Nishant Agarwal, a former Brahmos Engineer, was sentenced to a Life Sentence for Spying for Pakistan’s ISI
Nishant Agarwal, a former Brahmos Engineer, was sentenced to a Life Sentence for Spying for Pakistan’s ISI
Nishant Agarwal, a senior system engineer at Brahmos Aerospace, was detained in 2018 for providing Pakistan’s secret agency – ISI with highly sensitive and classified information.
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) 1923 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.
Under the Official Secrets Act, “the court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years and fined him ₹3,000,” stated Jyoti Vajani, Special Public Prosecutor.
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.
During the Nishant trial, Pankaj Awasthi, the UP-ATS investigating officer, stated in his statement that a person named “Sejal” had created a Facebook account from Pakistan. She communicated with her Indian targets and Pakistani operators using this Facebook account.
The 3 Apps that Nishant Agrawal, the Culprit Scientist at BrahMos, was Arrested using by Pakistani Espionage.
The conversations revealed that ‘Sejal’ belonged to a group that disseminated information and advice on tricking Indian defense personnel. Awasthi informed the court that in 2017, Agrawal had installed three apps on his personal laptop and clicked on links supplied by Sejal. These applications were X-trust, Chat to Hire, and Qwhisper.
Actually, these three apps were malware that took information — including confidential material — from Nishant’s laptop. According to investigations, important documents about the BrahMos missile were discovered on his personal computers, which is against BAPL security protocol.
Nishant allegedly conversed with Sejal over LinkedIn as well, during which she had expressed interest in employing him while assuming the role of recruiter for Hays Aviation in the UK.
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.
In an effort 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.
About The Author:
Yogesh Naager is a content marketer who specializes in the cybersecurity and B2B space. Besides writing for the News4Hackers blogs, he also writes for brands including Craw Security, Bytecode Security, and NASSCOM.
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