Charges framed against ex-DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar in espionage case
Former DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar has been indicted under sections of the Official Secrets Act
Pradeep Kurulkar, the then head of the DRDO's Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) laboratory, was suspended a few days after his arrest in May 2023. A special court in Pune on Thursday framed charges against former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, 62, in a honey-trap espionage case, and the trial is set to begin in July.
Kurulkar, arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 3, 2023, has been indicted under sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
The ATS on June 30, 2023, had submitted a 1837-page chargesheet against Kurulkar for his alleged wrongful communication to a female Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO) named ‘Zara Dasgupta’. Later, the court rejected his applications seeking bail and discharge.
Kurulkar, the then head of the DRDO’s Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) laboratory, was suspended a few days after his arrest.
Kurulkar’s counsel, Rhishikesh Ganu, said the prosecution is supposed to file an application under CrPC section 294 with a list of documents related to the case. “Defence will file its reply. Trial will commence after completion of initial formal stages,” Ganu said.
Senior lawyer Ujjwala Pawar is the special public prosecutor for this case.
Cell phones, laptop, hard disks seized in 2023
According to the ATS, after receiving information about Kurulkar allegedly contacting a Pakistan operative, the DRDO officials had seized several electronic devices used by him, including cell phones, a laptop and desktop hard disks “on February 24, 2023” for forensic investigation.
Thereafter, a probe by DRDO’s “internal standing committee” and a forensic report showed that Kurulkar was allegedly in constant touch with the female PIO through “WhatsApp messages, voice and video calls”, and shared sensitive information with her.
Zara Dasgupta named a wanted accused
According to the ATS, Dasgupta had introduced herself as a UK-based software engineer and allegedly lured Kurulkar by sending her several obscene messages, voice and video calls.
Probe revealed that Kurulkar and Dasgupta had multiple conversations between June 10, 2022, and February 24, 2023. ATS has alleged that Dasgupta wanted to procure confidential information from Kurulkar about various DRDO and defence projects in India.
ATS has named Dasgupta as a wanted accused in this case.
The two exchanged messages about BrahMos: ATS
The ATS retrieved alleged WhatsApp conversations between Kurulkar and Dasgupta, which are attached to the chargesheet. According to the document, the two exchanged messages about “BrahMos” between October 19 and October 28, 2022. In one exchange, Kurulkar is quoted as allegedly saying that he has “an initial design report…covering all BrahMos versions”, adding that he cannot share a copy via WhatsApp or email as it is “highly classified”.
ATS has specifically made mention of this chat dated October 28, 2022, in the chargesheet, claiming that despite being aware that the nature of information was highly confidential and cannot be shared over WhatsApp and email, Kurulkar told Zara that he would show it when she “meets him personally”.
Chats on Agni 6, Rustom
As stated in the chargesheet, along with BrahMos, Kurulkar and Dasgupta had WhatsApp chats on “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. It also includes chats on “Quadcopter, DRDO duty chart, Meteor missile, Rafael, Akash and Astra missile” and refers to a private Indian defence company executive who is a DRDO vendor and makes “robotic equipment” for Indian forces.
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