“₹50,000 for Secrets”: Navy Staffer Duped by ‘Priya’, Leaks Operation Sindoor Intel to Pakistan

“₹50,000 for Secrets”: Staffer of the Indian Navy posted with the Naval headquarters in Delhi was arrested in Jaipur on allegedly leaking the sensitive defence related information to a Pakistani handler in exchange of money according to a police official here on Thursday (June 26, 2025).

Another employee (Upper Division Clerk, or UDC in the Directorate of Dockyard, at the Navy building), Vishal Yadav, is said to have divulged information on Operation Sindoor, or attacks by forces of the Indian Armed Forces in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Inspector General of Police (CID-Security) Vishnu Kant Gupta told the media that Yadav who hailed in Rewari in the State of Haryana had leaked the classified information to a Pakistani national who posed as an Indian woman.

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He was nabbed Wednesday in Jaipur, and will be probed by various agencies in a coordinated effort.

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

"This included ₹50,000 for leaking information related to Operation Sindoor," the IGP added, as some of the payments were also done through cryptocurrency. The sources of intelligence indicated that the first contact established with Yadav was on Facebook. The Pakistani handler loved to send a friend request with the false name Priya Sharma.

The two began to chat frequently and then before long moved to WhatsApp and subsequently to Telegram which is a chat platform that boasts of encrypted messages.

Police stated that Yadav was initially being paid the small amounts of about 5,000-6,000 rupees to get the information of low grades. The handler is, however, accused of urging him to give out more useful information in exchange of payment. It was then that Yadav started leaking important information regarding defence.

"He was lured by money and ended up leaking sensitive information from the Navy headquarters," Mr. Gupta said.

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"After monitoring his social media activity and confirming his links with a Pakistani handler, he was detained in Jaipur for joint interrogation involving multiple national agencies," the IGP said.

Born in the village, Punsika villagers of Haryana (Rewari district), Yadav is said to also be an addict of online games; something that authorities argue to have increased his weakness to such tricks.

According to the police, the forensic analysis of the mobile phone of Yadav supposedly revealed a lot of details such as the financial transactions, confidential messages, and secret defence information that Yadav was communicating with his handler.

Enforcement is ongoing and justice is investigating his cryptocurrency transactions and links.

IG Gupta noted that intelligence agencies in Pakistan are developing more adept methods of obtaining strategic information. "We are keeping a constant watch on such activities, and this arrest is a result of sustained monitoring and timely action," he said.

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