Maharashtra: How ISI milked secrets from smitten scientist

This beautiful Indian girl from London is a great admirerrdquo Just this one line was enough for Pradeep Kurulkar the DRDO scientist arrested by the Maharashtra ATS to allegedly start spilling topsecret information to an enemy agent Unlike the usual honey trap the Pakistanis did not even have to blackmail Kurulkar The 59yearold was so besotted that he kept volunteering classified info in exchange for nudesThe Pakistani woman had messaged Kurulkar from a UK phone number in an ruse to extract details of the project that the Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO scientist was associated with which included the Brahmos missile The duorsquos interactions continued until February when military intelligence alerted the DRDO which then initiated an inquiry against himUnlikely messageAccording to sources Kurulkar received the message ldquoThis beautiful Indian girl from London is a great admirer of the work yoursquore doing for Indiardquo sometime in June or July of last year Kurulkar reportedly told the agency that he was unaware that the woman was from Pakistan and that he shared information with her because he was feeling lonely at the age of 59 He believed that the woman was genuinely interested in his work and was flattered by her admiration Kurulkar apparently thought that by exchanging information with her he could educate her and in return engage in sexting with herAlso Read Mumbai lsquoArrested scientist was honeytrappedrsquoPradeep Kurulkar at the Pune sessions court on TuesdayOfficials said that the information shared by Kurulkar was not very specific but certain messages have been deleted They added that they are attempting to verify whether he had shared any specific information so that preventive measures can be taken by alerting the DRDOIN PHOTOS Witness the last courtship dance of Flamingos in Navi MumbaiFlattery worksAccording to the ATS Kurulkar was sexually obsessed and was flattered by the woman ldquoThe woman had professed to be a proud Indian and had expressed a great deal of admiration for Kurulkarrsquos work for the country after reading his profile She had also expressed hatred for Pakistan and had claimed that India would emerge victorious over its neighbourrdquo an ATS official said requesting anonymityA few days after their initial chat Kurulkar began asking the woman for her pictures and she sent him a photo of herself covering her breasts He then asked for a full picture which she sent without revealing her identity There are chat records in which Kurulkar sought pictures of her genitalia expressing his desire to have sex They both agreed to engage via audio and video calls on WhatsApp Sources also reported that during a video call the woman did not show her face but was naked and encouraged Kurulkar to pleasure himselfldquoHundreds of such calls took place but the shocking part is that Kurulkar was never threatened and he kept sharing information voluntarily while the woman continued to send him pictures of herself in the nude Taking advantage of his loneliness she made him talk until late in the nightrdquo a source saidSources suggest that a month after the initial chat the woman began seeking information from Kurulkar by playing on his emotions and psychology The woman allegedly claimed to be like his student and girlfriend and requested that Kurulkar educate her about his work which would help her explore the field and work for the betterment of the countryKurulkar agreed to her request and she then proceeded to ask him about the Brahmos missile its functioning and how many India currently possesses ldquoThe information he shared pertained to the number of missiles India has and what advanced technology they are using to upgrade them Some basic information is also available on the internet and thus far we havenrsquot seen anything specific about the Brahmos missile being sharedrdquo an officer said Sources have said that apart from Brahmos Kurulkar shared details about Agni and some antisatellite missileslsquoNot blackmailedrsquoOfficials discovered that Kurulkar was not blackmailed and that he willingly shared information The woman who was reportedly handled by a Pakistan Intelligence Operative PIO identified herself as Zara Das Gupta to Kurulkar and claimed to be 30 They were apparently planning to enter a longterm relationship Kurulkar had planned to go to Russia last year on an official visit However the trip was cancelled and in a chat he told the woman that he was coming to London from Russia but never actually visited according to recordsThe woman was also planning to visit India this year but never arrived opting instead to send explicit pictures and perform acts in the nude on video calls in an effort to extract information Sources have suggested that Kurulkar was so infatuated with the woman that he was looking to pursue a physical relationship with her Had the intelligence agencies not intervened he may have even planned to meet her in another country The women used to send patriotic messages to Kurulkar and abuse Pakistan to gain the senior scientistrsquos confidenceHow plot was foiledThe 44 number which was used to get in touch with Kurulkar had a Pakistani IP address An intelligence officer who keeps track of suspicious IP addresses alerted the DRDO and their vigilance team conducted a probe before the plaint was made to the ATS The national security adviser and the PMrsquos office were also briefed about the developmentAs per the defence lawyer Rhishikesh R Ganu in the first week of February the government of India initiated an enquiry against Kurulkar and his devices were seized on February 24 On April 18 the devices were sent to the Maharashtra ATS From April 19 to April 24 the senior scientist was summoned by the agency to record his statement On May 2 the complaint was filed by DRDO and the FIR was registered and Kurulkar was arrested the following day30Womanrsquos purported age