Thane engineer accused of spying for Pakistan remanded till June 5

Thane: Thane-based engineer Ravindra Verma, who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police for passing on information about Indian ships and submarines to intelligence operatives of Pakistan, was on Monday remanded to custody till June 5.

Verma (27), a resident of Kalwa in Thane district, was employed as a Junior Engineer with a defence technology firm, which granted him access to the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai and neighbouring sensitive areas.

“During the investigations, it has come to light that from November 2024 to March 2025 he was allegedly in touch with Pakistan Intelligence Operative (PIO) through social media platforms. Through WhatsApp, he passed sensitive information about prohibited areas to the PIO,” ATS officials said after Verma’s arrest last week.

During the week-long probe, the ATS interrogated Verma, who was honey-trapped by Pakistani agencies through Facebook.

Investigators alleged that the Thane-based engineer shared sensitive information about warships and submarines to the Pakistani intelligence operative through sketches, diagrams and audio notes. In exchange for the information, he received money from various bank accounts from India and abroad, several times.

On expiry of his initial remand, Verma was produced before a court in Thane city, which extended the remand till June 5.

Verma was booked under section 3 of the Official Secrets Act that deals with espionage, and section 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).