Ex-Brahmos engineer Nishant Agarwal, who received the Young Scientist Award from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Nagpur court for espionage for Pakistan’s ISI under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

Ex-Brahmos engineer Nishant Agarwal was found guilty on Monday by a Nagpur court of espionage for Pakistan’s ISI and given a life sentence. Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) found him guilty, and he was also fined ₹3,000. Nishant Agarwal, a senior system engineer at Brahmos Aerospace, was detained in 2018 for providing Pakistan’s agency with critical information.

“The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹3,000,” said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani.

Judge MV Deshpande of the Additional Sessions Court delivered the verdict, declaring that Nishant had been found guilty of a crime under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code that was covered by several provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as well as section 66(f) of the Information Technology Act.

As a major player in the Indian defense industry, Brahmos Aerospace collaborates with a Russian business to develop India’s supersonic cruise missile, which can be launched from land, air, or sea.

Nishant Agarwal gave ISI handlers in Pakistan access to private information regarding supersonic missile technology using the social networking site Facebook. According to the investigating agencies, Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan’s Facebook profiles were used for the communication.

According to the agencies, Nishant Agarwal’s carefree and irresponsible demeanor made him an easy target on the internet. He revealed vital information concerning the Brahmos missile and gave in to pressure from handlers in Pakistan.

Winner of the Young Scientist award

Colleagues who had described Nishant Kumar as a skilled, industrious worker with a promising future were shocked to learn that he had sent critical material to the Pakistani espionage agency. He received the Young Scientist Award from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, India’s top defense research organization, in recognition of his significant contributions to the advancement of numerous technologies.

To obtain critical information regarding India’s defense programs, Pakistan’s intelligence agency is increasingly focusing on Indian officials and security personnel on social media. Lately, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of these cases.

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that according to a recent OpenAI report, an Israeli firm named STOIC tried to influence Indian elections using ChatGPT but was thwarted by OpenAI.