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‘Madhuri Gupta’s profile right for spy’

Those who have interrogated diplomat Madhuri Gupta fault the ministry of external affairs for sending a single woman to cope with the strain of living in a hostile environment.

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Those who have interrogated diplomat Madhuri Gupta, the alleged mole in the Indian mission in Islamabad, say her profile was right for being a spy and fault the ministry of external affairs (MEA) for sending a single woman to cope with the strain of living in a hostile environment. The ministry’s postings have come under the scanner.

“The MEA should have considered this before sending her to a sensitive posting in Islamabad,’’ a senior intelligence source said. Gupta came through as bright, well-read and bitter that at 53, she remained at the bottom of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) ladder, an official who spoke to her at length said.

“There is no remorse for betraying the country. She believes she has done nothing wrong, may be as she is a recent convert to Sufi philosophy, which does not respect artificial borders,’’ the official explained.

Investigators on Thursday widened the net to question many of those she was close to, including a doctor friend (See: ‘Madhuri is upright, decent, say friends’).

Gupta, an attaché with the mission in Islamabad who was promoted last year as second secretary, has embarrassed the Indian establishment. She was brought back for consultations on the pretext of the ongoing Saarc summit in Thimpu, but arrested for spying for Pakistan.

In a suo motu statement in Parliament on Thursday, Preneet Kaur, junior minister in the MEA, did not mention that Gupta was arrested on Sunday. But a case has been registered against her by the Delhi police under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail.

Kaur repeated what officials have been saying since the issue came into public domain, that she had no access to sensitive information.

As an officer involved in scanning the Urdu press and translating interesting pieces, she was not in a position to disclose anything major.

“The position occupied by the official did not involve access to highly classified material. The official is now cooperating with us in our inquiries,” Kaur said in the Lok Sabha.

The minister added: “At this stage, for national security reasons, it is not possible to divulge more details about the information that may have been compromised or to comment on this case as investigations are continuing.”

The final call on Gupta will be made after prime minister Manmohan Singh, foreign minister SM Krishna and foreign secretary Nirupama Rao return from the Saarc summit in Bhutan on Friday.

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