New Delhi:
Long before youtuber Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest India had allegedly seen a uniform betrayal, to leak military secrets in Pakistan. Fifteen years ago, another woman from within the system was caught at the center of a shocking detective scam. Madhuri Gupta, a middle-level diplomat posted in Islamabad, was accused of secretly serving the interests of Pakistan’s infamous inter-service intelligence (ISI).
a detective
It was barely a year and a half after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in the early 2010, when a mole word in India’s High Commission in Islamabad visited Rajiv Mathur, the head of the then Intelligence Bureau. At a time when the tension between India and Pakistan was still boiling, another intelligence failure was a risk that India could not tolerate.
The name of Madhuri Gupta, an Indian Foreign Service Officer and the Second Secretary (Press and Information) in Islamabad, was named in the internal alert.
Known for his scholarship and deepest interest in Sufism and poetry in Urdu, Gupta’s profile rarely matches a double agent. But the leak mark told a different story.
When the initial intelligence indicates the input “Gupta’s suspicious activities”, Rajiv Mathur informed the Research and Analysis Wing (R&D) head KC Verma and Home Secretary GK Pillai.
Despite concerns, the decision was made to increase monitoring for two more weeks. During this period, he was allegedly false-mounted with information allegedly imposed, which, when leaked, was found back.
Gupta, unaware of the net closing, was called to Delhi on the pretext of helping with media relations for the SAARC Summit to be held in Bhutan after that year. She reached the national capital on 21 April 2010, spent the night at her West Delhi residence, and reported to the Mea office the next morning.
There, in the South Block, the special cell of the Delhi Police, already closed, was called. In minutes, Gupta, a grade B Indian Foreign Service Officer, was detained to leak classified defense information of Pakistan.
Arrest
He was arrested on 22 April 2010 under the official Secrets Act. Reports reported quoted by RK Sharma, R&W station head named “official sources” in Islamabad, under investigation, effectively blew up their cover. He worked as a counselor under diplomatic cover.
As a 2012 caravan’s article stated, “Sharma’s official cover in Islamabad was blown up by his own country, a step that felt certain to damage the R&D operation in Pakistan and bring its assignment to a fast and ignorant end.”
Honeytrap
What did Madhuri Gupta do? Investigators concluded that he was a victim of a honeytrap. Talking to Caravan, he said, “They threw a young man at him and he got trapped.”
The young man was a Pakistani operative, aka gym, a Pakistani operative in his 30s, which was tasked to seduce Gupta and extract sensitive information.
Another handler, Mudshar Raza Rana, a batchmate of Pakistan’s internal minister Rahman Malik, coordinated the operation. She first approached her through a female journalist and won her faith by helping to locate a rare book by Maulana Masood Azhar, head of the terrorist organization Jai-e-Mohammed.
Using a computer installed in his Islamabad residence and a Blackberry phone, Gupta was reportedly in constant contact with both men.
The investigation also revealed that Gupta, infected with Jamshed, expressed the desires to convert to Islam, marry her and travel to Istanbul. His correspondence often revolved around Sufism, Rumi and Urdu, which is a jammed exploitation.
Gupta allegedly traveled to Jammu and Kashmir on Rana’s instructions in March 2010. There, it was believed that he tried to receive details about the state’s annual plan report and a proposed 310 MW Hydro-Electric Power Project.
According to the charge sheet, investigators exchanged about 73 emails through two email addresses allegedly created by Pakistani agents for Gupta: **lastrao@gmail.com and ***rao@gmail.com.
“He had blown the cover of all Indian intelligence officials in Pakistan, revealed biographical details for each employee in the High Commission, and also mentioned the existence of ‘Some secret routes for India’,” said Pankaj Sood.
Result
Madhuri Gupta was first accused in 2012 under sections 3 and 5 of the official Secrets Act, which was a maximum sentence of 14 years. Initially, he spent 21 months in Tihar Jail before getting bail.
In 2018, a city court found him guilty and finally convicted him for spying for Pakistan. She lived in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, waiting for her trial and died in October 2021 at the age of 64. At the time of his death, his appeal against the sentence in the Delhi High Court was pending.
