DRDO security breach: Documents from the Defense Research and Development Organization’s (DRDO) Vigilance Department indicate that a former director general (DG) of the organization may have removed private firm records from BrahMos Aerospace’s premises.
According to the documents, Sudhir Mishra, the former DG of the DRDO, “confirms that there are definite chances of movement of important company documents out of BrahMos premises.”
On November 30, 2021, Mishra announced his retirement from his positions as BrahMos Aerospace’s managing director and CEO.
How were the documents reportedly transported and removed by Sudhir Mishra?
A logistics company called Big Logistics India Pvt Ltd was hired in the afternoon of his retirement day to remove about forty boxes of varying sizes and several documents. The report from the Vigilance Department stated that the material was removed from the company’s headquarters without an “out pass.”
The subsequent investigation uncovered a more concerning oversight: the Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s recommended 90-day backup of CCTV footage had not been kept up to date. This shortcoming has made it extremely difficult for the investigating committee to carry out an exhaustive assessment of the security procedures and successfully track down previous breaches.
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Following these discoveries, BrahMos Aerospace’s Chief General Manager (CGM), Lieutenant Colonel RS Suri (Retd), was moved. He was in charge of data protection, document handling, and outbound materials. The facility’s CCTV systems were found to be broken, which prompted this action.
The inquiry discovered many unauthorized material removals from the BrahMos headquarters and guest house in late November and early December 2021 amid these security failures. Big Logistics India Pvt Ltd handled the packing and shipping of the products from Mishra’s office, making these removals easier.
This correspondent was able to obtain documentation from the logistics company that listed the objects that were carried. These items included around 100 bottles of wine, 20 wall paintings, numerous books, documents, and an unknown quantity of medals. These were sent out in forty boxes of different sizes over four days.
The Indian military business is well known for Surhir Mishra. He has played a key role in defence groups like the Indo-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee (IRIGC) and the Indo-Israel Management Committee (I2MC). One of his many awards is the Scientist of the Year award from the DRDO.
He got it in 2010 for his outstanding work.
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All of these things make it reasonable to wonder what Mishra might have been thinking when he did what he did and where the secret documents he had are now.
The story goes on to show the scope and consequences of what seems to be a serious security breach in a sensitive facility.
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A representative for the DRDO responded to these claims by saying, “Dr. Sudhir Kumar Mishra, the former CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, was the subject of a complaint that the DRDO received. The Secretary of DDR&D and Chairman of DRDO established a Fact-Finding Inquiry Committee in response to the accusation.
The Directorate of Public Interface (DPI) of DRDO informed Financial Express Online that “the committee didn’t find any evidence to back the allegation levied.”
