The Thane district court on Thursday sent Ravi Muralidhar Verma, 27, the engineer accused of leaking information on warships, to 14-day judicial custody. The ATS had sought additional custody to analyze fresh evidence collected during the probe. However, the court turned down the request and ordered a judicial remand instead.
Representing Verma, advocate Rupali Shinde challenged the ATS’s narrative, citing inconsistencies in the investigation. Shinde pointed out discrepancies in the remand documents, highlighting that while the ATS referred to a Pakistan intelligence operative(PIO) named Preeti Jaiswal, Verma’s online interactions were reportedly with a woman identifying herself as Jaspreet, said to be based in Punjab or Delhi.
However, ATS officials clarified that “Preeti Jaiswal” and the foreign-based handler referred to as “Sir” were aliases used by the PIO network. They added that the investigation is progressing on the right track but declined to disclose further information due to the sensitive nature of the case.
Sources close to the probe revealed that the espionage ring employed a honeytrap strategy involving an operative known as Preeti Jaiswal. She reportedly executed the operation targeting Verma using multiple mobile numbers registered in Delhi, Mumbai, and Gujarat. The operative reportedly maintained consistent contact with Verma through a number registered in Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, investigators have identified at least five mobile numbers used by the PIO operative and the foreign-based handler “Sir” to engage Verma. These contacts were saved on his phone under innocuous names such as “Preeti Friend,” “Jaspreet Nisha Friend,” “Jaspreet College Friend,” and “Akarti College Friend.”
Further investigation revealed that the SIM cards used in the espionage operation were allegedly procured using forged identification documents. These numbers were linked to WhatsApp and Telegram accounts that displayed profile pictures of Hindu deities, including Bhagwan Ram and Seeta, and contained location metadata associated with temples and other religious sites.agency believe this was a deliberate tactic to exploit cultural familiarity and evade detection by blending into the local digital environment.
Sources also indicated that female PIO agents deliberately used Indian SIM cards to disguise their communications, complicating efforts by Verma and Indian security agencies to detect the Pakistani origin of the messages. Officials further revealed that Verma was likely not the sole target, with the PIO network reportedly employing similar tactics involving Indian SIM cards to approach multiple individuals across India.
“The operation appears to be part of a larger strategy by Pakistani intelligence operatives to exploit digital vulnerabilities and human emotions to gain access to classified information,” said a senior official familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
This case underscores a growing trend of cyber-enabled espionage, where traditional intelligence operations increasingly exploit modern communication technologies and social engineering to access classified information.
