Youtuber Jyoti Malhotra’s case reminds of former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, honey trapped by ISI 15 years ago

Youtuber Jyoti Malhotra’s case reminds us of a former Indian diplomat, Madhuri Gupta, who was honey trapped by ISI and passed off information to her Pakistani handlers. She was at the center of a big espionage scandal that shocked the Indian bureaucratic system as Gupta was not just any citizen but a diplomat herself. When the Indian Intelligence agency got information regarding this, they started tracking her activities and found Madhuri suspicious. She was soon arrested and was given jail sentence.  

Who was Pakistani ‘spy’ Madhuri Gupta? 

Madhuri Gupta is a former diplomat who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. She was convicted by a Delhi court and was arrested on April 22, 2010, for passing on sensitive information to Pakistan's ISI and compromising national interest. 

Madhuri Gupta worked in the media section of India’s high commission in Pakistan’s capital. Reports suggest she was handsomely compensated for her services by ISI and had been lured in by a classic honey trap. She had been described as ‘brash and fearless’ and was looking forward to a plum diplomatic posing in London or Washington. Gupta worked with the Ministry of External Affairs for 27 years where her colleagues praised her ‘intellectual acuity’ and she also showed a keen interest in Sufism. She had also begun doctoral work on the Persian Sufi poet Rumi but never completed her PhD. 

Prior to Pakistan, she was posted in Iraq, Liberia, Malaysia and Croatia. Her knowledge of Urdu was one of the primary reasons she was picked for her assignment. Her main job was to scan Pakistani media and make two daily dossiers interpreting the developments. 

Madhuri Gupta’s scandal story 

In the early 2010, at a time when India was still not fully recovered from the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, an informant told the story to the then Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur. He had talked about Madhuri Gupta who was a Grade B Indian Foreign Service officer and Second Secretary (Press & Information) in Islamabad. Initial intelligence inputs hinted towards Gupta's suspicious activities after which Rajiv Mathur informed Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief KC Verma and Home Secretary GK Pillai. 

The intelligence then put a long surveillance on her. The plan was to false feed her with planted information which would track her path when leaked. After evidence proved her guilty, she was called to Delhi on the excuse of helping with media relations for the SAARC Summit. She arrived in Delhi on 21 April 2010 and was arrested the next day.