‘ Seduced by ‘ models’, IAF officer shared secrets with Pak ISI’
New Delhi, Feb. 9: An Indian Air Force ( IAF) officer who arrested by the Delhi police on charges of espionage and passing on classified information to Pakistani intelligence agency InterServices Intelligence ( ISI) was allegedly seduced on Facebook by two agents of Pakistan’s ISI and used WhatsApp to pass on sensitive information to them.
Fifty-one-year-old Group Captain Arun Marwaha was produced before a court on Thursday that sent him to police custody for five days.
The police said that Mr Marwaha shared information and documents with two Pakistani agents who pretended to be women and chatted with him on Facebook. The fake accounts were in the names of Kiran Randhwa and Mahima Patel, a senior police officer said.
The IAF officer allegedly used his smartphone to click pictures of the classified documents pertaining to the IAF headquarters and then sent them across via WhatsApp.
The officer, posted at the IAF headquarters in Delhi, is a para- jumping instructor and was in charge of training elite Garud commandos. He has been charged under the Official Secrets Act and faces up to 14 years in jail. He was due to retire next year.
According to the special cell’s officer, Mr Marwaha befriended the ISI agents who posed as women models a few months ago.
“They chatted regularly on WhatsApp... and also allegedly exchanged intimate messages. The ISI agents also honeytrapped him after obtaining some of his nude pictures,” the police officer said.
After gaining Marwaha’s trust, the “Pakistani agents asked the officer for classified documents”, he added.
A senior Air Force officer discovered the massive breach a few weeks ago and set up an internal investigation. When Marwaha’s role was revealed, IAF informed the Delhi police.