At centre of DRDO espionage row, top scientist, musician, taskmaster and ‘boss who loved to talk’

Kurulkar, 59, was Director of the DRDO’s Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) or R&DE wing, which handled several strategically sensitive projects, including the development of strategic assets, ranging from military bridges to ground systems and launchers of almost all the missiles in India’s arsenal. A few days before his arrest, as the DRDO’s vigilance wing carried out an internal probe, Kurulkar was, in an internal transfer, reassigned to the Armament Combat Engineering Cluster office in Pune. Kurulkar has been placed under suspension since his arrest.

Kurulkar was due to retire in November with the rank of Scientist H or ‘Outstanding Scientist’ — the second highest rank within DRDO hierarchy. His colleague say they suspected something was amiss when he was moved out in an internal transfer.

“A few days before his arrest, we had an inkling that something was going on. Then there was the unexpected internal transfer. But an arrest, and that too in such a case, was a major shock to all of us. He has been an important figure in the DRDO not just because of the positions he held but also the projects he worked on. So his arrest also comes with concerns,” said a DRDO scientist and Kurulkar’s colleague.

The colleague spoke of Kurulkar as an effective taskmaster, “someone who knows how to get work done”.

“DRDO projects often have multiple teams and there are always differences in approach. Kurulkar was good at resolving these conflicts and taking the projects to its logical end.”

The colleague added, “In the mid-2000s, DRDO had formed an elite thinktank codenamed G-FAST, Group of Forecasting Systems and Technologies, to contemplate the future of defence research in India. Kurulkar was one of the 10-12 individuals selected from a pool of around 6,000 DRDO scientists to be part of this group. He was also part of the top management group of the DRDO.”

His colleagues say that while Kurulkar was a key member of teams that worked on several strategically significant projects such as Anti Satellite Missile Test — Mission Shakti and nuclear-capable series Agni, his biggest contribution, arguably, was to the successful development of the Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM), a key asset of the Indian Army’s and Air Force’s air defence capabilities – Kurulkar was Project Leader and Team Manager for Akash ground systems.

Kurulkar’s profile on the DRDO website, which was deleted days after his arrest, lists some of the other missile systems that he worked on – the medium-range SAM, Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile system, Prahar, quick reaction SAM and extra long range SAM, among others.

The profile also listed his contribution to areas such as high-performance, high-power servo drive technology; electric propulsion technology; missile canister technology; autonomous navigation technology for small unmanned ground vehicles; and intelligent robotic manipulators for hazardous military applications, among others.

“As a trained electrical engineer, he has been a versatile innovator in the field of electromechanical control systems which have huge applications ranging from household to military applications. He has also been a believer in the utility of defence innovations in our day-to-day lives, as in spin off technologies,” said the colleague.

Kurulkar’s colleagues speak of him as someone who loved to “tell stories” and was a good orator.

“He loved to talk about all the work he did in the past, how he worked closely with (former President and then DRDO chief) Dr APJ Abdul Kalam,” said the colleague.

Another senior DRDO scientist said, “Kurulkar was known to be talkative… also impulsive at times. He was a passionate orator and took pride in talking about DRDO’s achievements at various platforms. He was also very passionate on the subject of indigenous development (of defence systems) and reducing import dependence.”

Two of the DRDO officers The Indian Express spoke to cast doubts over the prosecution’s theory that Kurulkar may have shared strategically significant and classified information with Pakistan-based intelligence operatives.

“Considering the profile he held, if he communicated with someone through a social media profile and shared information, it is one thing and should be probed thoroughly. But I have serious doubts about the allegation that he shared classified information. For one, the director of a lab has little access to classified details of individual projects. We must differentiate between what is available in the public domain on DRDO systems and what is actually classified information,” said one of them.

Kurulkar’s profile on the DRDO website – which stands deleted since the arrest – listed his contribution to areas such as high-performance, high-power servo drive technology; electric propulsion technology; missile canister technology; autonomous navigation technology for small unmanned ground vehicles; and intelligent robotic manipulators for hazardous military applications, among others.

Those close to him say Kurulkar, born in 1963, belongs to a Pune family with a “strong educational and cultural background”.

One of Kurulkar’s friends said, “He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the elite COEP (College of Engineering Pune, in 1985). He worked with a private firm in Pune before he joined DRDO following his uncle’s footsteps. His first appointment was in Chennai (at DRDO’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment in Chennai in 1988) and he moved to Pune in the early 1990s to the Research and Development Establishment.”

Calling Kurulkar “a caring friend who likes to keep in touch”, the friend says he inherited his grandfather and father’s musical talent. “He plays the saxophone, tabla, mridangam, flute and harmonium with equal ease and finesse. He shares his love for music with his wife, who is a dentist, and son, a robotics engineer,” the friend said.

On Tuesday, a special court in Pune remanded Kurulkar in judicial custody till May 29. Kurulkar has been booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) pertaining to spying and wrongful communication. ATS officials told The Indian Express that Kurulkar allegedly came into contact with Pakistan-based intelligence operatives and they suspect he was honey-trapped using the profile of a woman on social media and phone messenger platforms. They said he was allegedly in contact with the Pakistan-based operatives through voice messages and video calls from September-October last year and allegedly shared sensitive information with them.