Before the Jyoti Malhotra honeytrap scandal shocked the nation, there was Madhuri Gupta- a seasoned Indian diplomat who fell for a Pakistani handler and leaked classified intelligence.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00When the Jyoti Malhotra case came to light, it was Dejavu for India.
00:04Fifteen years ago, in 2010, diplomat Madhuri Gupta was convicted of spying for Pakistan's ISI,
00:09underscoring the persistent threat of espionage and the use of tactics like honey trapping.
00:14Gupta, a Gruppi Indian Foreign Service officer, was posted in Islamabad in 2007
00:19as second secretary, press and information at the Indian High Commission.
00:23Madhuri Gupta was a seasoned diplomat, JNU alum, fluent in Urdu, a Sufi poetry lover,
00:28with postings in Iraq, Liberia, Malaysia and Croatia.
00:32But in Islamabad, love met espionage.
00:35Javed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, introduced her to intelligence operatives
00:39Mubshir Raza Rana and Jamshed, codenamed Jim.
00:43Gupta, then 52, grew close to Jim, age 30, who was tasked with seducing her and extracting secrets.
00:49The Honey Trap was a textbook case.
00:51It started with helping her find a rare book by Jaishya Muhammad chief Masood Azhar.
00:55Roomy codes turned into late-night chats, talk of marriage, even conversion to Islam and moving to Istanbul.
01:01Gupta leaked over 70 emails with classified intel, defense details, operation blueprints,
01:07even Indian officer IDs and details linked to the 2611 attacks.
01:11According to the chart sheet, all were sent via her official computer and Blackberry
01:15using email accounts created by her handlers such as lastrao at the rate gmail dot com and arao at the rate gmail dot com.
01:22In March 2010, Gupta tried to gather intel on JNK's Kashmir annual plan and a 310 megawatt hydro project
01:29as instructed by her handlers.
01:31In a letter dated October 3, 2009, in the 700-page chart sheet, Gupta had quoted that Jamshed treats me like a dog.
01:38In early 2010, barely a year and a half after the 2611 Mumbai attacks,
01:44whispers of a mole inside the High Commission reached then IV chief Rajiv Mathur.
01:48On April 21, 2010, Gupta was summoned to Delhi under the pretext of SARC summit preparations
01:53and was arrested at the Ministry of External Affairs by Delhi Police's special cell on April 22, 2010.
02:00Her confession revealed she leaked sensitive defense info and exposed Indian operatives,
02:05though no physical documents were found.
02:06In 2018, a Delhi court convicted her under Section 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act
02:12and Section 120B of the IPC criminal conspiracy, sentencing her to three years in jail.
02:18Gupta died in 2021 at the age of 64, awaiting her trial.