DRDO Scientist Fell to ISI’s ‘Zara Dasgupta’ Honeytrap

New Delhi: Trapped by a Pakistani Intelligence Operative, who used the alias ‘Zara Dasgupta’, DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar allegedly provided classified information about Indian defence projects.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police filed the chargesheet against Kurulkar in Pune court. He was the director of a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) unit in Pune. Kurulkar was arrested on May 3 under the Official Secrets Act. As per the chargesheet Kurulkar and ‘Zara Dasgupta’ were in touch through WhatsApp, voice and video calls.

‘Zara Dasgupta’ posed to be a software engineer in the UK and trapped Kurulkar through obscene messages and videos. But her real IP address was traced to Pakistan.

Through this honeytrap, Pakistani intelligence tried to get classified information regarding the Brahmos Launcher, Drone, UCV, Agni Missile Launcher and Military Bridging System from Karulkar. Lured by this ISI agent, Kurulkar shared them with Zara.

According to the ATS, the two were in contact from June 2022 to December 2022. When DRDO initiated an internal probe after his activities were found to be suspicious, Kurulkar blocked Zara’s number in February 2023.