In a countrywide operation to bust a spy racket in the defence establishment, Indian intelligence agencies in close co-operation with Andhra Pradesh Police have booked at least seven Indian navy personnel and one money-launderer, all from different parts of the country.
Andhra Pradesh is a southern state of India and is home to India's secretive new strategic base where the country's nuclear submarines are based.
Carried out as "Operation Dolphin's Nose", the agencies claimed that the suspects had been spying for Pakistan.
"An FIR was filed, and seven navy personnel along with a hawala (money-launderer) have been arrested from different parts of the country. More suspects are being questioned," an official said in a statement while adding that an investigation is underway.
The Indian government had been warning service personnel and their families about honey-trapping, used as a modus operandi by foreign intelligence operatives.
According to media reports, nearly 50 army men came under the scanner of intelligence agencies for falling victim to Pakistani ISI agency honey-traps in India's Rajasthan in early 2019.
