A senior Indian defence official has been arrested for sharing sensitive information on India’s nuclear ballistic missiles with a suspected Pakistani spy whom he met on a social media platform.
According to the Indian media, Reddy is the name of the individual who was arrested. He worked in the Advanced Naval Systems Program at the Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad since 2018.
In an official statement, Hyderabad Police stated they had received a complaint from the DRDL claiming that Mallikarjuna disclosed sensitive information about India’s nuclear ballistic missiles to a suspected spy in Pakistan.
In response to the complaint, the Hyderabad police arrested Mallikarjuna from his home. The police also confiscated mobile phones, laptops, and official documents from his home.
During the preliminary inquiry, Mallikarjuna disclosed that a woman had befriended him on Facebook a few months ago. She promised to marry him in return for details on the Agni and K-series missiles.
Mallikarjuna revealed that he shared details of the K-4 missile with an efficient range of 3,500 km, K-5 with a range of 6,000 km, and K-15 with a range of 1,500 kilometers. He said he was able to get very sensitive information so easily because his duties included visits to various installations as well.