Trailing the connections of Border Security Force constable held for passing on official secrets after being honey-trapped some weeks back, sleuths of Anti-Terrorists Squad nabbed an engineer working with BrahMos Aerospace unit in Nagpur, who was similarly trapped through social site Facebook and allegedly leaked ‘technical information’ to Pakistan.
The ATS did not disclose much about the suspect on the pretext that he was still being interrogated.
“Engineer Nishant Agrawal was nabbed in a joint operation of ATS of UP and Maharashtra in Nagpur on Monday morning,” disclosed IG (ATS) Aseem Arun in Lucknow on Monday evening.
Arun said that while digging deeper in the aftermath of the arrest of BSF constable some weeks back, the ATS sleuths learnt about three more Facebook IDs that were honey-trapped and that these accounts were being operated from Pakistan.
The IG (ATS) said that after thorough probe, Agarwal was arrested on Monday morning and booked under the Official Secrets Act as some information, which he should not have possessed, were found on his computer.
Agarwal’s native at Roorkee was subsequently raided and his personal computer was seized.
Without giving further details, the IG (ATS) said that they were verifying facts revealed by the suspect and Agarwal would be produced in Nagpur court before bringing him to Lucknow on transit remand.
Arun said that two other Facebook accounts were being probed — of residents of Kanpur and Agra.
Sources in Nagpur confirmed that engineer Nishant Agarwal was living in a rented accommodation on Wardha Road in Nagpur for the last one year.
His landlord Manohar Kale told media persons that the police arrived at the building early Monday morning and remained there till the evening before taking Agarwal along with them.
A native of Roorkee, Agrawal was married two months ago. He was staying with his wife in Nagpur and had given his Aadhaar card copy and a certificate from his employer to the landlord while moving in.
BrahMos Aerospace, where Nishant is working as an engineer, was formed as a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and ‘Military Industrial Consortium NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The company was established in India through an
inter-governmental agreement signed between India and Russia on February 12, 1998. The name BrahMos represents the fury of Brahmaputra river and the grace of Moskva river.