Honeytrap strikes army again

The army is probing a lieutenant colonel allegedly targeted in a honeytrap operation by a Bangladeshi woman in the second such case in the past two years.

The army is probing a lieutenant colonel allegedly targeted in a honeytrap operation by a Bangladeshi woman in the second such case in the past two years.

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The same woman, suspected to be working for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, had honeytrapped another lieutenant colonel last year in Dhaka where he was attending a course.

The Intelligence Bureau tipped off the army on the latest case after which it emerged that the lieutenant colonel, an Armoured Corps officer posted in Rajasthan, was in touch with the woman on Facebook.

A senior army officer played down the espionage angle, saying the officer was being probed for having contact with a foreign national — a strict no-no in the army without authorisation.

He said the court of inquiry was ordered after it surfaced that the same woman had honeytrapped another officer last year. “At this stage, it doesn’t appear that the officer passed on any sensitive information, though he used to chat with the woman. He never met her,” the officer said.

Army rules do not allow officers to identify themselves or their locations on social networking sites. Most officers use pseudonyms.