‘More drdo scientists HoneY-traPPed bY sPies’
Incidents of honey-trapping have reached alarming proportions in recent timeswith roughly one incident being reported every month.
Intelligence agencies investigating the espionage charges involving a 27-year-old scientist, who was employed with Brahmos Aerospace, have identified “some more” scientists and employees working with Defence and Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who are believed to be sharing sensitive information with outsiders.
Officials said these scientists were honey- trapped and, in some cases, they were not even aware that the individual they were sharing the information with was the spy of a foreign country. Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s military industrial consortium NPO Mashinostroyenia, is responsible for designing, developing, producing and marketing of Brahmos missiles.
Earlier this week, the military intelligence and Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (UPATS) had arrested Nishant Agarwal for leaking sensitive information pertaining to Brahmos project. Agarwal, who was heading the 40-member team that works for hydraulics-pneumatics and warhead integration in the Production department of the project, was honoured with the “young scientist award” by DRDO last month.
According to official sources, Agarwal was honey- trapped just like BSF jawan Achyutanand Mishra, who too was arrested recently from Noida for sharing sensitive information with a “female friend” who had befriended him on Facebook.
“Agarwal had been in touch with these spies for more than two years. We are still confirming the reasons behind sharing the information, whether he was forced to do so after being honeytrapped or he was doing it without realising that he was actually sharing them with spies,” said an official involved in the investigation.
“The Facebook profiles of these spies had titillating pictures and it was constructed in such a manner that it appears that it is a genuine profile of a girl. It is very unfortunate that such educated an individual who had a great career ahead of him fell for this,” he rued.
The agencies have now identified “a few more” scientists and other employees who have been compromised in the same manner. “It (the spy network) is much bigger than we initially thought. People working in sensitive installations and armed forces are being targeted through Facebook and Twitter. We have started sending specific advisories to stop officials from sharing their work related details on social media as it makes them prone to such targeting,” the official added.
Officials said that incidents of honey- trapping have reached an “alarming level” in recent times, with roughly one incident being reported every month. “We have been issuing repeated specific advisories which obviously are not being taken seriously. Due to increased internet and mobile penetration, this threat has become more destructive,” he stated. The Election Commission (EC) will act tough against the menace of “paid news” in the upcoming Assembly polls in five states. Special vigil will be kept in Madhya Pradesh (MP), as according to 2013 EC data, the state registered the third highest number of confirmed cases of paid news.
The dates for Assembly elections in five states have already been announced. Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will go to the polls on 28 November, Rajasthan and Telangana on 7 December, and Chhattisgarh in two phases, on 12 and 20 November. Counting of votes in all five states is scheduled to take place on 11 December.
Sources close to the EC have said that the Election Commission is working on strategies to prevent the menace of rampant paid news in all the poll-bound states. Special attention will be given to MP as it has a bad record for showing the third highest number—165—of confirmed paid news cases registered during the 2013 Assembly elections. Punjab and Gujarat occupied the first and second positions respectively. Learning from its past experience, the EC has chalked out a strategy to monitor content of newspapers and TV channels roundthe-clock.
The Narottam Mishra case from MP is an example of the “menace of paid news” in the