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Engineer arrested for ‘leaking naval information to Pakistani agents’ denied bail by Thane court
Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) ATS opposed Ravi Varma’s bail plea, claiming that he had shared information via WhatsApp to his Pakistani co-accused and accepted pecuniary benefits.
Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) claims that Ravi Varma was honey-trapped through social media and lured into handing over sensitive documents.(Representational image)
A sessions court in Thane has rejected the bail application of a 27-year-old engineer with a private firm who has been behind bars for 10 months for allegedly passing on sensitive information related to the Navy to suspected Pakistani intelligence operatives.
The court rejected Ravi Varma’s plea on February 26, stating that his co-accused in the case were
yet to be arrested and that he might assist them in evading arrest if granted bail.
Varma, who worked as a junior engineer with a private company engaged in repairing ships for defence establishments in Mumbai, was arrested by Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 28,
2025. The ATS claimed that Varma was honey-trapped through social media and lured into handing over sensitive documents that he had access to.
The ATS opposed Varma’s bail plea, claiming that he had shared information via WhatsApp to his Pakistani co-accused and had also provided his bank details and accepted pecuniary benefits.
“The co-accused are not yet arrested in connection with this crime. The I.O. has taken efforts to cause their arrest, but their whereabouts could not be traced out. If the applicant/accused is released on bail, he may assist the co- accused from evading their arrest in connection with this crime. The possibility of tampering
with prosecution evidence and witnesses by him cannot be ruled out,” Additional Sessions Judge V G Mohite said in the order, made available this week.
The ATS said that Varma had visited the naval sites on behalf of his company between November 2024 and March 2025.
Varma said in his bail plea that the investigation was substantially complete, the investigators had seized his phone, audio files, images, and other data on the electronic device, and that his further custody was not required.
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The accused in the case has been booked on charges under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act as well as criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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