No top official fell for phoney honey trap, confirms Parrikar

No top Service official has fallen for the phoney honey trap call centre from across the border, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said. The phoney honey trap business came into limelight during the Pathankot airbase terror attack inquiry. Addressing the Army Rally at the CISF grounds in Jaipur on Saturday, Parrikar said patriotism was high among the Indian youth. That way they showed greater enthusiasm for joining the Indian Army. The three Services were careful in safeguarding their staff against such honey traps and had taken enough measures, he added. Parrikar noted that it was true that the phoney honey trap busines had come to light during the Pathankot inquiry. But then no top officials fell for it. The enemy would resort to honey trap business when an adversary was strong, he added. However, the Minister did not refer to the Punjab police officer Salwinder Singh, who was allegedly a serious victim of the phoney honey trap from across the border run by Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan. Salwinder Singh is twice married, and he has a 16-year-old son by the second marriage. On the fateful day of Pathankot attack by Pakistani terrorists, Salwinder Singh had given his car willy-nilly to the terrorists to enable them to storm the airbase. The sturdy police officer had bluffed to the terrorists of Pakistan that he was a common man riding a blue beaconed car so his life should be spared. He had so claimed with the intelligence that the terrorists had fallen for his sob story and spared his life, but his jeweller friend, Rajesh Verma's throat was slit. Unlike the well-trained and sturdy former Superintendent of Police of border Gurdaspur district, two Servicemen, Major Fateh Singh and one who was brought in after retirement Jagdishchand, had confronted the terrorists and accounted for the first two terrorists with bare hands. They both seized AK 47s from the terrorists and independently shot them dead before being felled by the other terrorists. A civilian car driver, Ikagar Singh, whose car was hired by the terrorists, had realized who they were and tried to cause a mishap. But he was killed when the car hit a rock. There we have Salwinder Singh of the Punjab Police who gave his car to the terrorists which enabled them to go to the airbase unchecked amidst salutes at checkposts.