According to reports, naval personnel are banned from using smartphones at naval bases, dockyards and onboard warships.
New Delhi: Soon after seven personnel were caught for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence agencies, the Indian Navy has banned the use of social media at certain locations.
It has also banned smartphones at naval bases, dockyards and onboard warships.
The "stringent" step has been taken by Navy soon after seven naval personnel were allegedly caught leaking sensitive information to enemy intelligence agencies over social media, Navy officials said.
An internal order issued by the Navy imposed a ban on messaging apps, networking and blogging, content sharing, hosting, e-commerce sites.
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Police had busted a spy racket run on social media by Pakistani Intelligence operatives in which seven Navy personnel were arrested from Visakhapatnam, Karwar and Mumbai.
Navy officials said restrictions were earlier also imposed on its personnel over the use of social media and other networking sites.
The operation "Joint Dolphin's Nose" was launched by Andhra Pradesh Intelligence department, Central Intelligence Agencies and Naval Intelligence.
"State Intelligence Department along with Central Intelligence Agencies and Naval Intelligence busted an espionage racket having links to Pakistan. Seven Navy personnel and a hawala operator have been arrested from different parts of the country," Andhra Pradesh deputy inspector general of police (DIG) said in a statement.
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