Former ISRO Officer Denied Bail in Cyber Terrorism Case Linked to Alleged Pakistan Contact
Last Updated on June 14, 2024 by News Desk
The Gujarat High Court has refused bail to Kalpesh Turi, a former technical officer in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who is facing charges of cyber terrorism for allegedly being in contact with a woman stationed in Pakistan.
Senior advocate, Shalin Mehta, argued that Turi shared confidential information with the woman in Pakistan, but a communication from the Space Applications Centre’s (SAC) Personnel and General Administration department to the Anti Terrorist Squad’s police inspector stated that the information in the files shared by Turi was not secret, confidential, or sensitive.
Turi had a 17-year career with ISRO SAC and was unaware that the woman was not stationed in India. The prosecution argued that the photographs Turi forwarded were of ISRO SAC premises in Ahmedabad and were taken without any authorization from the Space Applications Centre’s authorities.
The court rejected Turi’s bail, considering that the trial has commenced and several witnesses have already been examined by the prosecution. Turi was arrested in January by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Ahmedabad.
