Pak spy posed as IBM employee, got Gujarat man to leak military drone data
Pak spy posed as IBM employee, got Gujarat man to leak military drone data
A man has been arrested in Gujarat’s Bharuch district for allegedly spying for a Pakistani intelligence agency, police said. Pravin Mishra, a resident of Ankleshwar in Bharuch, is accused of collecting classified information about the Indian Armed Forces and defence research firms for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to the Gujarat Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Mishra fell victim to a “honey trap” orchestrated by an ISI operative posing as a woman named Sonal Garg who claimed to work for IBM Chandigarh.
The Pakistani operative used an Indian WhatsApp number and the fake Facebook ID of Sonal Garg to target and trap Mishra.
“She honey-trapped one Pravin Mishra, who worked in Hyderabad in an organisation which in turn worked with DRDO,” said CID ADGP Rajkumar Pandian.
“She got Pravin Mishra to extract India’s defence-related information… Pravin Mishra shared some vital information,” he added.
Pandian said the information included details on drones manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The ISI operative also reportedly attempted to install malware on Mishra’s office server.
“It was found that the information was being sent to an intelligence agency located in Pakistan,” the CID said.
The investigation began after a tip-off from Military Intelligence in Udhampur, which alerted authorities about attempts to target current or retired personnel of the Armed Forces, DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and those involved in missile system development.
A case has been registered against Mishra, the Pakistani operative using the fake identity “Sonal Garg,” and any Indian officials who may have been involved in the conspiracy.
Further investigation is ongoing.
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