*New Delhi: **INDIAN Navy officials selling Pakistan the secrets of Indianwarships and submarines for money, Stunning revelations have been made byIndian media report. *

*S*even Indian Navy officials based in Visakhapatnam, Karwar and Mumbaihave been arrested for passing on “critical” information to Pakistan, in acase of entrapment.

The case was cracked by the Andhra Pradesh Police, working in closecoordination with the naval and central intelligence agencies.

Navy sources told ThePrint that the seven sailors were arrested followingsustained surveillance over the last few weeks, under operation ‘Dolphin’sNose’. They said three of the sailors were arrested from Visakhapatnam, twofrom Karwar and two from Mumbai.

“They are very young sailors who were entrapped through fake Facebookaccounts and subsequent chats,” a source said.

The sailors were paid into giving out the positions and movements ofwarships and submarines on which they used to operate.

What began as blackmail quickly turned into monetary transactions, with thesailors being regularly paid by the ‘businessman’, who was actually a*hawala* operator.

ThePrint has learnt that the initial input in the case came from the AndhraPradesh Police’s intelligence department, after which naval intelligenceand central security agencies were roped in.

The sources said no other personnel are suspected to be part of this spyring. However, the Navy is expected to issue a fresh advisory to all itspersonnel regarding their presence on social media.