DRDO officer held for sharing sensitive info with Pak agent

BHUBANESWAR/BALASORE: A senior officer of Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Chandipur was arrested on Friday for allegedly leaking sensitive information to a Pakistani agent, in yet another case of honey trapping.

The 51-year-old accused, Baburam Dey of Jaleswar, allegedly shared information about DRDO with a woman operative of Pakistan. He was working as a technical officer in ITR’s Telemetry department, said police which seized a mobile phone from his possession.

Dey reportedly was in contact with DRDO staff/scientists and aware about sensitive technical information relating to launch of missiles. He would receive information in advance relating to testing of missiles, police sources said. He used to remain present during testing of almost all missiles and cluster bombs by DRDO and other defence agencies.

Further investigation is underway to ascertain whether anyone else is involved in sharing confidential information with foreign agents, IG, Eastern Range, Himansu Kumar Lal told mediapersons.

Police said Dey used two mobile phone numbers for communication and reportedly shared classified information regarding missile tests and other related information with the foreign agent operating from Pakistan.

He is accused of capturing and sending photographs of prohibited areas besides communicating sensitive defence information through internet. The police also verified the WhatsApp number of the foreign agent and traced her location to Rawalpindi.

A case was registered in this connection under sections 120 A, 120 B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3, 4 and 5 of Official Secrets Act. The accused was produced before Balasore SDJM Court which granted police four day remand starting Saturday.

The leakage and sharing of such secret defence information to Pakistani agents may cause serious harm to national security, police said adding, information on several secret and sensitive missions of DRDO Chandipur can help hostile neighbours to take steps in advance in strategic aspects for waging war against the country.

To maintain the security of the defence installations, a close vigil is being kept on suspected persons, said police sources.In 2021, Balasore police had arrested four contractual and a permanent employee of DRDO on charges of espionage. The Crime Branch had later taken over the investigation of the case.