BrahMos spying case: UP ATS given three-day transit remand of engineer arrested for leaking info to Pakistan

Nishant Agrawal, the suspected ISI agent reportedly working at the BrahMos Aerospace unit in Nagpur for the past four years, was produced before the Nagpur Sessions Court on Tuesday morning. The court has granted three days transit remand of Agrawal to the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror squad.

Nishant Agrawal was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror squad on charges of spying and for allegedly leaking technical secrets to Pakistan. He has been reportedly working at the BrahMos Aerospace unit for the last four years.

Maharashtra: Brahmos engineer Nishant Agrawal being brought out of Nagpur Sessions Court. The Court has granted his three days transit remand to Uttar Pradesh ATS. He was arrested yesterday on charges of spying. pic.twitter.com/Vwma9PdjPQ

— ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2018

Agrawal was living in a rented accommodation on Wardha Road since the past year, his landlord Manohar Kale said. The police team arrived at the building at 5.30 am and was there till 5 pm, he said.

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Agrawal hails from Roorkee and got married two months ago, he said. “He was staying with his wife here and had given his Aadhaar card copy and a certificate from his employer to me while moving in,” he said.

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the ‘Military Industrial Consortium’ (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

The company was set up through an inter-governmental agreement signed on February 12, 1998, between India and Russia. The name BrahMos represents the fury of Brahmaputra and the grace of Moskva rivers. 

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The Defence Research and Development Organisation facility from where he was arrested makes propellents, or fuel, for the BrahMos missile. The BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic missile that can be fired from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. The fact that it is the fastest cruise missile in the world makes the arrest even more critical. 

Last month, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested a BSF jawan from Noida on the charge of sharing vital information with Pakistan ISI agents.