In a significant development, Nishant Agarwal, a former engineer associated with India’s prestigious BrahMos missile program, has been convicted in an espionage case and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. This incident has raised concerns about the security of the BrahMos missile project, which holds crucial importance for India’s national security.
According to the news received from sources, Nishant was arrested in 2018 for spying and providing information for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI behind this case. After which he has now been found criminally responsible and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Nishant work experience includes working for the joint venture BrahMos Aerospace, which is owned and operated by India’s DRDO and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia). BrahMos Aerospace is working on developing India’s supersonic cruise missile, which can be launched from land, air, sea, and even inside the sea.
Additional Sessions Judge MV Deshpande said in the order that Agrawal was found guilty under Section 66 (F) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) read with Section 235 of the IPC. Additional Sessions Judge Jyoti Vajani said, “The court sentenced Agrawal to life imprisonment and 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under the Official Secrets Act and imposed a fine of ₹3,000.”
Nishant Agrawal was also awarded the Defense Research and Development Organization for becoming a young scientist. But his involvement in anti-national activities shocked his colleagues. He was known as a brilliant engineer. He studied at NIT Kurukshetra.
This incident reminds us how important it is to be careful in high-security projects like defense. It shows we need strict checks on people’s backgrounds and strong security rules. It also underscores that spying is always a risk, so we must always watch out and work hard to protect important secrets that keep our country safe.
