Indian Navy Bans Use of Social Media by Personnel, Arrests 7 for 'Espionage'

New Delhi, December 30, 2019:

The Indian Navy has issued orders to ban the use of social media by its personnel with the view to curb cyber snooping and beefing up surveillance in the security department.

The development was reported to post an espionage racket that was busted on December 20. It was reported that the racket had alleged links to Pakistan, that was operating through Facebook.

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Further, the Navy order bans the use of smartphones within the area of all bases, and on ships and dockyards, apart from the use of social media websites and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp.

The restriction has been imposed to avoid navy personnel from becoming the target of honey traps run by spies on the social network, and in the process, compromising on sensitive information pertaining to national security.

An operation has been launched by the Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Department in association with Central Intelligence Agencies and Naval Intelligence, during which seven Navy personnel and a hawala operator from Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai were arrested respectively. It was alleged that they passed on sensitive information like locations of naval ships and submarines to a Pakistani handler.

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According to reports, the seven arrested sailors were recruited in 2017 and had fallen prey to a honey trap on Facebook in September 2018. Lured on the pretext of an online relationship, the sailors were also blackmailed later to reveal the positions and movement of our warships and submarines. The sailors were also paid money every month through the hawala operator.

The police arrested three Indian Navy sailors from Visakhapatnam, two from Mumbai naval base, and two from Karwar naval base.

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