Navy officer among 5 arrested, suspected of leaking info on submarines

The CBI has arrested five persons including a commander-rank Navy officer for allegedly leaking confidential information related to an ongoing submarines project in return for illegal gratification, officials said Tuesday.

The agency has initiated action in a secret operation last month in which two retired Navy personnel and as many private persons in addition to the Navy officer were taken into custody, they said.

So far, the agency has conducted searches at 19 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad among others from where important documents and digital evidence have been seized and are being examined, they said.

It is alleged that the commander had discussed crucial details about the ongoing modernisation project of Kilo class submarines with the two retired officers for alleged illegal gratification, they said.

The Anti Corruption Unit of the agency, which handles sensitive and high profile corruption cases, was tasked to unearth the leakage of information following which the operation was started, they said.

The unit has questioned several other officers and ex-servicemen who were in regular touch with the arrested officer and retired personnel, they said.

The CBI is conducting a forensic analysis of digital products used by the officer to understand if the information had fallen into the hands of people with vested interests, they said.