HYDERABAD: A Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) contract employee was arrested on Friday after falling prey to a honey-trap laid by a woman ISI operative based in Pakistan. Dukka Mallikarjun Reddy, an MBA Graduate from Hyderabad, was arrested by a joint team of police and special operation group for sharing confidential information, which could have compromised the national security. Police said Mallikarjun was working with a Bengaluru-based company in 2018 when he was assigned to a DRDL project on which he worked till January 2020.
After the successful completion of the project, Mallikarjun reached out to the DRDL authorities and sought a job as a contract employee in ANSP project. Since then, he continued to work at the same location at RCI Balapur, Hyderabad.
The accused has mentioned his his Facebook profile that he worked for the DRDL. In March 2020, he received a friend request from another Facebook used named Natasha Rao. He accepted her request and she introduced herself as an employee of a UK-based defence journal engaged in publishing work.
She told Mallikarjun that she had earlier lived in Bengaluru, India, and that her father was a retired Indian Air Force officer who had shifted to the UK. Further, she enquired about Mallikarjun’s profession, location, and nature of work. During their conversation, the accused shared some confidential information with Natasha, Both of them stayed in touch till December 2021.