AP police busts espionage racket with links to Pak; 7 Navy

The Andhra Pradesh police on Friday claimed to have busted an espionage racket with links to Pakistan and said seven Indian Navy personnel and a hawala operator have been arrested in this connection.

The eight, arrested from different parts of the country, were produced before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Vijayawada which ordered them to be remanded in judicial custody till January 2.

The racket was busted in a coordinated effort by the state and central intelligence wings, the Andhra Pradesh police said, but declined to divulge any further details.

A release from the Police merely said the Intelligence wing, in concert with Central Intelligence agencies and Naval intelligence, launched Operation Dolphin's Nose and busted the espionage racket.

"An FIR has been lodged and seven Navy personnel and a hawala operator have been arrested from different parts of the country. Some more suspects are being questioned," the police release said.

The investigation was on, it added, without further details.

An AP Police spokesman said no details of the case were available and we are only given this much information.

When contacted, state Intelligence Inspector General of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said they were not authorised to speak anything on the case.

We have given all details to the CPRO (chief public relations officer). You will get them from him, he said.

The CPRO said except the two-line note, no more details were made available.