A chargesheet has been filed under the Official Secrets Act against Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, who compromised sensitive defence data related to missiles to a Pak spy agent who went by the name ‘Zara Dasgupta’.

Zara had claimed to be a software engineer based in the United Kingdom, while her IP address had been traced back to Pakistan when the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) looked into it. Kurulkar held the position of director of one of the labs in the DRDO.

‘Pradeep Zara’ and the honeytrap

Kurulkar had met Zara through WhatsApp, where the two exchanged conversations along with voice notes and video calls. Explicit videos and messages were part of the exchange as well.

As per the chargesheet filed, during these conversations, sensitive information regarding Brahmos launchers, Drones, Agni Missile launchers, Military Bridging systems, etc. was shared by Kurulkar with his love interest. He was arrested for this act in May 2023 by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra Police from Pune, and a charge sheet was filed against him in court last week.

Acclaimed official to denounced lover

Kurulkar had been involved in multiple projects at DRDO, including designing and developing work. According to the charge sheet, he had sensitive information stored on his mobile phone.

His and Zara’s conversations were carried out from June to Dec 2022. However, Kurulkar blocked Zara in Feb 2023 after an internal probe was set up at DRDO after his suspicious activities.

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