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Updated: Dec 20, 2019 18:29 IST

An espionage racket consisting of seven Indian Navy officials and a Hawala operator has been busted in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, which houses the Eastern Naval Command. The accused are suspected of passing information on naval operations to Pakistan. The officials, however, didn’t divulge if the possible compromise caused by the espionage was critical in nature. They also refused to reveal the modus operandi employed by the ring operating from Andhra Pradesh.

The men accused of spying were nabbed in a joint operation by the Andhra Pradesh intelligence police and the Naval Intelligence in coordination with central intelligence agencies on Friday.

The were produced before a special court for hearing National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases in Vijayawada in the afternoon and sent to judicial remand till January 3.

An official release from Andhra Pradesh police said the intelligence department launched an operation named “Operation Dolphin’s Nose” to bust the espionage racket with links to Pakistan.

Dolphin’s Nose is a hill adjacent to Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, housing the residential complexes and offices of Indian Navy.

“The accused were nabbed from different parts of the country and some more suspects were being questioned,” said the official release from Andhra police.

Andhra Pradesh director general of police Gautam Sawang said while those arrested hailed from different parts of the country, they were operating from Visakhapatnam.

“More than that we cannot share at this stage, as the investigation is still going on,” he said.

Another police officer familiar with the development said the intelligence authorities got a tip off about the accused a month ago and the suspects were put under surveillance since then.

It is learnt that the accused were using the sea route to pass on information of naval operations and other security-related details to Pakistan. The investigating authorities suspect some government officials could have also been helping the accused.