Amaravati, Oct 15 Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged espionage conspiracy involving Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIO), police said on Thursday.
The arrested were identified as Bongu Ravi and Kadari Srinivas.
“The Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence Cell has apprehended two additional persons in the espionage case involving PIOs, bringing the total number of arrests to four,” an intelligence official told PTI.
The investigation revealed that an unidentified woman using the name “Angel Payal” allegedly contacted Ravi, an employee of a engineering company at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam, through Facebook in 2023, claiming to work for a Dubai-based shipping firm.
She allegedly induced Ravi to share details about ships and submarines at the naval dockyard in exchange for money. Ravi and Srinivas, his colleague, allegedly colluded and shared information about the number of ships and submarines at the restricted defence establishment with the woman, the official added.
Ravi allegedly received money from the woman into his bank account and subsequently paid a share to Srinivas, the investigation revealed.
The case was registered at Malkapuram Police Station in Visakhapatnam on October 12, 2025, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
Ravi was arrested and remanded to judicial custody, while a Look Out Circular (LOC) was initiated against Srinivas who had left India for Saudi Arabia on October 11, 2025.
The Andhra Pradesh Counter Intelligence Cell, in coordination with central intelligence agencies, traced Srinivas, who was intercepted at the Delhi airport on October 11, 2026, while returning from Saudi Arabia. He was brought to Malkapuram Police Station for examination, the official said.
A charge sheet had earlier been filed against Ravi, the unidentified woman and Srinivas before the jurisdictional court, while further investigation is underway.
On October 6, the Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence Cell arrested two persons, including a naval staffer for allegedly spying for Pakistan. Out of the 18 suspects in the case, 13 are naval personnel.
The investigation involves suspected attempts to obtain sensitive defence information through fake social media identities, honeytrapping, monetary inducements and WhatsApp activation OTPs.
(PTI News)
