JAIPUR: The intelligence unit of Rajasthan Police has caught two Indian soldiers, posted at Pokhran in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, for leaking tactical information to a Pakistani women ISI agent after being honey-trapped by her. The duo was nabbed at Jodhpur railway station while going from Pokhran to their village on Tuesday and taken to Jaipur for questioning.
Umesh Mishra, Additional Director General of Rajasthan Intelligence, said both the soldiers had been found to have fallen prey to a honey-trap.
“We have detained two army jawans for their involvement in spying activities. They were deployed at an army unit in Pokhran. They were honey-trapped by the ISI and were sending information across the border through social media platforms,” Mishra said.
Sources said Lance Naik of 12 Guards, Ravi Varma of Madhya Pradesh, and cook Vichitra Behera from Odisha befriended the woman on Facebook.
Initial investigation has revealed that they had been passing on strategic and confidential information to her for past one-and-a-half years for money.
Behera, who was placed under arrest on Wednesday, reportedly revealed that initially the woman used to chat with him on Facebook and was also in contact with him through video calling. She called the soldiers using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) from a Pakistan number which was reflected as Indian number on the soldiers’ mobile screen. She apparently spoke in a Punjabi accent.
Some of the information the soldiers leaked to her pertained to army deployment, equipment and manoeuvres and other critical details.
The money was allegedly deposited in their bank accounts. According to sources, sleeper cells and ISI agents active in Delhi and border districts gave money to these honey-trapped jawans.
The Army has refused to react on the development.
“We don’t have anything to say on this,” said Col. Shombit Ghosh, defence PRO, South Western Command. Verma joined the Army in 2016 and Behera in 2017. Sources said a few more army men could have been fallen in the honey-trap cases.