Air force officer accused of leaking information on WhatsApp, detained

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 01, 2018 : A senior Indian Air Force officer has been taken into custody after he was accused of passing on classified information to a woman he had reportedly befriended on Facebook. Sources told NDTV that the woman was likely to have been a spy who appeared to have honey-trapped the Group Captain-rank officer, who was based at the Air Force Headquarters in Delhi.

 

Classified information, sources said, had possibly been routed through Facebook and WhatsApp.

The matter came out during routine counter-intelligence surveillance and the officer was taken into custody following an investigation by the IAF’s Central Security and Investigation team, sources said.

The officials are trying to understand the extent to which classified data has been leaked. They are also trying to gauge whether others have been involved in the information leakage.


There are very strict guidelines on the use of social media in the armed forces that restricts soldiers from sharing their identity, rank, posting and other professional details. They are also not allowed to post photographs that show them wearing uniform.

In December 2015, the Delhi Police arrested a former Air Force officer for allegedly passing sensitive information to operatives suspected to be backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI.



courtesy:NDTV