Bengaluru: In a joint operation led by Central, State and Defence Intelligence Agencies, a senior engineer at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru, was arrested this morning for allegedly leaking sensitive defence-related information to Pakistan in exchange for Bitcoin payments.

The arrested individual has been identified as 36-year-old Deepraj Chandra, who worked in the Product Development and Innovation Centre Division at BEL. A resident of Mathikere in Bengaluru, Chandra hails from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

BEL, a public sector aerospace and defence electronics company headquartered in Bengaluru, manufactures advanced electronic products for ground and aerospace applications. It operates under the Ministry of Defence and is one of 16 PSUs granted Navratna status by the Government of India.

Chandra is accused of leaking critical defence-related information, including details on production systems, office layouts and data concerning senior officials, to Pakistani operatives.

Investigating agencies suspect that Chandra used encrypted communication channels, such as e-mail, WhatsApp and Telegram, to establish contact with his handlers in Pakistan.

In a bid to evade detection, he reportedly created a secret e-mail account, drafted classified information and shared the login credentials instead of sending e-mails directly. This allowed the Pakistani operatives to access the sensitive data from the draft folder.

Authorities believe Chandra may have been leaking defence-related information over an extended period, raising serious concerns over a potential national security breach.

Intelligence agencies are currently analysing digital transactions and communication logs to assess the full extent of the damage.

The accused BEL senior engineer is now being interrogated, with officials working to piece together the timeline of the events.