Suspected spy for Pakistan's ISI arrested at BrahMos unit in Nagpur; accused charged for allegedly leaking missile secrets

Teams of the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) on Monday arrested a man on charges of spying at the BrahMos Aerospace unit in Maharashtra's Nagpur. The accused, identified as Nishant Agrawal, had been working at the BrahMos Missile Research Centre for four years, according to media reports.[caption id="attachment_2976778" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of BrahMos missiles. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons[/caption]According to reports, Agrawal is a suspected agent for Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He has been booked under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking technical secrets to the neighbouring country. The accused was caught in a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra ATS, Times Now reported.Sources told IANS that the police and other agencies carried out an early morning raid following a tip-off, after which he was arrested.The facility of the Defence Research and Development Organisation where Agrawal was caught manufactures propellents, or fuel, for BrahMos missiles, which are the fastest cruise missiles in the world. These are medium-range, supersonic missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.Agarwal is believed to have got access to sensitive information on India's missile systems, according to the Times Now report. The two ATS units are looking into the details of the suspected spy's connections and modus operandi.Aseem Arun, IG of Uttar Pradesh ATS, said that the police had found "very sensitive information" on Agarwal's computer, and had evidence of him chatting on Facebook with Pakistan-based accounts.

This comes less than a month after the Uttar Pradesh ATS, on 18 September, had arrested a soldier of the Border Security Force on charges of sharing vital information with Pakistan ISI agents. Achutanand Misra, hailing from Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, was "honey-trapped" into sharing information about unit operational details, the police academy and training centre by a woman who claimed to be a defence reporter.Among other things, the BrahMos Missile Research Centre is involved in making certain critical components for the BrahMos missile, considered the world's fastest cruise missile which can be launched from land, ships, aircraft or submarines.With inputs from agencies