The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has revealed that the ISI has used the same social media profiles to trap Indian defence personnel and has always remitted small amounts of money into their accounts through the hawala channels (informal and illegal means).
The agency along with the Andhra Pradesh Police in December 2019 had busted an espionage racket and arrested naval personnel from the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam and the Western Naval Command in Mumbai.
The NIA said that the arrested sailors were normally those working in the lower ranks and were not in a position to give away any substantive classified information pertaining to the movement and location of Indian naval ships.
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Pakistan’s ISI used the same social media profiles to honey trap these accused sailors and then either blackmailed them to reveal information or the sailors themselves boasted to their ‘online friends’ about information pertaining to their work.
In some cases, the NIA said, small amounts of money such as Rs 5000-10,000 was remitted to them through Hawala channels.
The Indian navy had taken note of this development and banned the utilization of social media and smart phones by the sailors when they are on board their ships.
In recent times, the pernicious designs of the ISI have been exposed. The intelligence agency has also been misusing their diplomatic establishment in Colombo to fund various anti-Indian activities and has also been attempting to recruit Indian nationals to spy on India.