Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, who was arrested on charges of sharing sensitive information with an alleged Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO).
Justice Shivkumar Dige rejected Kurulkar’s plea noting that Kurulkar has been in contact with PIO and there are chances that he may abscond if he was released on bail.
On May 3, 2023, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Kurulkar, 60, in a suspected honey-trap espionage case following a complaint lodged by the defence research establishment.
The ATS charge sheet claimed that investigators recovered chats between the scientist and a woman allegedly linked to Pakistani intelligence. At the time of the alleged exchanges, Kurulkar was serving as Director (Research and Development) at DRDO. The charge sheet alleged that Kurulkar shared confidential information with the woman in an attempt to cultivate an intimate relationship with her.
The agency claimed that the suspected operative used multiple fake identities to interact with him online and allegedly created accounts on messaging platforms using two separate phone numbers, both bearing the United Kingdom country code +44.
Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh argued that the investigation was initially conducted by DRDO, following which the FIR was registered. Emphasising that the case involved sensitive defence information, Deshmukh opposed the bail plea.
The ATS claimed that Kurulkar discussed details related to several strategic defence systems during these exchanges. The charge sheet states that he spoke about the Meteor missile project under development at DRDO, as well as the BrahMos and Rafale-linked weapon systems, and the Akash and Astra missile programmes, along with the Agni-6 missile launcher project in which he was involved.
Kurulkar’s counsel, Ashok Mundargi, submitted that the details allegedly shared were all available in the public domain.
However, Deshmukh rebutted the argument, stating that statements of other senior scientists had been recorded, who emphasised that the data shared by Kurulkar was not in the public domain, as some of it pertained to ongoing projects.
The prosecution further highlighted that Kurulkar was a senior officer and that there are guidelines stating that such information should not be stored on a personal phone.
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