The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has notified a local court that a woman Pakistani agent, who allegedly honey-trapped DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, has been identified as a co-accused in the case. Pradeep Kurulkar, who served as the director of a Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in Pune, was apprehended by the ATS on May 3 for allegedly divulging classified information to a female Pakistani intelligence operative.
According to sources, the woman involved in the case operated using the name Zara Dasgupta and maintained contact with Kurulkar. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) included the name "Zara Dasgupta" in the First Information Report (FIR) after tracing the agent's IP address to Pakistan. The ATS has now updated the FIR to include Section 4 of the Official Secrets Act, which pertains to "communications with foreign agents as evidence of the commission of certain offences," as per the sources. According to the ATS, the DRDO scientist communicated with the Pakistani agent via WhatsApp and video calls. Previously, the prosecution had notified the court that the agency had confiscated a phone, through which the Pakistani agent had messaged Kurulkar using an Indian phone number. It was alleged that Kurulkar had visited five to six countries using a diplomatic passport, and the prosecution sought information regarding the individuals he had met during those trips.
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