Navy staffer charged with spying for Pak

Chandra Kumar Prasad, posted in the Navy's Aircraft Maintenance Unit in Mumbai, was arrested by Delhi Police's Special Cell from New Delhi Railway Station yesterday, police sources said. Prasad was on leave for the past one week.He was allegedly passing on classified information to a Pakistan High Commission official through another person, they said.

Certain "secret and sensitive" documents like photographs of Hindan Air Base and map of Meerut Cantonment were recovered from Prasad.He was produced before a magistrate  on Thursday and was remanded to five-day police custody.

Navy sources said Prasad is a resident of Chhapra district in Bihar and was posted at Naval air base INS Shikra in Mumbai. His rank is Naval Air Mechanic-I."He has put in a service of around four years in the Navy," they added.

INS Shikra is Navy's only helicopter base, from where it operates its Sea King, Kamov 28, Kamov 31 and Chetak helicopters used during the 26/11 attacks by NSG commandos against terrorists in Nariman House.

The arrest comes a month after Madhuri Gupta, an Indian junior diplomat was held on charges of spying for Pakistan.Gupta, posted as second secretary, Press and Information at Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was arrested on April 22 by the Delhi police's Special Cell under the Official Secrets Act on charges of revealing classified information to Pakistani officials.

Prasad was apprehended at around 9:30 pm while he was on his way back to Mumbai after surveying some vital installations in north India, police said.

"He was going back with some documents which he was supposed to hand over. We are investigating whether he managed to enter any installation using his identity card," a senior official added.Police said they were on the trail of the person who was to receive the documents from Prasad.