Indian Navy Sailor Arrested in Coimbatore for Allegedly Spying for Pakistani Operative
A 31-year-old Indian Navy sailor has been arrested in Coimbatore after Andhra Pradesh Police investigators alleged that he shared sensitive information about the Visakhapatnam naval base with a woman described as a Pakistani intelligence operative who had contacted him on social media.
The sailor, identified as Pradeep Mukherjee, was taken into custody by the Counter Intelligence (CI) Cell of the Andhra Pradesh Police on the morning of 3 October 2026 at INS Agrani in Red Fields, Coimbatore. Mukherjee, originally from West Bengal, was attending a Management Development Course at the naval leadership training establishment and had arrived there around a week earlier. Local police were formally informed after the arrest.
Mukherjee joined the Indian Navy as a sailor in 2014 and was posted under the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam. According to official sources cited by The Times of India, the alleged espionage trail began a few months ago when a woman on social media made contact with him, gradually developed a relationship, and is said to have extracted information related to strategic naval assets, fleet movements and operational arrangements tied to the Visakhapatnam base. Investigators have described the alleged contact as an online honeytrap.
The CI Cell, which deals with counter-espionage and other high-security cases, placed Mukherjee under surveillance after noticing suspicious digital activity. Once investigators believed they had established his alleged role in transmitting classified material, they sought clearance from naval authorities before moving in to arrest him. A specialised team then reached INS Agrani on Saturday morning and took him into custody.
He was later produced before a local magistrate for a transit warrant and was moved the same evening to the Counter Intelligence headquarters in Vijayawada for further interrogation. The investigation is now looking into the nature and extent of the material allegedly compromised, and whether any money was transferred to him through hawala or digital payment channels.
No official statement from the Indian Navy or the Andhra Pradesh Police has been made public so far. The matter remains under investigation, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
