ISI's budget for Indian moles goes up

The arrest of Madhuri corruGupta, the Indian mole in the Pakistani establishment may have opened up a can of worms. Even as various agencies probe this woman, an interesting fact that comes to light is that the Pakistan government had increased the budget for such operations from Rs 10 crore to Rs 25 crore just six months back.

Intelligence Sources told rediff.com that the specific reason for them to increase the spending for the ISI to trap Indian agencies is largely due to Afghanistan. The ISI has been constantly trying to tap Indian officials in order to get information on India’s plans in the Afghanistan since Pakistan too has a great deal of interest in that country. In the aftermath of the London Conference, Pakistan felt that India would try and take a more aggressive stand on that country and at no point of time did Pakistan want to lose control over the military set up in Afghanistan.

IB sources say that the Pakistan establishment had sanctioned Rs 10 crore per year to the ISI to bribe moles in order to pull out information. However six months back during a discussion the ISI had made it clear that the funds were not sufficient and they needed an increased budget since Indian officials who could be bribed demanded more money. It was readily agreed that the funding would be increased and it was then set at Rs 25 crore per annum.

The ISI has a large network within itself which focuses on tapping officials from other countries. They have a set of handlers who operate and find officials who can be corrupted. The handler in the case of Madhrui Gupta was a man called Rana who managed to coax her to share information. It is also said that she had a romantic interest with this man and hence the job was made easier. Each officer who is on deputation from Pakistan is shadowed by the agents of the ISI. In the case of Madhuri Gupta it was relatively easy as they managed to pick up information that she was unhappy with whatever she was earning. They then set Rana on her trail who managed not only to convince her but also get romantically involved with her.

The ISI not only traps such officers, but also sets up a bank account for them in Pakistan and transfers money over there. In the case of Madhuri, a bank account was set up and later the same was transferred to one of her accounts in India.

The ISI top rung which is interested in what India would do in Afghanistan. The brief to its officers was very clear and that was none should hesitate in spending any amount of money for whatever information an Indian mole is ready to divulge on this country. Indian agencies are worried that the ISI will try and tap more people as they are not afraid to increase their spending limit on such operations. The IB says that the most money is usually spent on Indian officials in Pakistan since information regarding India is of utmost interest to them.