Gujarat Fisherman Arrested for Spying on Coast Guard for Pakistan

A 21-year-old fisherman from Porbandar, Gujarat, was arrested by the ATS for allegedly sharing sensitive information about the Indian Coast Guard with Pakistan-based agents. He received money for providing photographs and information about Coast Guard vessels and jetties. Legal proceedings have been initiated under sections 121-A and 120-B of the IPC.

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 21-year-old fisherman for allegedly sharing sensitive information about the Indian Coast Guard with Pakistan-based agents, an official said on Thursday.

Jatin Charania (21), a resident of Porbandar, allegedly received money for sharing photographs and information about Coast Guard vessels and jetty in the coastal town, the ATS said in a release.

He was booked under section 121-A (conspiring to wage war against government) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code, Assistant Commissioner of Police S L Chaudhary said.

ATS had kept a watch on him after learning that he was in touch with a Pakistan-based agent through social media, the official said. During questioning at the ATS headquarters here, Charania admitted that he was first contacted by Facebook user ''Advika Prince'' four months ago. ''The user was actually a woman operative from Pakistan. She befriended him and then asked him to share information about the Porbandar coast. In four months, he sent photographs and videos of the Coast Guard jetty as well as a ship using Facebook Messenger and Telegram apps,'' said Chaudhary.

''Advika'' sent Rs 6,000 to Charania in installments through UPI, the official added. As Charania had turned on a 24 hour auto-delete feature on WhatsApp, several chats between him and ''Advika'' got automatically deleted and the ATS was taking help of forensic experts to recover them, the ACP said.

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