A Delhi Police charge sheet alleges that an Indian Air Force Wing Commander shared classified war plans, drone capabilities, and fighter jet deployments with a suspected foreign intelligence operative.
The charge sheet, filed in Patiala House Court on July 30, accuses the officer of exchanging military secrets through WhatsApp in return for intimate photographs. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the matter remains sub-judice.
According to the filing, the officer communicated with the suspected operative through WhatsApp between January 12 and April 1, 2026. Delhi Police allege the officer uploaded a page from a classified IAF war plan after receiving a nude photograph and indicated he would provide additional pages for each photograph he received. Investigators documented a total of 3,008 text messages, 65 images, 65 reactions, 42 voice calls, 4 video calls, and 6 URLs exchanged between the two parties during this period.
The charge sheet claims the leaked material covered some of India’s most sensitive military assets. Allegations include the disclosure of a secret IAF drone unit’s personnel strength, organizational structure, operational procedures, trial data, flight endurance specifications, and weapon-targeting systems.
The filing also accuses the officer of sharing details of fighter jet deployments at the Leh airbase, a military exercise at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan’s Suratgarh, and locations earmarked for deployment during hostilities.
Delhi Police further allege the officer installed spyware on the electronic devices of five subordinate officers on instructions from the suspected operative. The suspected operative also reportedly sent malware applications that investigators believe enabled unauthorized access to sensitive data. These allegations, if proven, would represent a significant breach extending beyond the officer’s own communications to the security of his entire unit.
The IAF’s intelligence wing detected the activity and placed the officer under surveillance before handing the case to Delhi Police. The 44-year-old Wing Commander, whose identity has not been disclosed, was arrested on the night of May 30-31, 2026 and charged under the Official Secrets Act, 1923. He remains in judicial custody at Tihar Jail. The Counter Intelligence wing of the Delhi Police Special Cell filed the charge sheet, and prosecution awaits sanction from the competent authority.
Indian authorities have attributed the operation to Pakistani intelligence, describing it as part of a broader espionage network targeting Indian military personnel through social media honey-trap operations. Pakistan has not issued a formal response to the allegations in this specific case.
However, Islamabad has historically rejected similar Indian espionage claims as “baseless and unfounded.” In past cases involving comparable allegations, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has dismissed Indian assertions as politically motivated propaganda designed to malign Pakistani institutions.
The case follows a pattern of espionage allegations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. India has reported multiple honey-trap cases over the past decade allegedly linked to Pakistani intelligence. Pakistan, in turn, has pointed to cases like that of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Pakistani authorities convicted of espionage and sentenced to death in 2017, as evidence of Indian intelligence operations on Pakistani soil. India denies those charges and secured a stay on the sentence through the International Court of Justice.
