Court extends police custody of DRDO scientist held for providing secret information to Pakistani agent

Pune, May 9

Seeking the extension of police custody of DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, arrested on charges of providing confidential information to a Pakistani agent, the prosecution told a special court on Tuesday they have received the forensic report of devices seized from him and some images, videos and files that were deleted earlier have been retrieved now.

The special court in Pune extended till May 15 the police custody of Kurulkar, arrested by the Maharashtra police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 3, after observing that charges against him were serious and custodial interrogation of the accused for a further period is unavoidable for a thorough probe.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist was produced before the additional sessions judge (Special Court) in the afternoon after the end of his police custody.

The prosecution, while arguing for further custody of Kurulkar, informed the court they have seized a phone on which the PIO (Person of Indian Origin) agent had messaged the accused using an Indian number. It sought to know why the PIO was blocked by the accused, and told the court they wanted to interrogate him on this and other issues related to the case.

The prosecution, through its lawyer Vijay Fargade, said Kurulkar, a director at one of the DRDO labs in Pune, had travelled to five to six countries on a diplomatic passport and they wanted to know whom he met during these trips.