Former BrahMos Aerospace engineer sentenced to life imprisonment for spying for Pakistan's ISI

NEW DELHI: A former engineer from BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, Nishant Agarwal, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Nagpur district court on Monday.

This sentence is under the Official Secrets Act for his involvement in spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI. Agarwal also received rigorous imprisonment for 14 years and was fined Rs 3,000.

Additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande specified that Agarwal was found guilty under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This was for offenses punishable under section 66(f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act.

"The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him Rs 3,000," stated Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani.

Agarwal worked in the technical research section of BrahMos Aerospace's missile center in Nagpur. He was arrested in 2018 during a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The former engineer faced charges under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Official Secrets Act.

He was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Agarwal had been employed at the BrahMos facility for four years.

BrahMos Aerospace is a collaborative venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

Last April, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court granted bail to Agarwal.
(With inputs from agencies)
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