What did honeytrapped DRDO scientist reveal to Pakistan spy agent?

One of the first methods to obtain sensitive information is the utilisation of a romantic relationship or sex. The information may be exploited for monetary gain, political aims, and occasionally for extortion or blackmail of the subject.

In a recent incident, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar from Pune on suspicion of espionage.

According to DNA, the Pune police found that the 60-year-old scientist had engaged in voice and video calls, WhatsApp messages, and other forms of communication with Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO) agents while carrying out his official duties.

He was arrested on 3 May under the Official Secrets Act and is now in judicial custody.

Also read: From Mata Hari to Markus Wolf: A look at how honey traps are used in espionage

Who is Pradeep Kurulkar?

According to Livemint, Pradeep Kurulkar was appointed as the Director at the Systems Engineering Laboratory of the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) (R&DE(E)), which is a part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Born in 1963, he began working for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at CVRDE, Avadi, in 1988 after earning a first-class honours Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Electrical Engineering from COEP Pune in 1985.

Kurulkar has attended IIT Kanpur for advanced Power Electronics coursework with a concentration on Drives and Applications. He is an expert in creating mobile unmanned systems, advanced robotics, military engineering equipment, and missile launchers.

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Cautionary Alert! 🚨
DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar leaked classified information on crucial defense systems like Brahmos, Agni 6, Surface-to-Air Missiles, Anti-Satellite Missiles, Rustom UAV, Mentor Missile, AK firearms, Astra missile, and defense drones to Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/IyTGLmT6ME

— Oxomiya Jiyori 🇮🇳 (@SouleFacts) July 8, 2023

As a principal designer and team leader, he played a crucial role in the development and design of various military engineering tools and systems, including hyperbaric chambers, high-pressure pneumatic systems, mobile power supplies, and missile launchers like AD, MRSAM, Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile system, Prahar, QRSAM, and XRSAM.

Also read: Sex and Spies: Has Pakistan army been using actors to honey trap politicians?

How he was honey-trapped?

The ATS revealed that it had discovered “explosive” conversations between the scientist and the Pakistani agent in its charge sheet, which was presented to a special court on 30 June.

“Kurulkar, who was attracted to her, stored the classified and sensitive information of DRDO on his personal phone and then allegedly shared it with Zara,” the chargesheet said.

The charge sheet, which was obtained by Hindustan Times, stated that Kurulkar shared this knowledge with the woman “in order to establish intimate relations with her” while he was the director at DRDO. It claimed that the purported Pakistani agent set up numerous fictitious accounts using various aliases in order to communicate with the Indian scientist.

These names were Zara Dasgupta and Juhi Arora, among others. The same agent also created accounts using these names and two other phone numbers on messaging services. Both numbers were prefixed with the London area code +44. The Pakistani agent exchanged three email addresses with Kurulkar, according to the charge sheet: 26sweetpanda@gmail.com, dreamgirl56@gmail.com, and common158@gmail.com. She supplied the passwords for these email addresses in an effort to gain his trust before demanding that he download two apps for his phone, which he did.

According to the report, the Pakistani spy tried to obtain sensitive and confidential information about, among other things, the Brahmos Launcher, Drone, UCV, Agni Missile Launcher, and Military Bridging System.

According to the ATS, the two were in touch from June 2022 to December 2022.

“By using the app, there might be a chance of malware being inserted in the mobile phone of the accused,” said the charge sheet. In fact, in the forensic analysis of Kurular’s phone, DRDO experts found malware and reported this to ATS.

In February 2023, Pradeep Kurulkar blocked Zara’s number just before the DRDO opened an internal investigation into his activities since they were deemed questionable. Soon after, he got a WhatsApp message asking “Why you blocked my number?” from another unknown Indian number.

The charging document stated that Pakistan-based Nayatel in Islamabad was where the recovery cellphone number associated with the operative’s email address could be found, while Pakistan Telecommunication Limited owned the email address’s IP address.

Also read: China’s new anti-espionage law comes into effect amid business worries

What information did he share?

Kurulkar chatted with her about various projects, including surface-to-air missiles (SAM), drones, Brahmos and Agni Missile Launchers and UCV, it said.

Kurulkar also talked about DRDO’s ongoing work on the Bharat Quadcopter, Rustom, the medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat air vehicle that DRDO is developing, maybe in a bid to impress his female interlocutor. Kurulkar and the Pakistani operative would begin these serious conversations about defence matters with a fun “Babe,” according to the chats included in the indictment sheet.

According to Hindustan Times, the chargesheet claimed that Kurulkar, who is married to a doctor, enjoyed boasting about his accomplishments. He was questioned about if the Agni-6 launcher test had been successful by a female Pakistani operative in one of the discussions included in the 1,837-page charge sheet, to which he replied, “The launcher is my design sweetheart… It was quite successful. Between September 2022 and February 2023, Kurulkar and the suspected Pakistani operator had these conversations.

A further claim made by ATS was that Kurulkar became so comfortable with the Pakistani agent over time that he frequently shared details of his daily life with her. In one of these conversations, he explained how a leopard had wandered into the DRDO site in August of last year, according to the charge sheet. He even went so far as to reveal the CEO of a private company that supplies robotic technology to the Indian Army, along with his name and other personal information.

The discussions that were included in the charge sheet also showed how persistently the female Pakistani agent pursued Kurulkar. She once questioned him during one of their conversations: “Any new parameters or any modification happens… I’ve heard that Agni-6 is also still under development; when will the test take place? The man is said to have replied, “Karenge, thoda dheeraj rakho (Will do it, have some patience).”

“Despite knowing that an enemy nation can seek more information and specific information related to the CEO’s working place and the nature of work and the equipment he manufactured for the Armed forces, Kurulkar shared the formation with the operative,” the charge sheet said.

Kurulkar, who is currently incarcerated in Pune’s Yerwada jail, was taken into custody by the ATS on May 3 on suspicion of espionage and improper communication with a foreign operative. As part of its investigation, ATS has so far questioned 203 witnesses.

With inputs from PTI