To Honeytrap IAF Officer, Women Sent Porn Videos Downloaded From Adult Websites

Marwaha, 51, posted at the IAF headquarters New Delhi, was handed over to Delhi Police last week after nearly 10 days of questioning by the counter- intelligence wing of the force. He was arrested for sharing classified information about three new tri-service agencies with the women — believed to be working for a foreign spy agency.

“The police have retrieved the deleted video clips from his mobile phone. The police confronted him about the clips and he claimed that they were sent by the two women,” a senior police officer said, The Indian Express reported.

The report added that the police said the investigation officer has written to Facebook, requesting it to share IP addresses of the profiles of the women.

The newspaper added that Marwaha is learnt to have told the police that a few months back a woman added him on Facebook Messenger. He then found out an old colleague was a mutual friend of her. He and the woman started chatting. One of her friends also sent a request and started chatting with him. They spoke about two of his colleagues, the officer said, adding that they exchanged numbers and started talking on WhatsApp and Telegram.

What is more surprising is that when the police scanned the women’s accounts on Facebook, they found more than 60 people working with the defence wing on their friends list. Some people were retired officers, the police said.

ISI operatives were impersonating as models through these profiles. Marwah was lured through seductive conversations for a week or so, after which he was persuaded to share information pertaining to IAF exercises.

Reports stated that he has admitted to having had access to many secret documents and plans due to his posting at the air headquarters.

Punishment under Official Secrets Act entails a jail term of up to seven years.

A senior investigating officer told Hindustan Times that the two mobile numbers to which the documents were sent are both Indian. The police seized the Samsung smartphone he used to take pictures in the IAF headquarters along with his other phones. Till a day before he was caught, he sent some documents, the police said.

The police said Marwaha was honeytrapped by Pakistan’s spy agency using fake Facebook profiles by the names of Kiran Randhawa and Mahima Patel. The two accounts were deactivated by the users after Marwaha was detained by the IAF on January 31 for allegedly leaking classified information.

Within a week after Marwaha’s arrested, an Indian Army officer of Lieutenant Colonel rank was also detained in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur in an alleged honey-trap case by military intelligence (MI) officials.

The intelligence wing of the military had carried out searches at his official premises on the suspicion that he might have fallen for the trap set by the Pakistan's Inter-state Service (ISI).

The officer was currently posted at Army base workshop and was on radar following a major financial transaction through his account.

(With PTI inputs)