A major virtual espionage racket has been busted under which 11 Navy personnel have been apprehended, along with two civilians who had all been honey-trapped by the intelligence operatives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, reports Asian News International (ANI).

The Navy is presently scrutinising a large number of social media profiles belonging to serving personnels for having been in touch with suspicious identities online. The investigations in the case are being led by Andhra Pradesh Police which is receiving full cooperation and support from Naval Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agencies.

The Andhra Pradesh Police had earlier arrested seven Navy personnel for having been allegedly involved in espionage. The latest arrests come in addition to those. The newly arrested personnel belong to different naval bases including Karwar in Karnataka, Mumbai in Maharashtra and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the Indian Navy has imposed a stringent ban on use of smartphones and social media applications like Facebook by its personnel after the misuse of such applications by the serving personnel for acts of espionage came to fore.