Tensions between Pakistan and India have only become worse since the Pahalgam terror assault. Concerns have been heightened by the arrest of content creator Jyoti Malhotra and six other Indians who were allegedly spying for Pakistan. In the midst of this, an old story about Madhuri Gupta, an Indian diplomat in Islamabad who supposedly became a spy for Pakistan out of love, has come to light again. Her narrative, which reflects the intricate web of treachery, emotions, and espionage, is making headlines once more.
1. Who was Madhuri Gupta?
In the early 2000s, Madhuri Gupta, an Indian ambassador, made headlines across the board. Being a diplomat is not a simple job. It requires intelligence, cultural awareness, and the capacity to remain composed in the face of difficulty. Madhuri possessed all of those things and more. She was fluent in Urdu, well-read, and had a strong interest in Sufi and historical literature. However, the very thing that made her valuable to India ultimately contributed to her demise. The fact that Madhuri turned against her own nation after serving with loyalty for almost thirty years makes her one of the most stunning examples of espionage in Indian diplomatic history.
In the early 1980s, Madhuri entered the Ministry of External Affairs as a member of the Grade B cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, which is not an easy path, by the way. Despite not being a senior diplomat, she quietly supported India’s overseas missions in countries including Iraq, Liberia, Malaysia, and Croatia.
She served as the Second Secretary (Press & Information) at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad from 2007 to 2008.
2. Madhuri Gupta: a mole inside India’s High Commission
India’s security agencies were on high alert in early 2010, just over a year after the catastrophic 26/11 attacks. Rajiv Mathur, the Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) then-chief, received extremely sensitive information during this stressful time: that someone from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was surreptitiously providing information to Pakistan’s spy organisation, the ISI. Madhuri Gupta, a second secretary at the High Commission, was instantly suspected.
A clever tactic was used to catch her red-handed. Gupta had access to channels that provided her with misleading but ostensibly significant information. This trap was successful because the ISI soon discovered the phoney intelligence, proving that Gupta had really leaked it.
Everything about the operation was kept very secret. Home Secretary GK Pillai and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) chief KC Verma were among the few senior Indian officials who were aware of the probe. No one in Pakistan was informed about the investigation. At first, a three-member committee had recommended that she be monitored for a few more weeks rather than being arrested immediately. This made it possible to track the flow of the fabricated data and verify that Gupta was the source of the leak.
3. She was arrested on April 22, 2010
Under the guise of assisting with media preparations for the next SAARC summit in Bhutan, Madhuri Gupta was deftly enticed to return to India. On April 21, 2010, she arrived in Delhi and stayed overnight at her home in West Delhi. She assumed everything was as usual when she entered the Ministry of External Affairs office in South Block the following day, April 22, 2010. She was supposed to meet Ashok Tomar, the additional secretary at the time.
However, the Delhi Police Special Cell, who had been informed beforehand, was called as soon as she got there. After giving Pakistan’s ISI vital information, Madhuri Gupta was peacefully taken into custody. Remarkably, she showed no signs of surprise or resistance. Rather, she smirked as she turned to face the cops and uttered,
“What took you so long?”
4. She stayed for 21 months in Jail and then was granted a bail
Madhuri Gupta was arrested in April 2010 and taken to Tihar Jail in Delhi, where she was held for about 21 months. She was legally accused at this time of violating two provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923, which carried a maximum penalty of three years. Even though the charges were serious, the trial did not start right away, and she remained in jail as the legal process and investigation took their time.
Not until 2012, nearly two years after her arrest, did her trial start. Gupta had already been imprisoned for a considerable period of time without a verdict by that point. In the end, she was given bail because of the delay and the time she had already served. Legal actions continued throughout the ensuing years, so the case was far from over.
5. What all Madhuri Gupta leaked to Pakistan
She acknowledged giving Pakistan’s spy service, ISI, access to extremely private and confidential material during the trial. In addition to being emotionally hurtful, her treason seriously jeopardised India’s national security. Investigators found that Madhuri had disclosed the identities, email addresses, passwords, positions held, and whereabouts of Indian officials employed by the High Commission in Islamabad.
Most dangerously, she also disclosed the identity of Indian intelligence officers operating undercover in Pakistan, particularly those associated with RAW. She went further, revealing internal assessments intended just for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as well as covert passageways between India and Pakistan.
Out of the 73 emails that the authorities found, 54 were sent and 19 were received from the email address atlastrao@gmail.com, which Madhuri used to correspond with her handlers in Pakistan. According to reports, Mubshar Raza Rana, one of her ISI connections, generated this ID. The information was gathered from her in large part by another contact, Jamshed (also called Jim).
Her involvement in espionage was evident from the substance of these communications, which were printed in excess of 300 pages. The court vehemently disagreed with some experts’ attempts to minimise the significance of the leaked data.
6. Betrayed her country for a false love
Madhuri Gupta betrayed her nation by falling into an emotional trap posing as love after 27 years of service to India. She started dating Jamshed (Jim), a Pakistani guy who was surreptitiously employed by the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence organisation. She supposedly had a great deal of faith in him and thought their relationship would end in marriage. Jim’s true goal, though, was to coerce her into disclosing private information regarding India’s intelligence and diplomatic operations.
He gradually won her trust and exploited their bond to force her to divulge private information that ought to have been kept private. Madhuri wrote in an email that was later obtained from her account,
“I am not used to just sitting at home in purdah. After marriage he will neither socialise himself nor let me socialise with anyone.”
She persisted in providing Pakistan’s intelligence service with crucial information in spite of her reservations. Because of a risky emotional deceit, she not only betrayed her nation, but she also abused the confidence placed in her as a seasoned diplomat.
7. Her Urdu prowess made her assign to Islamabad
Madhuri Gupta’s mentor in Moscow encouraged her to pursue her goal of beginning her career with a posting there. She was instead posted to Islamabad by the Ministry of External Affairs due to her proficiency in Urdu. Her primary responsibilities included keeping an eye on Pakistani Urdu media and generating regular reports for high-ranking officials. Despite not being actively involved in defence or secret diplomatic talks, she had indirect access to high-level information because of her near proximity to sensitive conversations and intelligence officials.
Things may have turned out quite differently if her ambition to join Moscow had been approved. She might not have been dragged into the perilous circumstance that ultimately resulted in her betraying India if she had operated distant from Pakistan’s intelligence networks.
8. In 2018, the court found her guilty
She was ultimately convicted guilty of criminal conspiracy and spying for Pakistan by a Delhi court in 2018, following years of judicial proceedings. The court said that although the leaked material wasn’t solely connected to defence, it was nevertheless very helpful to Pakistan and a danger to India’s intelligence activities in Islamabad. To put it briefly, Madhuri Gupta had divulged private information that may have gravely harmed India’s security interests. As a diplomat, she betrayed her country.
Madhuri led a calm, isolated existence while she was employed. She identified herself as someone who liked her job, was single, and had no close family. She was renowned for her intellectual prowess, was working on a PhD on the Persian poet Rumi, and loved Sufi philosophy. Some stayed away from her, describing her as guarded and difficult to approach, while others admired her.
She might have been more susceptible to emotional manipulation because of her combination of intelligence, loneliness, and lack of recognition. However, it is also acceptable to claim that she betrayed her own country voluntarily. What do you think about Madhuri Gupta’s case? Please share using the comments section below.
