Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 8: The scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pune, Pradeep M Kurulkar, who was arrested in May allegedly for espionage, was attracted to the Pakistani Intelligence Operative who used the alias ‘Zara Dasgupta.’
The 59-year old Kurulkar had chatted with her about Indian missile systems among other classified defence projects, the charge-sheet filed against him in the court this week said. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested Kurulkar in Pune under the Official Secrets Act. He had been honeytraped by the woman agent, as per the investigators.
Kurulkar, who held the position of director in a DRDO lab in Pune, had been removed from his post after investigation into his alleged links with the Pakistani agent began. The woman agent of a “Pakistani Intelligence Operative” contacted the accused through WhatsApp in June, 2022, and since then they were in contact through WhatsApp voice messages and video calls, the police said.
The charge-sheet said Pradeep Kurulkar and ‘Zara Dasgupta’ were in contact through WhatsApp as well as voice and video calls, the charge sheet said. ‘Dasgupta’ claimed to be a software engineer based in the UK and befriended him by sending obscene messages and videos. During the investigation, her IP address was traced to Pakistan, the ATS said in the charge-sheet.
The Pakistani agent tried to get classified and sensitive information regarding the Brahmos Launcher, Drone, UCV, Agni Missile Launcher and Military Bridging System, among other things, it said. “Kurulkar, who was attracted to her, stored the classified and sensitive information of DRDO on his personal phone and then allegedly shared it with Zara,” the charge sheet said.
He chatted with her about various projects, including surface-to-air missiles (SAM), drones, Brahmos and Agni Missile Launchers and UCV, it said. The two were in contact from June 2022 to December 2022, as per the ATS.
Just before the DRDO initiated an internal probe after his activities were found to be suspicious, Pradeep Kurulkar blocked Zara’s number in February 2023. He soon received a WhatsApp message from another unknown Indian number, asking ‘Why you blocked my number?’ The chat records also showed that he shared his personal as well as official schedules and locations with her despite knowing that he was not supposed to share them with anyone, the charge sheet said.
During interrogation by the ATS, Kurulkar had admitted that he had video chats with the woman, the ATS official said. The accused’s two mobile phones and other electronic gadgets which were used for communicating with the woman agent were seized and sent for forensic analysis.
“The scientist, by misusing his position, despite knowing that the official secrets in his possession if obtained by the enemy country can pose a threat to the security of the country, provided the details to the enemy country,” the ATS had said.
