DRDO espionage case: Pradeep Kurulkar’s bail plea rejected

According to ATS, the DRDO had received information about the accused illegally contacting a Pakistan-based operative. Subsequently, as per ‘procedure’, various electronic devices used by the accused, including cell phones, laptop and desktop hard discs, were seized by DRDO officials ‘on February 24, 2023’ for forensic investigation.

Then a probe by the DRDO’s ‘internal standing committee’ and a forensic report revealed that Kurulkar was allegedly in constant touch with the PIO through ‘WhatsApp messages, voice and video calls’ — and shared sensitive information with her, as stated by ATS.

Following a complaint filed by Col Pradeep Rana of the DRDO’s vigilance wing, the ATS personnel initiated a probe against Kurulkar and subsequently arrested him. Kurulkar was then the head of DRDO’s Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) — R & DE (E) laboratory. DRDO suspended Kurulkar from service a few days after his arrest.

Meanwhile, ATS named ‘Zara Dasgupta’ as a wanted accused in this case. On June 30, ATS filed the chargesheet (comprising six volumes and 1,835 pages) against Kurulkar before the special court. ATS attached with it details of the WhatsApp chats between Kurulkar and Zara, which were allegedly retrieved from his cell phone.

ATS also submitted to the court a sealed envelope carrying some ‘confidential’ documents pertaining to the probe.

On August 2, defence lawyer Rhishikesh Ganu had applied for Kurulkar’s bail in the special court, claiming that the information he is alleged to have shared with a PIO was not ‘classified’ and ‘incriminating’, but was available in public domain.

Ganu argued that a chargesheet against the accused was filed. Ganu said the entire case of prosecution is based on data retrieved from Kurulkar’s mobile phone and gadgets, which are seized by investigators and cannot be tampered by the accused.

Prosecution lawyer Vijay Fargade opposed Kurulkar’s bail plea, claiming he was holding a senior position and if bail is granted, he may create pressure on the witnesses and the possibility of him contacting the PIO again cannot be ruled out.

Fargade had also submitted that data deleted from Kurulakar’s cell phone needs to be recovered, so he should be given bail. Fargade told the court that a cell phone seized from Kurulkar had been sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Gujarat to retrieve the data from it, which the accused had allegedly “deleted”. Rejecting Kurulkar’s bail plea, special judge V R Kachare observed that some data from his cell phone is yet to be recovered. Judge also stated that it was not just to release the accused on bail where there is a prima-facie case against him.

Advocate Ganu said, “After receiving certified copy of the court’s order over bail application, we will move for bail in the Bombay High Court.”

According to the ATS, ‘Zara’ came in contact with Kurulkar through WhatsApp, telling him that she was a software engineer based in the UK. She allegedly lured Kurulkar by sending him several obscene messages, voice calls and video calls over WhatsApp. ATS has named Zara as a co-accused in this case. ATS has alleged that Kurulkar shared sensitive and classified information with Zara during multiple conversations between June 10, 2022, and February 24, 2023.

As per the chargesheet, Kurulkar and ‘Zara’ had WhatsApp chats on “Brahmos, Agni 6, Rustom (a medium altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle), Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV), Drone projects” of DRDO.