Udupi: Karnataka Police have arrested two individuals for allegedly sharing sensitive Indian Navy information with Pakistan through WhatsApp and Facebook in return for money, officials said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Rohit (20) and Santri (37) from Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, were employed at the Cochin Shipyard’s Malpe unit. They were taken into custody on Thursday and have been remanded to judicial custody till December 3.

The case was registered following a complaint filed by the CEO of Cochin Shipyard at the Malpe police station. Police said the duo has been booked under Section 152 of the BNS and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar told reporters on Friday that the police would seek custody of the accused on November 22.

The case is significant from the perspective of national security, and the probe has been intensified to determine whether others are involved," SP Shankar said.

According to the police, the investigation was led by Assistant Police Commissioner Harsha Priyamvada and Malpe Station Sub-Inspector D. Anil Kumar. A special team acting on a tip-off tracked the duo to a rented room in Malpe and arrested them.

Preliminary findings suggest that Rohit is the key accused. He had been working as an insulator at the Malpe unit for the past six months and allegedly secured a confidential list of Indian Navy ships, their identification numbers, and other classified details with the help of his associate Santri, who remains employed at the Cochin Shipyard.

Investigators say the information was passed to Pakistan and possibly other countries. The SP said, “The accused have jeopardised the nation’s integrity and sovereignty and posed a threat to internal security.”

Police suspect the men had been supplying sensitive details related to ports under the central government, shipyard operations, and naval vessels for more than one and a half years, receiving substantial payments in return. Even after being transferred to Malpe, Rohit continued to obtain information from Santri and shared it via WhatsApp and Facebook, the SP added.

Indian Navy ships are manufactured at the Cochin Shipyard facility in Kerala, while the Malpe unit produces vessels for private and international clients.