Mumbai: DRDO scientist gave wrong laptop for forensic analysis, says ATS

The 1800page charge sheet filed by the Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad ATS has revealed alarming details Among them it states that Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar was involved in the unauthorised sharing of classified information regarding Indian missiles and other defence equipment Additionally he allegedly disclosed the contact numbers of two fellow scientist colleagues to a Pakistan Intelligence Operative PIOAs part of their investigation the ATS has taken statements from these two scientists to determine whether they were targeted by the PIO agents in an attempt to extract sensitive information from themPradeep Kurulkar in white face mask produced in court in MayAccording to the charge sheet Kurulkar was engaged in sharing confidential information with a PIO agent who identified herself as Zara Das Gupta During the lengthy investigation the police did not find any monetary transactions revealing that it was just an exchange of nudes and sexting in which Kurulkar shared information about sensitive defense projects In one of the chats with the PIO agent Kurulkar shared his daytoday routine with her and the contact numbers of the two Indian scientists who were handling crucial projects at the DRDOrsquos Pune unitHere is an excerpt from the chatKurulkar Yes babe leopard worth forest officialsKurulkar Plan today1 Camera trap peripheries deploying specific numbers traps from RESQ Begin installation at 4pm2 thermal drone attached to DRDO RDampE drone scanning in the evening by scientist name and number3 night patrolling4 safety awareness material for people has been sent by contact number of the perosnKurulkar Sniffer dog scanning for the confirmation of leopard present check camera traps and report findingZara this is plan for today and tomorrow it seems hecticZara what about the second one Have you announced this project I mean in newsPradeep Kurulkar DRDO scientistThe PIO agent seemed to be keeping a close eye on tweets by DRDO and other defencerelated Twitter handles In one of the chats the PIO agent shared the Twitter link of an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle UCAV project with Kurulkar The chat follows asZara read this on twitter todayZara Amazing technology by DRDOZara is this project completed Zara the video seems to be stimulated not realZara is it Kurulkar almostKurulkar then shared seven different links containing details of the UCAV including Google images YouTube videos and defence articlesZara babe what is this Kurulkar UCAVApart from the details of the two scientists Kurulkar also shared the details of private vendors who provide defence equipment to the Indian governmentThe chargesheet also contains explosive chats about the Agni6 missile launcher with the PIO agent The chats about Agni6 are as followsZara your test was successfulKurulkar the launcher is my design babeZara how was the test babe Zara successful or notKurulkar great successZara I mean new parameters or any change happens Zara Nd I heard it also Agni 6 it also on work progress uska test kab karna Kurulkar night fireKurulkar Karenge thoda dhiraj rakhoZara babe what do you mean by night fire Zara uske bad kaha jata hai ye army or airforce Kurulkar donoZara Agni 6 kaha tak pahuncha you are working on that Kurulkar still sometime for itThere were also chats about the Meteor missile Rafael AK system and Astra missileZara I read the news that is about world dangerous missile meteorZara itna expensive system are we capable Zara IAF displayed Rafale air French naZara bcz I think Rafel France ka ha na babeKurulkar but what is displayed here belongs to Indian airforceZara common158gmailcomZara kingsZara I mean new agreement hua a hamara country kaKurulkar yep babe specific detailsKurulkar country name is adding more ordersZara And babe have u seen Rafale Kurulkar yes saw its aerial showZara with meteorZara live phase ma Rafale M by display hwa a purchase k liya I have seen newsKurulkar specific detailsKurulkars Laptop A twist in the espionage caseAccording to reliable sources within the Maharashtra ATS the retrieved chats between April 10 2022 and February 24 2023 indicate that Kurulkar had been in contact with the woman involved even before that time period However many of these have been deleted and couldnrsquot be retrieved Furthermore a twist emerged in the espionage case involving Kurulkars laptop It was discovered that the Apple MacBook provided to the ATS by DRDO did not belong to Kurulkar This revelation surfaced when the Forensic Science Laboratory FSL failed to find any relevant information on the laptop An investigation revealed a discrepancy in the serial number indicating that DRDO had inadvertently handed over someone elses laptop to the ATS The original laptop has now been shared with the ATS and sent to the FSL for data extraction An anonymous officer from ATS confirmed We have informed the court about this development and both DRDO and its officials have acknowledged that they inadvertently handed over someone elses laptop to the ATS The original laptop has now been shared with us and it was sent to the FSL on June 30th for data extractionThe Maharashtra ATS is also investigating whether this mixup was deliberate possibly aimed at concealing crucial information that may have been present onthe MacBookPIO in touch with airforce corporalAdditionally the chargesheet reveals that the PIO agent was in touch with an air force corporal stationed at the Air Force Bangalore unit The corporal provided an Indian number and OTP to the PIO agent to communicate with Kurulkar after Kurulkar blocked her number However due to the corporals low rank and limited access to sensitive information their conversations did not yield substantial results The corporal has been enlisted as a witness in the case and has identified the audio recordings of the PIO agent communicating with Kurulkar as the same woman whocontacted him under the name Juhi Arora1800No of pages in the charge sheet