India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
Last
month
the
agencies
reported
that
as
Pakistan’s
Project
Lioness,
300
girls
have
been
recruited
to
spy
in
India.
They
have
been
specially
trained
to
trap
officials
and
elicit
critical
information.
New
Delhi,
Jun
06:
The
past
couple
of
months
have
witnessed
a
surge
in
the
number
of
honey
trap
cases
in
India.
Honey
trap
is
one
of
the
oldest
form
of
espionage
in
which
women
are
used
to
lure
a
target
in
a
bid
to
elicit
information
out
of
him.
The
usual
targets
of
honey
trap
are
government
officials,
army
personnel
and
anyone
dealing
with
sensitive
information.
Wikipedia
says
that
Honey
Trapping
is
an
investigative
practice
involving
the
use
of
romantic
or
sexual
relationships
for
interpersonal,
political
or
monetary
purpose.
Last
month
the
agencies
reported
that
as
Pakistan’s
Project
Lioness,
300
girls
have
been
recruited
to
spy
in
India.
They
have
been
specially
trained
to
trap
officials
and
elicit
critical
information.
In
May,
the
agencies
had
busted
one
honey
trap
module
which
used
the
Facebook
handle
fb.com/shaanti.patel.89737.
Through
this
handle,
the
spies
managed
to
gain
access
to
restricted
data
of
computer
resources.
An
Intelligence
Bureau
official
tells
OneIndia
that
such
cases
keep
cropping
up
and
have
become
a
headache.
The
officials
handling
critical
assets
have
been
time
and
again
sensitised,
but
there
is
always
that
one
weak
moment
that
leads
to
the
enemy
getting
the
better
of
us.
An
assessment
conducted
by
the
Intelligence
Bureau
says
that
honey
trapping
continues
to
remain
one
of
the
key
concerns
for
the
security
agencies.
The
assessment
also
says
that
it
was
in
the
year
2015
that
Pakistan’s
ISI
decided
to
go
all
guns
blazing
and
honey
trap
officials
in
India
The
ISI’s
module
is
being
operated
out
of
Faridkot.
The
importance
that
the
ISI
gives
to
the
Faridkot
module
is
evident
from
the
fact
that
the
cash
strapped
country
has
earmarked
Rs
3,500
for
this
project.
It
is
a
combination
of
both
sex
and
cash
says
another
official.
Investigations
into
various
cases
of
honey
trapping
in
India
have
revealed
that
there
are
two
kinds
of
cases.
In
one
case
the
official
is
blackmailed
into
sharing
information.
The
trap
is
set
by
the
lady
who
shares
provocative
images.
The
official
who
gets
lured
due
to
the
dirty
talk
online
is
then
blackmailed
into
giving
information.
The
second
type
is
with
the
lure
of
cash.
The
ISI
agents
are
ready
to
pay
anything
between
Rs
5
lakh
and
Rs
10
lakh
for
information.
The
amount
is
decided
depending
on
the
kind
of
information
that
is
shared.
The
amounts
also
dependant
on
the
rank
of
the
officer.
The
higher
the
rank,
the
more
the
money.
Recently
the
Intelligence
Bureau
had
told
the
Union
Ministry
that
in
2017
a
fresh
push
was
made
by
the
ISI
to
trap
as
many
young
recruits
of
the
Indian
Army.
The
traps
had
been
set
on
those
who
had
joined
or
were
in
the
process
of
joining
the
Army.
The
ISI
has
been
looking
to
trap
as
many
as
200
such
young
recruits
and
recent
investigations
showed
that
the
Pakistan
agents
were
already
in
touch
with
over
50
of
them.
When
the
police
had
arrested
Gaurav
Kumar,
a
resident
of
Rohtak,
they
found
that
he
was
asked
to
click
pictures,
each
time
he
visited
the
Army
training
camp.
He
had
plans
of
joining
the
Indian
Army
and
was
training
for
the
same.
He
had
already
been
trapped
before
he
could
join
the
forces.
It
was
found
that
he
had
visited
18
Army
recruitment
camps
from
where
he
is
alleged
to
have
shared
a
lot
of
information.
Not
only
do
the
operations
run
from
Faridkot,
but
the
ISI
has
also
managed
to
set
up
dedicated
modules
within
India
to
honey
trap
officials.
There
are
modules
in
Rajasthan,
Gujarat,
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Uttar
Pradesh,
which
exclusively
report
to
the
Faridkot.
The
ISI
agents
first
create
a
fake
profile
on
the
social
media
and
then
begin
chatting.
Once
they
find
that
the
target
is
vulnerable,
they
lead
him
to
the
Hookup
chat
site.
Over
here
the
information
is
shared.
The
biggest
problem
that
investigators
face
is
that
once
a
person
logs
out
of
Hookup,
the
chats
are
automatically
deleted.
The
official
cited
above
said
that
the
problem
is
likely
to
get
worse
and
the
challenge
ahead
is
immense.
However
he
also
points
out
that
thanks
to
the
vigilance
that
is
being
maintained
the
ISI
may
have
not
been
able
to
achieve
the
success
that
they
would
have
been
expecting.
Story first published: Monday, June 6, 2022, 11:29 [IST]