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Indian Navy chief caught in Russian 'honeytrap'
An Indian Navy chief caught in a Russian "honeytrap" may have helped inflate the cost of an aircraft carrier deal by up to £1 billion to stop explicit photographs taken during the negotiations being released.
Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 6:04PM BST 22 Apr 2010
The former Russian Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier renamed the INS Vikramaditya Photo: EPA
Commodore Sukhjunder Singh has been under investigation by a military Board of Inquiry since a CD containing the images of him in bed with a blonde Russian woman were sent to New Delhi's Naval Headquarters last month.
It is understood there is, as yet, no evidence that the 'honeytrap' influenced Commodore Singh's behaviour in negotiations to buy the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier from Russia, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility.
Investigators believe the photographs were taken between 2005 and 2007 when he was a captain posted as an observer to Severodvinsk base on the country's North-West coast.
At that time he was head of a large technical delegation sent to oversee repairs and the refitting of the vessel in the run-up to it being commissioned as the INS Vikramaditya. Then, India had agreed to buy the Soviet-era carrier, launched in 1982, for $800 million, including a full refit. But costs quickly began to rise and eventually led to a diplomatic dispute between India and Russia.
Now the costs have reached an estimated $2.33 (£1.5 billion), almost £1 billion higher than originally agreed and military chiefs fear Commodore Singh's honey trap may have been part of a campaign to influence Indian Navy specialists assessing the repairs and upgrades.
Russia's intelligence agencies and criminal gangs are suspected of being behind a series of honeytrap stings in which senior diplomats have been filmed in compromising situations with Russian women.
Last year Britain's deputy consul-general in Ekaterinberg, James Hudson, after footage of him in bed with two women was posted on the internet under the title 'The Adventures of Mr Hudson in Russia.' He was exposed a few months after American diplomat Kyle Hatcher was caught in a similar honeytrap in Moscow. Both cases were believed to have been part of blackmail attempts by Russian intelligence agencies.
While both Mssrs Hudson and Hatcher were caught by hidden cameras, Commodore Singh, who is married, appears to have willingly been photographed. In one shot both he and his partner smile directly into the camera. This fact has persuaded some investigators that he may be guilty only of "bad judgement." Commodore Singh is understood to have denied suggestions that his "indiscretion" had had any impact on the price increase negotiations with the Russians.
Sources close to India's defence establishment however believe he is now facing dismissal from his Navy post for "immoral conduct unbecoming of an officer." The newly refitted INS Vikramaditya is expected to be formally commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2012.
An Indian Navy chief caught in a Russian "honeytrap" may have helped inflate the cost of an aircraft carrier deal by up to £1 billion to stop explicit photographs taken during the negotiations being released.
Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 6:04PM BST 22 Apr 2010
The former Russian Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier renamed the INS Vikramaditya Photo: EPA
Commodore Sukhjunder Singh has been under investigation by a military Board of Inquiry since a CD containing the images of him in bed with a blonde Russian woman were sent to New Delhi's Naval Headquarters last month.
It is understood there is, as yet, no evidence that the 'honeytrap' influenced Commodore Singh's behaviour in negotiations to buy the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier from Russia, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility.
Investigators believe the photographs were taken between 2005 and 2007 when he was a captain posted as an observer to Severodvinsk base on the country's North-West coast.
At that time he was head of a large technical delegation sent to oversee repairs and the refitting of the vessel in the run-up to it being commissioned as the INS Vikramaditya. Then, India had agreed to buy the Soviet-era carrier, launched in 1982, for $800 million, including a full refit. But costs quickly began to rise and eventually led to a diplomatic dispute between India and Russia.
Now the costs have reached an estimated $2.33 (£1.5 billion), almost £1 billion higher than originally agreed and military chiefs fear Commodore Singh's honey trap may have been part of a campaign to influence Indian Navy specialists assessing the repairs and upgrades.
Russia's intelligence agencies and criminal gangs are suspected of being behind a series of honeytrap stings in which senior diplomats have been filmed in compromising situations with Russian women.
Last year Britain's deputy consul-general in Ekaterinberg, James Hudson, after footage of him in bed with two women was posted on the internet under the title 'The Adventures of Mr Hudson in Russia.' He was exposed a few months after American diplomat Kyle Hatcher was caught in a similar honeytrap in Moscow. Both cases were believed to have been part of blackmail attempts by Russian intelligence agencies.
While both Mssrs Hudson and Hatcher were caught by hidden cameras, Commodore Singh, who is married, appears to have willingly been photographed. In one shot both he and his partner smile directly into the camera. This fact has persuaded some investigators that he may be guilty only of "bad judgement." Commodore Singh is understood to have denied suggestions that his "indiscretion" had had any impact on the price increase negotiations with the Russians.
Sources close to India's defence establishment however believe he is now facing dismissal from his Navy post for "immoral conduct unbecoming of an officer." The newly refitted INS Vikramaditya is expected to be formally commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2012.
