New Delhi, May 16 (Hindustan Times). After DRDO Lab Director Dr. Pradeep Kurulkar, now the name of an Indian Air Force officer has also surfaced in spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies. The DRDO scientist is currently in the custody of the Mumbai ATS and on the basis of his interrogation, the identity of the Air Force officer posted in Bengaluru has been revealed. Air Force officials have also interrogated him thoroughly. After the ATS, the statement of the Air Force officer has been recorded before the First Class Magistrate in Shivajinagar Court.
Investigation by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has revealed that honey-trapped DRDO scientist Dr Pradeep Kurulkar and Air Force officer Nikhil Shende were contacted by a fake account named ‘Zara Dasgupta’ to obtain sensitive information. I went. The ATS has revealed in a special court in Mumbai that apart from Kurulkar, Pakistani intelligence has targeted Air Force officer Nikhil Shende in a similar honey trap. Shende, posted in Bengaluru, is being interrogated by Air Force officials. He has also given his statement to ATS, which has been recorded before the First Class Magistrate in Shivajinagar Court.
ATS senior police inspector Sujata Tanwade told the special court that though Air Force officer Nikhil Shende has not been implicated as an accused in the case, technical investigation revealed that messages were sent to Kurulkar and Shende from Pakistani IP addresses. Were. Investigations have unearthed several e-mails sent from Pakistan to Kurulkar, suspecting him of sharing sensitive information compromising national security. Technical analysis of laptop and mobile phone seized from DRDO scientist has been done.
The scientist, director of a DRDO laboratory in Pune, was arrested on May 3. Kurulkar told the ATS that in October last year he received a message on WhatsApp. He was addressed by the wrong name in the message. On this, Kurulkar replied on WhatsApp that I am not him, but Pradeep Kurulkar. After this WhatsApp chatting started between the two. Kurulkar said that the woman in the WhatsApp chat described herself as an Indian living in London and expressed hatred against Pakistan. The chat between the two continued till February 2023.
Intelligence officials alerted DRDO that the number used to chat with Kurulkar had a Pakistani IP, and DRDO’s vigilance team investigated before reporting the complaint to ATS. Scientist Kurulkar was honey-trapped and shared information with Pakistani intelligence operatives. The probe also revealed that the scientist had shared a photo of a missile and some local address details, apart from sharing some of his personal photographs.
