Arun Marwaha was allegedly honey-trapped by an ISI official, pretending to be a woman.
An Air Force officer was arrested on Thursday in Delhi for allegedly spying for Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI.
Arun Marwaha, posted at the Delhi IAF headquarters, was handed over to Delhi Police yesterday after nearly 10 days of questioning by the counter- intelligence wing of the force, news agency PTI reported. He was allegedly honey-trapped by an ISI official, pretending to be a woman.
Here are the highlights on the arrest of the Indian Air Force Officer.
According to informed sources, Marwaha's phone has been seized and sent for forensic examination.
He is being questioned at the Special Cell's headquarters in Lodhi Colony area of south Delhi.
He was allegedly using his smartphone to click pictures of the classified documents pertaining to IAF headquarters and then sending them across via WhatsApp.
According to a Special Cell officer, privy to the investigation, Mr Marwaha, 51, shared the information and documents with two Pakistani agents who chatted with him on social media site Facebook pretending to be women.
The officer was arrested on Thursday as he was walking into the Air Force headquarters with his cellphone, which is not allowed in the building.
Arun Marwaha, 51, is a para jumper instructor. He was in charge of training elite Garud commandos and was due to retire next year.
A senior Air Force officer discovered the massive breach a few weeks ago and set up an internal investigation.
The Indian Air Force has not officially commented on the arrest but sources say the officer was indulging in certain "unwanted activities" through unauthorised electronic devices.
Investigators from IAF's counter intelligence wing are also examining whether officer Arun Marwaha was part of a larger espionage ring being run from Pakistan, sources say.
After the Air Force officer allegedly befriended the ISI agent on Facebook a few months ago, they started chatting regularly on WhatsApp, according to sources. The two allegedly even exchanged intimate messages. After gaining his trust, the agent asked the officer for classified documents.
Punishment under Official Secrets Act entails a jail term of up to seven years, PTI reported.
"The Delhi Police will now carry forward the probe. The officer has been slapped charges under Official Secrets Act," a source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Arun Marwaha was allegedly leaking classified documents through WhatsApp.