ISI's Rs 4,000-crore spy machine: Unit 412 drives honey traps, fake news blitz

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Hanif Khan’s arrest on charges of spying by the Rajasthan Police marks the fourth espionage-related arrest in Jaisalmer this year. In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Intelligence agencies had warned that the ISI would indulge more in espionage and disinformation warfare against India.

In the last couple of months, there has been a massive jump in the number of arrests in the country relating to espionage. This signals that the ISI has increased spying operations in India.

The spying operations by the ISI are run by its Unit 412, which is based in Karachi.

This is the same unit that runs the honey trap racket. This unit is very active now, the agencies have learnt, and it performs a variety of tasks.

It has been tasked with launching a disinformation war against India. It controls thousands of fake accounts on social media through which it puts out false information.

During Operation Sindoor, there were plenty of posts that were put on social media with false claims about the losses faced by the Indian Armed Forces. This was a deliberate move to paint a poor picture of the Indian Armed Forces, while covering up the humiliation that the Pakistan Army faced.

The unit also has a massive budget that is used to lure Indians into passing on information. It also has a large number of female staff who are tasked with laying honey traps. Officials say that Unit 412 operates modules within India, too.

It has hired several people by using various means. They include money, traps and sometimes even threats. It has also hired several women who are given Hindu names. Their job is to trap officials who are privy to sensitive information. The unit hires attractive women who are instructed to move around in Army circles. Their task is to get close to officials and set traps in exchange for sensitive information.

In recent times, many people, including influencers, have been arrested by the Indian security agencies. The influencers were hired so that they would paint a good picture of Pakistan. Later on, this information is used to create a bad image for India by accusing the country of trying to defame Pakistan. They cite videos and texts by these influencers to portray Pakistan in a positive light.

Officials say that there is plenty of rot within the country, and it needs to be cleaned up. Tensions are very high between the two countries, and at such a time, it is very dangerous when sensitive information goes to Pakistan.

While the arrest of common people is a concern, a matter of greater worry is the ISI trapping persons who are working in government organisations.

On April 22 this year, a CRPF assistant sub-inspector was arrested on charges of spying. Moti Ram is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is trying to ascertain if he had passed on information about Pahalgam to the terrorists.

Of late, there has also been a massive rise in activity on social media. Officials in India have been advised not to entertain friend requests.

If the members of Unit 412 find a person of interest, it tells its women staff to post provocative images and bombard such persons with friend requests until at least one is accepted. Once this takes place, then a relentless effort is made to get friendly with the person, and then trap him before blackmailing him into passing on information, investigations by various agencies have learnt.

In recent years, Unit 412 has set up many connections in India. The maximum number of such units has been found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Like the ISI wants all its terror groups to operate from one single place in the aftermath of the Indian Armed Forces carrying out Operation Sindoor, a similar trend has also been noticed about these units.

In the aftermath of the operation, the honey trap module, operating out of Faridkot, was shifted to Karachi. Currently, all espionage operations are being carried out from Karachi.

The Indian agencies estimate that the ISI is spending approximately Rs 4,000 crore a year on running units such as 412.

--IANS

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