Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) continued to their attempts to engage in espionage activities in India, with a 31-year-old man being arrested for allegedly spying for the Pakistani intelligence agency, an official said on Saturday.
However, this case in particular shed light on a favoured practice of the ISI: Using female agents to pose as women interested in a particular official targeted for espionage.
Honey trapping is an investigative practice involving the use of romantic or sexual relationships for interpersonal, political (including state espionage), or monetary purpose.
The honey pot or trap involves making contact with an individual who has information or resources required by a group or individual; the trapper will then seek to entice the target into a false relationship (which may or may not include actual physical involvement) in which they can glean information or influence over the target.
Ravi Prakash Meena, a resident of Rajasthan, who was posted as a class-4 employee at the Sena Bhawan in Delhi, was honey-trapped by a Pakistani woman agent. He was sharing confidential and strategic information about the Indian Army with her, DGP (Intelligence), Rajasthan, Umesh Mishra, said.
He was providing information to the agent through social media in exchange for money which was deposited in his bank account, the official said.
The Pakistani agent, who went by the name Anjali Tiwari, posed as an Indian Army officer posted in West Bengal, Mishra said.
Meena, who hails from Sapotara in Rajasthan's Karauli district, was interrogated by intelligence agencies and after technical evidence and verification of the mobile phone used in the crime, he was arrested, the official said.
He has been charged under sections of the Official Secrets Act.
(with inputs from PTI)
