Another espionage saga has begun with the arrest of an engineer working with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, the makers of BrahMos medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile.
It reminds one of the ISRO espionage scandal involving a key scientist in cryogenic engine development, Nambi Narayanan. The scientist was only recently given relief by the Supreme Court, which ordered that a compensation of Rs50 lakh be given to him on account of the losses he suffered in the course of the investigation. Nambi was reportedly even subjected to third-degree measures during the police investigation of the case.
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In the recent case of Nishant Agarwal, who was a senior systems engineer heading the hydraulics-pneumatics and warhead integration wing of BrahMos and supervising upcoming projects related to BrahMos missile at Nagpur and Pilani, it must be hoped that the Anti-Terrorist Squads (ATS) of both Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and Military Intelligence (MI) have the requisite evidence to prove his crime. According to sources from the ATS quoted in reports of the arrest, Nishant may have used a coded game to send vital information to ISI agents in Pakistan. The sources have said efforts were on to decode the message and decrypt it. Until there is conclusive evidence to prove that the twenty-something youngster is guilty as accused, he should not be portrayed as if he is guilty. It is also being stated that the investigating agencies were able to track down Nishant based on information gained from the cell phone of a BSF trooper who was compromised. Like the BSF trooper Achyutanand Mishra who arrested from Delhi, the scientist, too, was honeytrapped into passing information, according to the investigating agencies. If Nishant has committed the offence, the government agencies should ensure that the evidence is made adequately public and the reasons for any action against him be verified and re-verified before it is published. Otherwise, it seems like all these Indian ‘secret’ organizations, under the garb of keeping everything hush-hush, are carrying out witch hunts based on office politics and not on real spy threats.
There are arguments being raised from his family and from certain quarters that Nishant had no reason to get involved in such activity, particularly because he is a newly-wed. In any case, the agencies need to keep the investigation away from the media glare. Although it may sound absurd but it must be stressed that, keeping past experiences in mind, the agencies must come out with any information only after it affirms guilt of the accused. The sensitivity of the issue warrants that the scientist is not maligned by a trial out of court. Present day investigators prefer to take it easy by feeding sensational but unverified tidbits to the media. The courts too seem to get biased very easily by these ‘BREAKING’ revelations that are far from the truth. Any action against persons involved with vital aspects of research and development of military systems should be handled with care as it could impact entire projects. The fact that BrahMos is the fastest cruise missile on the planet is no mean achievement. And the technology behind such weapons will undoubtedly be in demand among countries such Pakistan. In the ISRO spy case, it was believed that the French and the Americans were behind scuttling the technology development through nefarious means. It must be remembered that the US has been against Russia supplying arms to India or helping the country develop armaments of its own. The larger context should not be forgotten in understanding the conspiracies being hatched by the proverbial ’foreign hand’.
