Bengaluru: The central intelligence agencies have arrested an Indian national, a Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) staffer, for spying for Pakistan in Bengaluru, sources said Thursday. The operation was carried out jointly by the state, Central and Military Intelligence Agencies.
The arrested person has been identified as Deep Raj Chandra, who worked in the Product Development and Innovation Centre Division at Bharat Electronics Limited. The accused resided at Mattikere locality in Bengaluru.
Accused Deep Raj Chandra hailed from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
More information is yet to come out and the official statement by the Central agencies is awaited.
Bharat Electronics Limited is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence electronics company, headquartered in Bengaluru. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for ground and aerospace applications. BEL is one of 16 PSUs under the administration of the Ministry of Defence of India. It has been granted Navratna status by the Government of India.
On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a junior works manager at the Kanpur Ordnance Factory for allegedly sharing classified and sensitive information with a suspected Pakistani intelligence operative.
The UP ATS March 14 arrested an Ordnance Factory employee, identified as Ravindra Kumar, on charges of espionage for allegedly leaking classified information to a Pakistani intelligence handler. He was arrested from ATS headquarters in Lucknow.
On February 18, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths arrested two individuals in connection with the leaking of sensitive information regarding the Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka to Pakistan, February 18. The arrested individuals were identified as Vetana Tandel, a resident of Muduga village, and Akshay Naik, a resident of Halavalli in the Karwar district of Karnataka. A team from Hyderabad arrived in Karwar and took the accused into custody.
The NIA first questioned three individuals — Vetana Tandel, Akshay Naik, and Sunil, a resident of Todur — regarding the information leak in August 2024. At the time, all three were released, but the agency continued to monitor their activities. Sources at that time revealed that the authorities suspected the accused were trapped by Pakistani agencies through honey trapping. A female Pakistani agent allegedly used the accused to gather sensitive information.
The agent reportedly collected detailed information about the accused and sent them friend requests on Facebook in 2023. The accused allegedly sent photographs of the Karwar Naval Base along with details of naval movements to Pakistan in exchange for money. Their role in the espionage came to light following the arrest of one Deepak and others by the NIA in Hyderabad in 2023. Investigators have also discovered that money was deposited into the accused’s bank accounts as payment for their ‘services’.
Vetana and Akshay worked on a contract basis with Iron and Mercury, a company located in the Chandya region of Karwar. Sunil, who previously worked as a contract worker at the canteen at the Sea Bird Naval Base, was employed as a driver. The NIA has gathered further intelligence regarding their activities.
INS Kadamba or Naval Base Karwar or Project Seabird is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. INS Kadamba is currently the third-largest Indian naval base and is set to become the largest naval base in the eastern hemisphere after the completion of expansion. Both the Navy’s aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant are based at Karwar. The base also has the country’s first sealift facility, a unique “shiplift” and transfer system for docking and undocking ships and submarines.
