Nagpur court on Monday handed life imprisonment to ex-Brahmos engineer Nishant Agarwal on charges of spying for Pakistan’s ISI. Nishant was arrested back in 2018 for leaking information about the Brahmos missile to Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.
He was a senior system engineer with Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium that worked on India’s supersonic cruise missile, which would have been launched from sea, land, air, and underwater.
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Actions against Nishant Agarwal
The sessions court judge MV Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under Indian Penal Code section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66(f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Court’s verdict on the case
Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani stated that the court had sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him INR 3,000. He was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April.
Who is Nishant Agarwal?
Nishant Agarwal was a winner of the Young Scientists Award by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and had completed his graduation at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. His colleagues were shocked to learn about his activity.
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How did it transpire?
The case created a ripple in 2018 as this was the first spy scandal that hit Brahmos Aerospace. It is said that Agarwal was in touch with a suspected Pakistani intelligence operative through two Facebook accounts under the names of Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan. These two accounts were operated from Islamabad which was believed to be run by Pakistan’s intelligence operatives.
When Cops investigated the case they found out that he was an easy target because of his casual approach on the internet as he was engaged in highly sensitive work.
About Author
This Article has been written by Ms Vijaya Pramodini SK, an aspiring journalist, who is currently dedicated to her studies in Journalism and communication. With a keen eye for authenticity, she strives to uncover and present the real facts, embodying the principles of ethical journalism.
