Indian Air Force Group Captain Arun Marwah has confessed to having leaked secret documents to a Pakistan ISI agent, police sources have said. The probe into the matter, so far, reveals that Marwaha shared documents pertaining to Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and Special Operations with the ISI via Whatsapp.
A Delhi lower court on 8 February sent Marwah to five-day custody with the Delhi police (special cell) for spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. An FIR was registered under Sections 3 (Spying) and 5 (Wrongful Communication) of the Official Secrets Act.
Marwah was first detained by the IAF on 31 January, after his activities drew alarm. According to sources, Marwah was blackmailed by ISI agent after he was honey trapped on Facebook.
“Marwaha was leaking secret document to ISI but since the matter is sensitive, the details of the same cannot be shared. As of now, it appears he was honey-trapped but it’s matter of investigation,” DCP of Delhi Police Special Cell, Pramod Khushwaha, told The Quint
The Inside Story:
According to the sources involved in the investigation, Pakistan is no stranger to the honey trap trick. Sources told The Quint, that Marwaha was active on social media, particularly on Facebook, where he used to regularly upload videos and photographs.
Here’s how the incident played out, as per sources:
- Around two months ago, Marwaha received two Facebook friend requests from users named Kiran Randhawa and Mahima Patel – alleged to be fake Facebook profiles created by the ISI, and bearing photographs of models.
- Marwaha was quick to accept the friend requests. At first, his communication with the users of the profiles was limited to ‘Likes’ and comments on posts, but things soon turned steamy, with sex chats and videos being thrown into the mix.
- The ISI agent used a proxy server to mask the digital footprint, sources said, adding that after having gathered enough information, the ISI agent started blackmailing Marwaha and threatened to make his chats public. Instead of informing his seniors immediately, he agreed to fulfil the agent’s demands.
- As his activities began to draw suspicion, IAF counter-intelligence put Marwaha under surveillance mid-January.
Marwaha was due to retire next year. Sources said he used to train Commandos and was also posted in intelligence wing of IAF. Marwaha’s son is a trained fighter pilot.
Marwaha was arrested when he was walking with a cellphone inside the IAF headquarters, which is not permissible.
It hasn’t been revealed whether he is the only IAF personnel involved in the conspiracy. Police has not yet ascertained whether he received any monetary benefits for leaking classified documents.
Marwaha is not the first IAF personnel to be honey-trapped via social media. In December 2015, IAF airman KK Ranjeet was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch for sharing secret documents with ISI. He was booked under Official Secrets Act. Ranjeet was deceived by a fake profile named Damini McNaught, who told him she was an employee of an UK based media firm. She asked Ranjeet to share IAF related information for the magazine in return of monetary benefits.
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