Ex-BrahMos engineer gets life term for spying for Pak’s ISI

Staff Reporter

Additional Sessions Judge-1 M V Deshpande has sentenced ex-BrahMos Aerospace Engineer Nishant Agarwal to life imprisonment for spying on behalf of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Agarwal was arrested in 2018 in Nagpur on charges of leaking information about the Brahmos missile to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. He held the position of Senior Systems Engineer at Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia), which focuses on India’s supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from land, air, sea, and underwater platforms. The arrest of Agrawal dates back to October 8, 2018, when a joint team comprising Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (UP ATS), Maharashtra ATS, and Military Intelligence arrested him during his tenure as an Engineer at DRDO's Nagpur facility, associated with the Brahmos missile project.

Agrawal, who hails from Roorkee, Uttarakhand, and had previously received the Young Scientist Award from the Government of India for his contributions in 2017-18, came under scrutiny during the interrogation of BSF jawan Achutanand Mishra. Mishra had been arrested in Delhi in 2018 for allegedly sharing sensitive information, including 3D models of the BSF Academy, arms, and ammunition, with an ISI agent via WhatsApp. Further investigation revealed that Agrawal had been trapped by a woman masquerading as a US company employee on Facebook in 2016. She enticed him with promises of lucrative remuneration in exchange for his services. However, it was later discovered that the woman was actually affiliated with Pakistani intelligence.

Agrawal’s arrest was part of a broader crackdown, following the arrested of three persons, including an ISI agent and two DRDO employees, in Kanpur. Agrawal’s connections with these accused came to light during the investigation. The ISI agent had established contact with him through Facebook under a fake name. It has been alleged that Agrawal transmitted vital information to his ISI handlers through coded communication methods, using what the investigators describe as a ‘coded game.’ During the investigation, the investigators raided Agrawal’s residence and seized his personal computers and laptops, which were sent for forensic analysis. The prosecution presented various pieces of evidence during the trial, including forensic lab reports and statements from officials associated with the Brahmos project. After considering the arguments, Judge MV Deshpande convicted Agrawal under Section 66 (F) of the IT Act and Section 3 (1) (c) of the Official Secrets Act, along with Section 5 (1) (a) (b) (c) (d) and 5 (3) of the Official Secrets Act.

Judge Deshpande stated in his order, “The accused Nishant Pradeep Agrawal is sentenced to suffer life imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 66 (F) of IT Act, to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for fourteen years under Sections Section 3 (a) (c) of Official Secret Act and to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for three years and shall pay fine of Rs 3,000/- in default to suffer Simple Imprisonment for six months under Section 5 (1) (a) (b) (c) (d) and Section 5 (3) of Official Secret Act. All the Sentences shall run concurrently.” Special Prosecutor Jyoti Wajani represented the State.