Drdo scientist arrested

A special court here on Tuesday remanded DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar to a 14-day judicial custody till May 29. Dr. Kurulkar was recently During the hearing on Tuesday, the scientist requested some medicines owing to comorbidities like high blood pressure. The court permitted that he be given medicines, but refused his request for home-cooked food. On Monday, the special court had Dr. Kurulkar, a lab director the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pune, was arrested by the Maharashtra police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 3 following a complaint filed by a senior officer of the Vigilance and Security Department of the DRDO. He was produced before the special court in Pune on May 4. The scientist was allegedly in touch with a “Pakistan Intelligence Operative” through WhatsApp and video calls, an ATS official said last week, adding it was a case of honeytrap. After his arrest, an offence under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act was registered against Dr. Kurulkar. According to the ATS, a probe by the DRDO’s internal standing committee and a forensic report had revealed that the accused was allegedly in constant touch with a female Pakistani operative through “WhatsApp messages, voice and video calls” and had shared sensitive information with her. The prosecution earlier informed the court that they seized a phone on which a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) agent had messaged the accused using an Indian number. Dr. Kurulkar had allegedly trave...

PUNE: A 59-year-old scientist at a defence research and development organisation laboratory in Pune has been arrested on charges of spying and sharing security-sensitive information with a suspected female The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad said on Thursday that the scientist had been in contact with the Pakistani operative through voice messages and video calls over WhatsApp. He stands accused of offences punishable under sections 3 (spying) and 5 (wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act. The court of special judge S R Navander remanded him in ATS custody till May 9. The scientist's arrest late Wednesday was on the basis of a complaint by an official of DRDO's vigilance and security office in Delhi. The scientist had allegedly shared with the Pakistani operative a photograph of a missile along with its location, besides some of his personal pictures that were later used to blackmail him. "A DRDO inquiry officer had seized a laptop and two mobile phones belonging to the scientist on February 24, and a forensic analysis of the same confirmed that the scientist shared information with the Pakistani intelligence operative in what appears to be a honeytrap," special public prosecutor Vijay Fargade told TOI. Delhi-based DRDO spokesperson V K Kaushik declined to comment on the arrest "at this juncture". A senior colleague of the arrested man described him as "one of our leading scientists in developing various launchers, including for missiles". 'Our...

Pune: Until six months ago, there was nothing that was extraordinary, other than his talents, about Pradeep Kurulkar. The Defence Research Development Organisation, where he worked as director, describes him as “outstanding”, his acquaintances say the 59-year-old is a regular family man while a senior leader of the RSS, which Kurulkar has been associated with since age 5, says he was always “dutiful”. Pradeep Kurulkar (left) was taken to ATS office in Shivajinagar on Tuesday. (RAHUL RAHUT/ HT PHOTO) But about six months ago, the vigilance team at the DRDO in Pune where Kurulkar played a key role in the design, development and production of Akash launchers and mission-critical ground systems defence projects, started tracking his movements and communication. They suspected their star scientist was in touch with a Pakistani Intelligence Operative in what they told the Maharashtra ATS seemed like a case of “honey trap”. After the DRDO complaint, a team of Maharashtra ATS began tracking Kurulkar and found that he was in touch with a female Pakistani Intelligence Operative through audio and video messages over Whatsapp. ATS also claim the scientist has allegedly shared sensitive security and defence related information with her. The agency believes that Kurulkar first came in contact with the female PIO in September 2022 and continued to remain in touch with her for six months before blocking her number. At the time of his arrest on May 3, Kurulkar was officiating as head of Re...

• • • • DRDO scientist held for 'Pak link' headed key research lab, ATS probing 'foreign visits' in espionage case DRDO scientist held for ‘Pak link’ headed key research lab, ATS probing ‘foreign visits’ in espionage case Documents submitted by the ATS in a Pune court show that the accused, Pradeep Kurulkar (59), headed the Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), which is based in the city, it is learnt. ATS sources told The Indian Express that he was moved out of this position recently. The senior scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad for Documents submitted by the ATS in a Pune court show that the accused, Pradeep Kurulkar (59), headed the Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), which is based in the city, it is learnt. ATS sources told The Indian Express that he was moved out of this position recently. According to DRDO’s official website, Kurulkar has played a key role in several strategically significant projects of the organisation, including the nuclear capable Agni missile series in addition to several other missile systems. “He was transferred out from his position as director a few days ago and posted at another DRDO entity in Following a complaint filed by a top officer of the Vigilance and Security Department of DRDO, the ATS registered an While seeking his custody for seven days, it is learnt the ATS submitted before the court that the DRDO had receive...

"A Defence Research and Development OrganisationDRDO scientist, who was working in one of the facilities of DRDO in Pune, has been arrested by ATS on the charges of espionage. He was found to have had contact with the operatives of Pakistan's Intelligence Agency through social media via WhatsApp messages, voice calls, video etc," said Anti-Terrorism Squad. Kurulkar is described as an "outstanding scientist" on the DRDO website. He is the project leader and systems manager for Akash Ground Systems. "He has been a key member of Akash team and has played a major role in the design, development and production of Akash Launchers and mission-critical Ground Systems," the DRDO website states. Kurulkar was due to retire in November.

PUNE: The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Tuesday informed a special court here that the DRDO scientist arrested in a spying case had communicated with an email ID having an IP (internet protocol) address in Pakistan. Investigating officer Sujata Tanawade told the court that a prominent search engine has provided a report to the investigating agency confirming that the IP address of the email, to which the accused had sent mails, belonged in Pakistan. The court of special judge (ATS) SR Navander extended the scientist's custodial remand till May 15. On May 3, the ATS had arrested the scientist (59) of a DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) laboratory on the charge of spying and wrongful communication of information to a Pakistani intelligence operative. It is the ATS' case that the scientist was in contact with the Pakistani intelligence operative through WhatsApp and had shared sensitive information in his possession with the Pakistani operative. Special prosecutor Vijay Fargade submitted that the ATS on Tuesday received an input-output (IO) analysis report relating to the cellphone of the accused from the state forensic science laboratory and needed to interrogate the accused on the same. Fargade submitted that the ATS also needed to interrogate the accused regarding the entries in his bank account. The ATS has already completed the investigation relating to the personal passport of the accused. However, the agency needed to interrogate the accused on...

Mumbai: A scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who was arrested two days ago for allegedly providing confidential information to a Pakistani intelligence agent was in touch with her since 2022, an official said here on Friday. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Pradeep M Kurulkar (59) in Pune on Wednesday under the Official Secrets Act, following which a court there remanded him in the ATS's custody till May 9. He had been honeytraped by the woman agent, as per the investigators. Kurulkar, who held the position of director in a DRDO establishment in Pune, had been removed from his post recently after investigation into his alleged links with a Pakistani agent began, the ATS official said. The woman agent of a "Pakistani Intelligence Operative" contacted the accused through WhatsApp in September 2022, and since then they were in contact through WhatsApp voice messages and video calls, he said. "The scientist, by misusing his position, despite knowing that the official secrets in his possession if obtained by the enemy country can pose a threat to the security of the country, provided the details to the enemy country," the ATS had said in a release on Thursday. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A special court in Pune today extended the judicial custody of Pradeep Kurulkar (59), the DRDO scientist Kurulkar (59) was arrested on May 3 by the ATS. He was booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) pertaining to spying and wrongful communication with Pakistani intelligence operatives in a suspected case of honey trap. Kurulkar was in ATS custody till May 15. Then, he was remanded to judicial custody by the court till May 29. Today, defence lawyer Rhishikesh Ganu said that Special judge SR Navandar extended his judicial custody by 14 days, till June 12. According to ATS, Kurulkar had visited several foreign countries, and it was probing whether he met Pakistani operatives during these visits. ATS suspects that Kurulkar has passed on sensitive information to the Pakistani operative. The ATS has also alleged that Kurulkar held meetings with “some women” at the DRDO’s guesthouse.

Eleven people including a journalist, working for an English daily, were arrested by the Karnataka police for alleged links with terrorist organisations like the Huji and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Among the arrested was also a junior scientist, who worked with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for six months.