Lt Colonel rank army officer posted in Jabalpur 'honey-trapped'; intel units detain soldier

Days after the arrest of Indian Air Force officer Arun Marwaha over espionage charges, a similar case has emerged in Jabalpur with a Lt Colonel rank Indian Army officer now being suspected of falling prey to a honey-trap, according to several media reports.

Madhya Pradesh: Army officer of Lt Colonel rank detained in Jabalpur over a honey trap case. Officer is working in the Jabalpur workshop & has been detained by the counter intelligence wing of the Army. pic.twitter.com/EjhxX545qI

— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2018

The officer, who was posted at the Jabalpur workshop, has been detained by the counter-intelligence wing of the army for further investigation. He was detained after he was observed carrying out "suspicious activities", India Today reported.

Further details on this story are awaited, but the case, at least on the surface, looks eerily similar to that of Marwaha, who is currently facing charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Group Captain Arun Marwaha, 51, who was posted at the IAF headquarters in New Delhi, was suspected of leaking official documents on new fields of cyber warfare, space and special operations. Marwaha was handed over to Delhi Police on 9 February after nearly 10 days of questioning by the counter-intelligence wing of the force.

Marwaha reportedly befriended an Inter-Services Intelligence agent on Facebook in mid-December, who posed as a model. The two chatted on Facebook for a while before exchanging numbers and communicating through WhatsApp, reported Deccan Chronicle. After a week of "flirtatious" conversation over WhatsApp, the woman reportedly lured the officer to leak classified documents through WhatsApp.

Marwaha was caught red-handed with his cellphone, which is not permitted, at the IAF headquarters and he later admitted to taking pictures of classified documents and leaking them to unauthorised sources, reports said.

Army, air force and navy personnel are required to follow strict guidelines on social media. The armed forces impose severe restrictions on the cyber activity of their officers. Among other restrictions, officials are barred from revealing in any way the details of their posting, designation and current or past deputations. The officers are also advised against posting pictures in uniform or posing with a weapon, even when in civilian clothing, according to a report in The Times of India.