Jaipur, Jan 13:
It all began with texting ‘hello and hi’ on a social media application between Army Jawan Sombir and an alleged Pakistani agent who introduced herself as a young student from Jammu. Late, she sent intimate messages to lure the soldier into sharing confidential information about the Army, including pictures of tanks, armoured vehicles, weapons, and location of army companies. This was revealed by the investigating team on Saturday a day after the arrest was made. Sombir was produced before a local court here on Saturday morning. “The court
Honeytrapped jawan
has granted us custody till January, 18,” said Superintendent of police (DySP), Hari Charan Meena. The accused has been arrested under multiple Sections of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. His arrest was made possible only after the army intelligence found his activities increasingly suspicious. The initial investigation indicated that the accused was not only involved in espionage activities but he was also being paid for sharing strategic information. “We have clues that a few months ago, Sombir was paid Rs 5,000 for spying. And that money was transferred into the account of accused’s brother in order to evade suspicion. Subsequently Sombir transferred money into his e-wallet,” an official part of the investigating team told TOI, adding that the accused was effectively honeytrapped and demanded a second round of money transfer.
How Sombir got in touch with Pak agent? “Almost seven months ago, an ISI agent befriended him though social networking platform with an ID as Anika Chopra. “The usual online conversation between the two graduated into video chatting and sharing of some sexual messages. Later on, the agent must have allured Sombit to reveal strategic information for rewards,” the officer said.
The police suspect the social media account of “Anika Chopra” was a fake one and originated in Karachi city of Pakistan. “The accused was sharing highly intimate messages with Anika,” the official said, adding that a resident of Haryana, Sombit had joined army in 2016.
‘We have seized his mobile and digging into the call records see how much information was sent across the border. Though, he has admitted sharing crucial information with her ,” the official said.
The police said that till 2017, the ISI used locals to spy on the army deployment, “The network was decimated in 2018, hence they begun preying on new army recruits, an official said.
