DRDO employee who 'leaked' BrahMos info chatted on Facebook with IDs from Pakistan

Nishant Agarwal, arrested on charges of spying, brought to his home in Nagpur for further investigation (Pic Courtesy: ANI)

The employee of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who has been arrested for allegedly leaking information about BrahMos missile to Pakistan and US, is being investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad.

Addressing mediapersons on Monday, UP ATS Inspector General Aseem Arun said that “very sensitive information” was found on the personal computer of the DRDO employee, Nishant Agarwal. He further said that the accused used to chat with Pakistan-based IDs on Facebook.

“Very sensitive information was found on his personal computer. The name of the person is Nishant Agarwal. We also found evidence of him chatting on Facebook with Pakistan based IDs,” said the UP ATS Inspector General.

Agarwal was arrested in Nagpur following a joint operation by the UP ATS and the military intelligence unit. Agencies are also trying to find out the details that he might have shared with Pakistan.

The arrested DRDO employee alleged shared with Pakistan and US information regarding BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile that can be used against ship and land targets. It has a range of up to 300 km. It is uniquely configured for installing in ships, submarines and aircraft and on ground vehicles. It has been flight tested twice during June 2001 and April 2002 meeting all mission objectives.

Brahmos is a joint venture between DRDO and the NPOM of Russia. The highly versatile precision strike weapon has been operationalised in the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. It has established itself as a major "force multiplier" in modern-day complex battlefields with its impeccable land-attack and anti-ship capabilities along with multi-role and multi-platform abilities.