One more person has been arrested in the sensational honey trap case involving Navy officials. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a woman identified as Giteli Imran, 37, under Official Secrets Act in Gujarat. Pakistan ISI deployed agents to extract sensitive information on movement of warships, submarines and defence establishments from members of defence forces. These agents are trapping Navy personnel through social media posing as women and getting information and secrets from them. Giteli Imran was moving in border areas posing as a cloth merchant. NIA sources say some digital gadgets and documents were seized in the search at her house. Investigation is going on.
The Navy personnel who parted with sensitive information reportedly received huge amounts of money in their bank accounts from Pakistani agents. NIA is gradually unravelling the way Pak agents could have trapped navy employees with the help of women and money.
Pakistan intelligence agencies targeted only new recruits and not senior officers lest their plots may unravel. All of the accused in the case are young men below 25 years of age. Pakistan planned to keep a close watch on movements and developments in the Navy. Indian agencies were successful in acting swiftly to bust the racket.
Pakistan is said to have transferred huge amounts into the accounts of navy personnel, their friends and relatives. Two Hawala operators from Mumbai, Imtiaz Syed and Shaik Sahistaa, had deposited money in these accounts. Interestingly, the accused navy men were aware of what they were doing and became part of Pakistan’s terrorist machinations.
The accused persons are reported to have confessed to their crimes during interrogation. NIA collected evidence on the contacts between the accused navy staff and Pakistan agents through Facebook and e-mail. NIA could login into their accounts with the help of hackers and analyse the details of their interactions besides downloading some important documents.
The NIA has so far arrested 14 persons in the honey trap case. Of them, two are Hawala operators and 11 are Navy employees. It has been found that these people had sent information on movement of warships and submarines to Pak agencies regularly. They had also sent images and videos of important Navy establishments to their handlers.
