MEA woman officer might not have leaked sensitive info

Going by the work profile of Madhuri Gupta, the second secretary in the Press and Information division at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, it is not possible for her to leak out sensitive information to the Pakistan spy agencies, Jayanth Jacob reports.

Going by the work profile of Madhuri Gupta, the second secretary in the Press and Information division at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, it is not possible for her to leak out sensitive information to the Pakistan spy agencies, unless she had obtained them from the higher-ups in the mission.

But it is for the first time that a spy ring involving Indians has come to light in Pakistan. However, spying incidents have been reported from other missions including China.

Gupta, a second secondary in the High Commission, was equivalent of a deputy secretray and belonged to the IFS-B. In other words, she was an officer level employee at the High Commission that too after being promoted to the IFS—B last year.

According to sources, Gupta was a "disgruntled staff" and she could have handed the information for money. But the division she has been working for doesn’t handle very sensitive information, unlike the political or visa consular sections.

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“The official in question wasn’t authorised with the handling of any sensitive information. She knew Urdu well. Her job was handling the events embassy hosts and other press and information matters that are handled by an entry- level officer in the government,” said diplomatic sources.

“We have reason to believe that an official in the High Commission of India in Islamabad had been passing information to the Pakistani Intelligence Agencies. The matter is currently under investigation. The Official is cooperating with our inquiries”, said Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Gupta, worked at the Indian Council for World Affairs before being appointed to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.