The CBI has booked a posh South Delhi colony resident who sent a flurry of emails to senior executives and scientists across government-owned defence firms, research bodies and even a top officer of the U.S. Navy, asserting that he wanted to develop a fighter aircraft engine for India and had the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Claiming privileged access to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Nisheeth Kohli, a resident of Vasant Kunj, said he wished to help the government of India develop an indigenous military jet engine.
Kohli described himself as a "textile chemistry engineer, a 2002 graduate from TITS (The Technological Institute of Textile and Sciences), Bhiwani" and offered sweeping assurances about his ability to contribute to advanced jet-engine development -- a field that typically demands decades of specialised expertise.
In the mails sent between October and December 2024, he approached Premier Explosives Ltd., the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), among others, the CBI FIR alleged.
