Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 3: In a landmark ruling, a Nagpur court on Monday handed down a life sentence to former BrahMos Aerospace engineer Nishant Agarwal for espionage activities conducted on behalf of Pakistan's ISI.

Agarwal, arrested in 2018, faced accusations of leaking classified information about the BrahMos missile to Pakistan's intelligence agency. Serving as a senior system engineer at BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia, Agarwal worked on India's supersonic cruise missile technology, which is capable of being deployed on land, air, sea, and underwater platforms.

The 2018 case represented a pivotal moment as it was the first espionage scandal to impact BrahMos Aerospace. Reports indicated that Agarwal communicated with suspected Pakistani intelligence operatives through two Facebook profiles, ‘Neha Sharma’ and ‘Pooja Ranjan’, allegedly controlled from Islamabad by Pakistan's intelligence agents.

Agarwal, who had been awarded the Young Scientists award by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, stunned his colleagues with his involvement in espionage. Known for his engineering talent, Agarwal was an alumnus of the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. However, investigators pointed out that his lax online behaviour made him an easy target for exploitation, despite his access to highly sensitive information.