NEW DELHI – Former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the IndianHigh Commission in Islamabad, was today convicted by a Delhi court forpassing on sensitive information to Pakistan’s ISI and compromisingnational interest.
On January 7, she was charged under Section 3 and 5 of the Official SecretsAct for the lighter offences entailing maximum three years jail term, forallegedly supplying the country’s information to an ISI agent during herIslamabad posting, DNA has reported.
While framing the charges, the court held the information leaked by Guptadid not fall under the category of work of defence, as opposed to theprosecution’s case.
She was also charged with the breach of trust, criminal conspiracy andvarious other provisions of the Official Secrets Act.
In the style of classic spy novels written by Messrs Forysth or Le Carre,she was a lone wolf who was honey-trapped by ISI and passed off informationto her Pakistani handlers.
The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence to be handed downto Gupta tomorrow.
Gupta, who was the Second Secretary (Press & Information) at the IndianHigh Commission, was convicted under Sections 3 and 5 of the OfficialSecrets Act which attract a maximum sentence of three years and fine orboth.
She was arrested on April 22, 2010, by the special cell of the Delhi Policefor allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani officials andremaining in touch with two ISI officials, Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed.
*Here are 9 facts about her:*
1) She worked in the media section of India’s high commission in Pakistan’scapital. Reports suggest she was handsomely compensated for her services byISI and had been lured in by a classic honey trap.
2) She had been described as ‘brash and fearless’ and was looking forwardto a plum diplomatic posing in London or Washington.
3) She worked with the Ministry of External Affairs for 27 years where hercolleagues praised her ‘intellectual acuity’ and she also showed a keeninterest in Sufism. She had also begun doctoral work on the Persian Sufipoet Rumi but never completed her PhD.
4) Prior to Pakistan, she was posted in Iraq, Liberia, Malaysia andCroatia. Her knowledge of Urdu was one of the primary reasons she waspicked for her assignment. Her main job was to scan Pakistani media andmake two daily dossiers interpreting the developments.
5) She came under the scanner six months into her posting. When she joinedthe service, she was desperate for a posting in Moscow, but she didn’t gether dream job.
6) She was seduced, it seems by one of her handlers was reportedly a mancalled Jim allegedly an alias for Jamshed. The chargesheet contains anemail to that effect, which supposedly carries proof her of her romanticentanglement.