Babe, what’s with old fools?

When a 20-year-old created history at Wimbledon by defeating a 36-year-old champion in supreme form, we were once again reminded that the world does indeed belong to the young. But lately some old fools have been making headlines as well.

The ongoing saga of Pradeep Kurulkar, a besotted scientist from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who passed on sensitive, classified information to a Pakistani intelligence operative agent identifying herself as Zara Dasgupta, would have been laughable had the charges not been so serious. The Pune-based scientist was arrested in June following complaints made by DRDO under various sections of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923. The chargesheet filed by Maharashtra ATS runs into over 1,800 pages and has 203 witnesses.

What was this 59-year-old married ‘majnu’ with an adult son even thinking? Clearly, the nation’s security was the last thing on his mind. All it took for the Pakistani spy and her handlers was to figure out Kurulkar’s Achilles’ heel (a raging libido) and generously feed his ego with sexual fantasies. The so-called London-based Zara swapped sexts for information: Show me your Brahmos, Babe…. and I’ll show you my bo*bs! Clearly, Kurulkar thought it a fair exchange for the chats show him blubbering away — babe this and babe that — explosive information. The regular ‘love talk’ included information on the Agni 6 missile launcher, and other missile systems and defence-related projects with pictures, diagrams and videos. He also provided Zara with details of his daily routine and apologised profusely when Zara complained: “Babe… u ignored my message’. Oooooh.

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