Indian engineer arrested for allegedly providing missile information to Pakistani female spy

An engineer working for the Defence Research & Development Laboratory India (DRDL) has been caught in a trap and leaked information about the Indian missile programme to a Pakistani female spy.

Indian authorities say the suspect provided information about the technology used in the Indian Agni missile and the K-series missiles.

A press note issued by the police in this regard has confirmed the arrest of 29-year-old engineer Mallikarjan Reddy and stated that he was a contract employee of DRDL.

According to the press note, the man had mentioned on his Facebook profile that he works in DRDL. A girl sent him a Facebook friend request in March 2020.

The woman said that her name is Natasha Rao, she lives in the UK and works for a defence magazine. She trapped the man who fell in love with her, and then forced him to disclose information about the missile programme.

The alleged spy always talked to Reddy on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

The engineer stayed in contact with the woman for two years between January 2020 and December 2021. She always talked to Reddy on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp but never made a video call.

A senior intelligence official claimed that the accused had shared details of the ballistic missiles K-4, K-5, and K-15 with 3,500 km, 6,000 km, and 1,500km range, respectively. These all are equipped with nuclear weapons and launched from the submarine.

The man has also claimed that the woman asked for bank account details to transfer money, but she never did. The police are now trying to trace Reddy’s account.