Navy staffer held for leaking Op Sindoor details to Pak handler

Jaipur: An Indian Navy staffer posted in naval headquarters in Delhi was arrested in Jaipur for allegedly leaking defence-related sensitive information to a Pakistani handler in exchange for money, a police official said Thursday.

Vishal Yadav, an Upper Division Clerk (UDC) in the Directorate of Dockyard at the Navy building, allegedly also shared details on Operation Sindoor -- strikes carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Inspector General of Police (CID-Security) Vishnu Kant Gupta said Yadav, originally from Rewari in Haryana, leaked the classified information to a female Pakistani handler posing as an Indian woman.

He was arrested on Wednesday in Jaipur and will be subjected to a joint probe by multiple agencies.

"Yadav confessed to receiving approximately Rs 2 lakh in total for the information he passed on," Gupta said.

"This included Rs 50,000 for leaking information related to Operation Sindoor," the IGP said, adding some of the payments were also made in cryptocurrency.

Intelligence sources revealed that Yadav was first approached on Facebook. The Pakistani handler sent a friend request under the fake identity "Priya Sharma".

The two started communicating regularly and eventually shifted to WhatsApp and later to Telegram, a platform known for its encryption-enabled messages.