First Spy Scandal Hits Brahmos Aerospace: Nishant Agarwal to Serve Life Imprisonment for Feeding Information to Pak ISI
First Spy Scandal Hits Brahmos Aerospace: Nishant Agarwal to Serve Life Imprisonment for Feeding Information to Pak ISI
This has come as a shock to the country and his colleagues, considering his prestigious background as a recipient of the Young Scientists award from the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
4th June 2024
A Nagpur court issued a life sentence to former Brahmos Aerospace engineer Nishant Agarwal on Monday, convicting him of espionage for Pakistan’s ISI.
The revelation of Nishant Agarwal’s participation in the reported activity has come as a shock to the country and his colleagues, considering his prestigious background as a recipient of the Young Scientists award from the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Known for his brilliance in engineering and having studied at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Agarwal’s involvement has left many surprised and puzzled.
In 2018, Nishant Agarwal faced arrest on allegations of disclosing classified information concerning the Brahmos missile to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. Last April, Agarwal was released on bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court.
Agrawal held a senior position as a system engineer at Brahmos Aerospace, a collaborative effort between DRDO and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia), focusing on India’s supersonic cruise missile. This missile, capable of deployment from land, air, sea and underwater platforms, was the centrepiece of their work.
The BrahMos stands as a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile, with the capability of being deployed from submarines, ships, fighter aircraft or TEL.
Agarwal has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for a duration of 14 years and has been fined ₹3,000.
According to the order issued by Additional Sessions Court Judge MV Deshpande, Agarwal was found guilty under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for violating section 66 (f) of the IT Act and multiple sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani stated that the court handed Agarwal a life sentence and 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under the Official Secrets Act, in addition to imposing a fine of ₹3,000.
The 2018 case caused significant disturbance as it marked the first spy scandal involving Brahmos Aerospace. Agarwal was found to have communicated with suspected Pakistani intelligence agents via two Facebook profiles, named Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan, allegedly operated by operatives based in Islamabad.
According to the investigators involved in the case, Nishant’s lax online behaviour made him susceptible to being targeted, despite his involvement in extremely sensitive projects.
An ATS official, who wants to remain anonymous, claimed that PDF files containing highly classified information were discovered on the accused’s personal laptop.
