A shopkeeping assistant, a DRDO scientist creating missile launchers, a liquor store worker, and a supplier of fruits and vegetables - What do these 4 very different men have in common?
They may all have been enticed and entrapped by Pakistani spies to work against India.
WHAT IS 'HONEY-TRAPPING'?
The popular term for this practice is 'honey-trapping', coined by writer John le Carre in his famous book 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'.
Honey-trapping involves a spy acting as a 'honey pot' who uses physical intimacy to make their targets do their bidding.
This espionage tactic is in the news once again due to the case of Seema Haider, a Pakistani national, who claims to have come to India to be with her lover whom she met over the online game PUBG.
But many contradictions and suspicious angles in Seema story have prompted speculation that she may be a Pakistani agent.
UP Police's Anti-Terrorist Squad has even begun an investigation.
RED-FLAGS IN SEEMA'S STORY
One of the biggest red flags was Seema's identity documents. She was found to have 2 passports, one of which had an incomplete name and address. Also, her Pakistani ID card was issued in 2022, but it's usually given at the time of birth.
UP cops also found Seema to have excellent English-speaking skills. Worryingly, her brother and uncle serve in the Pakistani Army, according to Seema's estranged Pakistani husband.
What's surprising is that Seema single-handedly planned a journey from Pakistan to Dubai to Nepal to India, along with adopting "rural Indian" disguises for herself and her children.
Cops also found 4 mobile phones and 2 video cassettes with the couple.
Another point of probe is Seema and Sachin's secret Nepal trip without her kids in March which was booked under a fake name.
Indian officials have said that Seema cannot be dubbed a Pakistani agent without proper proof. But the rumours have gained traction because of another recent case in which a top Indian scientist was allegedly caught in a Pakistani spy trap.
THE RECENT DRDO 'BREACH'
In this alleged honey-trap conspiracy, the target was 59-year-old Pradeep Kurulkar, the Director of DRDO's important Research & Development Establishment.
The honeypot was a suspected Pakistani agent posing as 'Zara Dasgupta', a software engineer in the UK. She allegedly sent provocative photos and videos to Kurulkar and also made him download malware on his devices.
Kurulkar has been accused of storing classified information on his phone and sharing it with the Pakistani agent. The two chatted in detail about BrahMos and Agni missile launchers and other weapons which the DRDO is currently developing.
An internal DRDO probe found the breach which led to Kurulkar's arrest. Meanwhile, so-called Zara's IP address was traced to Pakistan.
But Kurulkar is not the only one. Every few months, Indian agencies weed out alleged moles honey-trapped by Pakistan.
RECENT 'HONEY-TRAPPING' CASES
In February, DRDO technical officer Baburam Dey was arrested for allegedly leaking secrets to a suspected Pakistani spy posing as a poor UP student.
In July 2022, Army soldier Shantimay Rana was arrested for allegedly giving information to Pakistani spies posing as 'Gurnaur' and 'Nisha' on social media.
A month earlier, DRDO contractual worker DM Reddy was arrested for allegedly leaking information to a 'Natasha Rao from UK' who had agreed to marry him.
In May the same year, Indian Air Force Sergeant Devendra Sharma was arrested for allegedly giving information to a woman whom he had met on Facebook. The same month, Army soldier Pradeep Prajapat was arrested for allegedly leaking information to a woman claiming to be from Madhya Pradesh who had vowed to marry him.
In October 2020, Deepak Shirsat, an assistant supervisor at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was arrested for allegedly giving fighter jet details to a Pakistani national via social media.
In a bigger breach, 13 Navy soldiers were arrested from various bases in February 2020 for allegedly sharing sensitive information with suspected spies on social media.
But it's not just defence officials that Pakistani spies target.
THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS
In August 2022, Kuldeep Singh, a liquor store worker was arrested for allegedly posing as a woman on social media to befriend Indian Army soldiers and get information. Cops say that Kuldeep himself had been honey-trapped by a Pakistani agent, and he did this to continue the online relationship.
Months earlier, Nitin Yadav, a contractor providing fruits and vegetables to an Army base, was arrested. He used to allegedly send bills of what the Army was buying to Pakistani agents, who could then figure out the strength at the base.
IT'S NOT JUST MEN
It's not just men who are targeted either. In 2010, Madhuri Gupta, an Indian diplomat posted in Islamabad, was allegedly entrapped by a male Pakistani spy.
FREE INDIA'S 'FIRST CASE'
Honey-trapping of Indians is believed to have begun soon after the country attained independence. However, the first known case did not involve Pakistan, but the Soviet Union.
In the 1950s, a Soviet agent reportedly entrapped an Indian diplomat. The KGB tried to blackmail the Indian diplomat with embarrassing photographs.
However, the diplomat informed the Indian ambassador in Moscow. The ambassador then informed Prime Minister Nehru who was also the foreign minister. Nehru let the honey-trapped diplomat off the hook with a cautionary message.
FROM USA, TO RUSSIA, AND CHINA
It was not just Moscow. Washington and Beijing too used this tactic against India.
In 1987, RV Unnikrishnan, an officer of India's spy agency R&AW was arrested for leaking information to a US agent who was posing as a stewardess with American airline Pan Am.
In 2007, RAS officer Ravi Nair was recalled from Hong Kong due to his suspicious friendship with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy.
In 2008, R&AW officer Manmohan Sharma was recalled to Delhi from Beijing over an affair with his Chinese language teacher.
In 2010, an Indian Navy Commodore is believed to have been caught in a Russian honey-trap to weaken India's position in negotiations over an aircraft carrier.
Another case is that of an Intelligence Bureau officer who was reportedly forced to retire right before a big posting because he had an "unauthorised" relationship with a US consular official.
DIGITAL ENTRAPMENT BY PAK
In recent years, Pakistan has taken honey-trapping from the real world to the digital. Many cases which emerge these days involve the entire operation happening over social media, and voice and video calls.
To do this, Pakistan's spy agency ISI has set up facilities in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, as per Balakrishna Kamath, a former IB officer. After meticulously combing through social media to identify Indian targets, Pakistani honeypots mainly use three techniques.
The first is to make direct contact as a sweet-sounding woman who claims to have accidentally called the target, but then develops an intimate friendship. The second is by first getting close to the target's friends, and then the target themselves. The third is a sympathy card - acting like a poor widow struggling to make ends meet, usually with a child studying abroad.
GUIDELINES FOR INDIAN PERSONNEL
To deal with this growing problem, strict guidelines have been issued to defence personnel.
These include not posting photographs in uniform on social media. Officers are told not to reveal their rank, unit name or other details online.
Soldiers shouldn't answer WhatsApp calls from unknown numbers, or store official or classified data on their personal device.
They are also advised not to open unknown emails or visit suspicious websites.
THE GROWING THREAT
Back in the 1950s, when Nehru was told about the Soviet honey-trap, he had laughed it off, as per some reports.
Seven decades later, the double problem of China and Pakistan at India's doorstep means that sensitive information is more valuable, and the stakes are much higher, even as the channels of leakage are bigger.
The jury is still out on whether Seema is part of an elaborate conspiracy.
There have been other cases of Pakistani women coming to India under similar circumstances, like Iqra, who was arrested in January, and sent back a month later. In 2015, Chanda Khan snuck into India without a passport, claiming that she wanted to meet Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, and was sent back in 2018.
Whether or not they are spies, India needs to find a credible solution to the threat of honey-trapping in the digital age.
