DRDO scientist Kurulkar was attracted to Pak agent, talked about Indian missile systems: Chargesheet
Pune (PTI): DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar was attracted to the Pakistani Intelligence Operative, who used the alias 'Zara Dasgupta', and chatted with her about Indian missile systems among other classified defence projects, the chargesheet has said.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police filed the chargesheet against Kurulkar, who was the director of one of the labs of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pune, in a court here last week.
He was arrested on May 3 under the Official Secrets Act and is now in judicial custody.
Kurulkar and 'Zara Dasgupta' were in contact through WhatsApp as well as voice and video calls, the chargesheet 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 chargesheet.
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 chargesheet 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, 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 chargesheet said.
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Man accused of rape-murder of 5-year-old lynched to death in Bengal; Girl’s body found in pond
Alipurduar: A 40-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten to death by agitated locals in Alipurduar district located in West Bengal on Friday evening. Later, another man surrendered before the police claiming he was also involved in the crime, and was subsequently arrested.
The girl went missing on Friday evening. When her family began searching for the girl, they learned that she had last been seen with Mona Roy, as reported by the Indian Express.
The police said that the girl’s body was found floating in a local pond. They added that the locals caught Roy and took him to his residence where they allegedly noticed blood on the bed. Enraged by this, they tied Roy to a tree and started assaulting him.
Roy was beaten to death before the local police could reach the spot.
When the police arrived at the scene, angry locals prevented them from moving the two bodies. Eventually, a large team of police personnel was sent to the location. After two hours, they were able to remove the bodies from the area.
The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, a man named Bhakta Roy approached the police, claiming that he was involved in the crime and feared for his safety from the angry mob. He was subsequently arrested.
Y. Raghuvanshi, Superintendent of Police, Alipurduar, asserted it is a heinous crime, adding that they have started a detailed investigation in connection to the incident.
