officials, the accused received money in exchange for the sensitive information he shared with the Pakistani agent.

A case has been registered against Baiker and the Pakistani intelligence operative (PIO). Currently under arrest, Baiker is being interrogated by the authorities for more information.

ATS was alerted after they received a tip-off about an Indian suspect who was sharing sensitive information with a Pakistani operative. Upon questioning the suspect, the man disclosed that he had been in touch with the Pakistani agent since November 2021 until May 2023. According to the ATS, the two would communicate through WhatsApp and Facebook.

While the details of the exact information that was allegedly leaked by the accused to the Pakistani intelligence operative have not been revealed, the authorities have stated that investigations are ongoing.

A similar incident took place last year in December when two Pakistani operatives, posing as women who were employed with a ship designing company, trapped a trainee civil apprentice at Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard to reveal confidential information to restricted areas. The ATS registered a case against the man, Gaurav Patil, and three others on December 12. The two operatives had befriended Patil through Facebook and later WhatsApp.