Army soldier arrested after being found honey trapped

In what may be yet another case of honey-trapping, an Indian Army soldier has been arrested by Rajasthan police after he was found sharing photograph and information with a suspected ISI operative of Pakistan with a fake Facebook profile.

The soldier, Somveer Singh, a resident of Rohtak, befriended the ISI operative online in 2016 and were chatting with her since then. After some time, as the talks became more intimate in nature, the soldier began to share information.

Singh was posted in the Armoured Corps in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district. He has now been sent to police custody till January 19 as further investigations are on.

Army sources said the soldier was under the scanner of intelligence agencies for the last few months because his online activities. He was interrogated for nearly four months and was arrested when he was found sharing pictures and location of exercises involving Arjun tanks.

“Army is providing all assistance to civilian authorities in the investigation related to the jawan who was arrested by Rajasthan Police,” Col Sombit Ghosh, public relations officer defence, Rajasthan told a news agency.

What's worrying the Army top brass, however, is not the lone case of Somveer Singh. Apparently, nearly 50 other soldiers are in touch with the same ISI operative who has a fake FB profile by the name of Anika Chopra. In her profile, she claims to be a captain in the Army military nursing service based in Junagadh.

The armed forces have strict rules on how to use social media and violations are taken very seriously.

In 2015, Army released a social media policy that barred the men in uniform to disclose personal details like rank, unit, formation, appointment, place of duty and movement on the social media. Soldiers are also not to share operational and administrative matters, photos in uniform or background depicting Army installations and equipment.

Moreover, the army personnel were not to create or be a member of social media groups depicting religious sects, political groups, foreign military networks and hate groups. They are also barred from circulating chain mails, messages and posts on the armed forces.

At his annual media interaction last week, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat once again cautioned the soldiers on the use of social media.

“We can't ban the social media, but we issued an advisory on how to use it. Please stay away from any unknown entity and when found you are trapped, please report back immediately. Heavy punishment will be meted out to those who don't report back,” Gen Rawat stated.

Somveer Singh's case comes a year after an Indian Air Force Group Captain was arrested on espionage charges for sharing classified information to a woman, suspected to be a Pakistani spy, using social media.