Nagpur, A court in Nagpur has handed down a life sentence to Nishant Agarwal, a former engineer at BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, for violations of the Official Secrets Act. In a significant ruling, the court also imposed a 14-year term of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Agarwal’s offenses include espionage activities and sharing confidential information with Pakistan. His arrest in 2018 followed a collaborative operation by military intelligence and counter-terrorism squads from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The trial, presided over by Additional Sessions Court Judge MV Deshpande, resulted in Agarwal being charged under Section 66 (f) of the IT Act along with other sections of the Official Secrets Act.

Agarwal was a part of the technical research team at the Missile Center of BrahMos Aerospace, a critical establishment in Nagpur. The company, a collaborative effort between India’s Defence Research and Development Organization and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium, focuses on developing advanced supersonic cruise missiles capable of being launched from multiple platforms including land, air, sea, and underwater.