‘Madhuri Gupta was just an acquaintance’

SUNDERBANI - A doctor couple, under media glare for hosting Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta in this border area in Jammu and Kashmir last month, Thursday said she was just an acquaintance and they had no idea that she was spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.

“Madhuri Gupta was just an acquaintance, nothing else,” Khem Raj Sharma told reporters, who had gathered in this small, sleepy town, 120 km north of Jammu, after it came to light that Gupta had visited their house March 28-29 and stayed with him and his wife Champa.

“It is true that Madhuri Gupta had visited us March 28-29 and stayed with us, but it was only because she was a friend of Prem Lata, a long-time friend of my wife Champa Sharma,” he said.

Both Champa and Prem were together at a medical college in New Delhi.

“It’s absurd to suggest that we are part of any spy ring. We didn’t know that she (Madhuri) was a spy or working for the ISI,” he said, adding Prem Lata had phoned them that she and her friend Gupta would be visiting them.

Gupta, a second secretary with the Indian high commission in Islamabad, has been remanded in police custody. The Indian government Tuesday said it was questioning Gupta for passing sensitive information to Pakistan.

She was arrested four days ago after being summoned to Delhi on the pretext of consultations.