Jaipur: An army soldier who was honey-trapped by a Pakistani ISI woman agent and shared confidential information with her has been arrested from Sikar district in north Rajasthan.
An official release by the intelligence department said that the soldier identified as Akash Maharia is a resident of Yalsar village in Sikar district and had come home on a month’s leave on February 17.
The soldier came on the radar of the intelligence department when he returned to his village and spoke to the Pakistani agent from there. The Pakistani agent would make video calls to the soldier, undress and indulge in lewd conversations with the soldier, the release said.
Maharia had joined a Facebook ID that was operated by the Pakistani agent in July 2019. The woman befriended Akash on Facebook. After that the woman started calling him on Whatsapp. She chatted with him and made false promises of meeting him. She sought information from him about his battalion and army movements.
When the intelligence department got information about calls from Pakistan on a number in Sikar, a special team of the CID and military intelligence officials started monitoring the calls and shared the information with the district police.
SP, Security, Shantanu Singh said Maharia was summoned to Jaipur and jointly interrogated by the CID and military intelligence on Saturday. Officials seized his phone and found calls and chats with the Pakistani agent.
During interrogation, Maharia admitted that he had befriended the woman on social media. He said he was not aware that she was a Pakistani agent. He confessed that he had shared some intelligence information with the woman.
A case was lodged against him at the CID (special branch) police station in Jaipur under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and Maharia was arrested on Saturday. He was produced in court on Sunday where he was remanded to two-day police custody, said Singh.
Officials are checking his bank account to ascertain if he received money for divulging information.
Maharia had joined the army in September 2018 and completed his training in January 2019.
