4 3 4 ) The Grounded Rocket

There is no Good, there is no Bad; these be the whims of mortal will: The: works me weal that I call "good, " what harms and hurts me I hold as "ill."

The Grounded Rocket

The political spectrum in Kerala was sharply divide&. The administrative tools and the media close to K . Kamnakaran, a senior Congress leader and the Chief Minister, took the side of IGP Raman Srivastava and the ISRO scientists. The other segments of the adminishation and political hue, belonging to anti-Karunakare camp and the Leftists demanded the scalp of the IGP. and the scientists. Factious fighting in the police had drawn attention of the legal

. luminaries from the initial stages of the case. . ~

a. The R&AW was kept out fromthe ground level enquiries, and the ' leads pertaining to Ma1dives;Sri Lanka and Russia were not shared.

with them in time. For certain reason or other the R&AW also maintained a cool distance from the case, most probably under instructions from the Ministry of External Affairs and the PMO.

Delhi did not like to topple his applecart. * * * *

The ~irector, El, summoned me after about two weeks of registration 'of the case i'n Ke~ala and directed me to take charge of the case. Before agreeing to fornially take over an unclaimed baby I visited Trivandmm and talked to Mariyam Rkheeda and Foujiya Hassan at length in the presence of local IB officers and officersof the Kerala police, including lady officers.

Maldivian suspects and$he suspeote&s~ienki&-of theISRO and certain

investigation could be initiated. The Director approved this and a crack counter-intelligence interrogation team was despatched to Trivandrum. . , A s a precaution I had requested the TechInt division of the IB to

inteeogation team and Kerala police was denied all access to the Techlnt

. .

- --... "" -, on the basis of reports he personally simed. On a delicate nrr..:d

I that his reports reached the government first before the R&AW segt despatches. The argument was childish and the methodology ad< exciting the politicians with unprocessed and uninvestigated matefi crude. I pointed out. which was more and less an act nf d e f i n n ~ ~ ti

Ilk revealed during interro~ation. we were vet to carrv out s11anT3

Establishing inter-linkages of facts and personalities requi&l'.T&y verification through painstaking investigation. We could not brat& .a=

as a Pakistan sponsored espionage case without correlating the I$& .=l

international linkages. We required more time. , : ,

I was overruled.

Such practices were unheard of in the Intelligence Bureau. :

Failing to convince the boss I reauested the subsidiary units in (

!I! case. M; colleagues were not eauipoed to handle such massive invG

confirming the landmark revelations by Mariyam Rasheeda, Foujiya Sasikumar, and Chandrashekhar, etc. My request was backed by the emerging contours of a counter-intelligence case. Mariyam and E!?A were petty Maldivian operators. By themselves they were not %

But thd basic rocket technology was equally applicable to military 1

could be done by mere tossing of the coin. Pakistan, at that point had started receiving MI1 rockets from Chinese and North Korean YJ They were in the midst of developing indigenous rocket techno]( and guidance systems: It was interested to acquire knowledr . .

designs and rocket engine technology. Other international

also interested to monitor if India was on the verge of violating the MTCR under cover of its space programme. These points were explained to the Director IB,but the IB did not make the government aware ofthis possible and feasible threat from Pakistan and other countries. Lack of appropriate threat assessment from Pakistan on this front and Pakistan's quest for rocket technology should have been interwoven with the interrogation and enquiry process.

) ensure . Having, satisfiez~yself about the strong possibility o f uncovering a

Pakistani conspiracy, played from bases in the Maldives and Sri Lanka I

Suspiciousand clandestine linkages between Mariyam ~ G h e e d a and Fauzia Hassan and the ISRO scientists D . Sasikumar and Nabharayan were proved beyond doubt. What remainedunsolved was to unearth the. hature of transactions between them and -if

)nfirm the

feedbacks unearth the alleged plot of overthrowing the Gayoom regime..Besides this official tasking they were apparently engaged in;.Pakistan sponsored espionage activities around the ISR.0 centre. in Trivaridrum.

amme. The '

T h e Grounded Rocket

I also argued with the Director that the ISRO case had taken a mammoth shape and the IB was not in any way competent to investigate the linkages in Sri Lanka, Russia and Maldives. There was no scope for handing over the case to R&AW also. The R&AW did not have expertise in handling counter-intelligence matters. I, however, visited the R&AW office on a couple of occasions and briefed the R&AW officers about the progress

zged achieved in the investigation. They, especially Arun Bhagat, the senior R&AW hand, who later managed to grab the chair of Directoi IB, were tion.

A few days later a Bangalore based joint secretary of the Depathnent of Space, who happened to be a Bengali, visited me in Delhi and expressed

:O me

to the DIB..

same

was a

e name up investigation into the complicated espionage case.

1 argued with Patbak once more and dragged him to the room of the

. ts The Grounded 'Rocket

a s In the meantime, after issue of official notification, I w a s directed to ne

plane to Trivandrum. I was informed at Pa lm that .the flight would break journey at Nagpur for refuelling and picking up. on boaid suppl'ies. Somewhere over Bhopal the Director CBI was called intothe cockpit to receive a call from Delhi. On return he announced that the.fllight- wduld now halt for refuelling at Bangalore, as he was required to attend an important meeting.

had clouded Vijaya Rama Rao's mind. He went into a huddle meeting with. his officers, which I watched with curiosity. Something had gone miss.

At Bangalore Vijaya Rama Rao and his Inspector 'General drove away towards the town. I managed to hitch a hike from the Bangalore'

Prakasham:

leg. I also gathered from one ofthe CBI officers that his Director had also attended a meeting with Kasturirangan, the ISRO chief &$he had a. telephonic conversation with the PM.

materials to the CBI team:

me.

Copies of -witten reports sent by mat hew^ to IB

A summary of the case as perceived by the IB. Summary of preliminary investigation done by the IB . Oral briefing by Mathewand his deputy Srikumar.

- - - r-.'.. -I L8 . I .L i r r .,,,,G" Will,

local politicians and police officers.

I - . , 1.1- ""4

instead of running a parallel counter-intelligence investigation. . ~hgg . ~>

After the crucial meeting at Mathew John's ofice the CBI team w&+ :! on its own way and avoided the IB officials incl~ldino me r manno*A f-

''':r

-,-,- -- separately called on Karunakaran and other politicians from wbich . . ~<

kept out. . . , ,.?.,T

In fact, to avoid humiliation 1 returned to Delhi in an Indian A&*;-. flight. .c&$@ ..--r7:,es~=

As I understood the CBI went on breakneck speed to investi$tZ'%f&$g case in India and abroad. Its findings exonerated the ISRO scientists & ' 1

,:tz& . ~3 the even the Maldivian nationals. <G

~ a s s s n was exonerated too. he-report was critic2 of lnspectoi- - - 1, of Kerala police for prevarication and malfeasance. The report'6V~T& -...~

crets The Grounded Rocket

nameless and faceless officets normally avoided public glare. On the other hand the MHA mounted pressure on the IB to represent

its case and to retain the Additional Solicitor General and CBI's advocate

cross the limits of professional decency? I was appalled by the propaganda barrage mounted by the CBI. I

argued with the Director IB that we should appoint a different advocate to protect the department's interest. Pathak overruled me as he was under pressure to offer a united face in the ISRO case. H e was pulvehsea b y political pressure and had -decided to sacrifice ~. his junior colleagues.

The PMO and the MHA had informally made it clear that the ISRO case should be given a nice burial. The Director IB was incapable of facing the challenges and protecting his officers. He ordered me to produce the

r were evidences to the Kerala High Court and accept CBI's advocate as IB's counsel.' I deputed a senior officer (V. K. Joshi).to Emakulam with three videotapes and copies of the essential documents instead of undertaking the

"Reports sent by the IB. to the government, which were produced before .us, were perused ... The report would show that Marim (sic) Rasheeda and Fousiya (sic) Hassan had reportedly mentioned the name of Raman Srivastava, IG ... The reports of IB, which has its own investigating machinery, had in unmistakable terms found the involvement of Raman Srivastava, IG of police, Kerala in the ambit of the case ... The Director of

CBI while filing his affidavit dated 7.1.95 is seen to have ignored the above aspects of the case. We direct him to re-examine the issue,,.3)

The High Court also exonerated the Kerala police and the IB from the CBI charges of torturing the arrestedldetained suspects. The Court observed that ..... "The three videocassettes produced before the court by the Intelligence Bureau were viewed by us by playing it in a VCP, belonging to this court. From that, it is crystal clear that the three accused gave answer to the questions without any fear of torture ...." The High court, in fact, passed a serious stricture on the CBI.

At this stage I requested the DIB to produce all the 70 odd videotapes that contained recording of the whole interrogation proceeding. That would contradict the hasty findings of the CBI and satisfy the High Court. Pathak could not gather courage to confront the government with the clinching evidences. My pleadings that this vital omission might cause irrepatable damage to the organisation could not instil an iota of courage in him. He appeared to be worried about his own future. His idea of surviving the crisis by playing to the tune of the politicians was a horrendous act of betrayal of the agency. He should have known that a machete wielding politician and a abattoir butcher had common genome factors. Pathak did not know how to die the glorious death of a field ~ e n e r a l .

The Director IB was not on talking terms with the Director CBI and he even avoided meeting the Special Secretary and Secretary of the Home Ministry. I was forced to keep the frayed dialogue line open. The CBI Director, at personal level, continued to be courteous but the Additional Solicitor General tried to browbeat me when I was directed to see him at his Old Fort Road residence. My deputy Dilip Trivedi, a bright and daring officer from Uttar Pradesh, accompanied me. The counsel demanded to know as to why the IB did not pay his fees. I told him to raise a demand^ and the IB would sure reimburse his honorarium.

He suddenly started calling names and flaunted his status of a Minister of State in the government. I lost cool. I told him slowly but bluntly that he was dealing with two senior officers of Indian Police Service and he

. .+>!..i ,~: ,:,.: ,:%- '6:: . , should maintain decorum in official discussions. He did not tone down the bully vocabulary. I stood up by saying that I had no intention of tolerating his indecent behaviour and left in protest.

I was shocked by the development. It appeared the counsel had fully sided with the CBI and was not willing to hear what the IB had to Say. Colleagues warned me that the ASG might exploit his proximity to the Prime Minister and Chandraswami to fix me up. 1 was worried, but I had never accepted bullshit throughout my life and I was not ready to lower my head to an advocate.

:crets

1 requested the Director IB again to produce all the 70 videotapes before the court to prove beyond doubt that the IB officers did not torture the persons interrogated. 1 demand systematic interrogation of Nambinarayan, Raman Srivastava and Sudhir Kumar Sharma, another suspect in the counterintelligence case.

The chief did not agree on the plea that secret video-operations by the IB should not be exposed to public glare. We had shared three videotapes, which had convinced the High Court. Whatwas the harm in sharing the rest of the tapes? After all these tapes could have been treated as secret materials and viewed by the High Court in camera. There was no law in thecountry that prohibited IB to produce evidences before a court of law in national interest. It only required government permission. How could the Pathak govemment refuse permission when it had already allowed production of three tapes? The dictum of departmental security could not stan&.in the way of concluding a palpably clear counter-intelligence case. However, Pathak's reluctance to face the truth had caused irreparable damage to the agency and individual officers.

Home

had heavily borrowed upon Indian missile technology, in addition to importing know-how from North Korea. A senior officer of the PMO discoanted the possibility.of~Pakistan using Indian technology. I wanted to have an exclusive

jemand~ suddenly closed on my face.^ As the ~ R O event kept on rocking the country I was sounded out by

dinister a political friend who enjoyed ptoximity to the PM that I should support the views of the CBI and say that the IB and Kerala police officers had wilfully maltreated the Maldivian nationals and the Indian scientists. He

Iwn the

Open Secrets

I could do very little to resurrect the ISRO case after my retirement, as the CBI had finally nailed the coffin of IB's reputation and integrity of its officers. The system collapse had proved beyond doubt that some politicians were even ready to compromise national security. The event brought out clearly that the organisations like IB and CBI could be used to serve petty political interests. In the ISRO case the CBI was used and the IB was steamrolled. In the absence of constitutional protection and parliamentary accountability the IB could only lick the wounds. There was no forum of the parliament that could summon the IB and the CBI to present there respective cases and examine the evidences separately. Whatever happened in the apex court was a review of the legal technicalities. No one bothered to look deep into the evidences and view the clandestine videotapes of the entire interrogation process.

The IB, CBI and the political masters handled the event shamefully. However, 1 must share a few more paragraphs on the lSRO case:

The case had received wide media publicity and it was politicised as one of the suspects, Raman Srivastava, IG Police was ;aid to he close to the Congress leader K Karunakaran. At some points, it transpired that the media was probing the ISRO case and not the security agencies. Sensationalism is a part of sales technique. But, over time sensationalism generates bias and apathy. In the ISRO case too the media-overkill had created bias, though it did not, in any way, impede the joint interrogation process by the R&AW, IB and Kerala police. At the crucial point of developments the R&AW refused to takeill stand against the lopsided and biased investigation by the @ii2q

the investigations. In case the CBI had any point to prove against the IB officers handling the interrogation it should have discussed the matter with the Director, who had, at the first instance, forced the hands of the MHA to hand over the case to the CBI. The CBI should have clearlv understood that the IB had no vested interest L I t

.*~. 7T:n.I. . , ..@..i; .,

~

,.,.. to nrove that certain scientists of the ISRO had developed reports

I Secrets I etirement, ltegrity of :hat some The event be used to :d and the ction and There was ne CBI to separately. hnicalities. :\andestine

;hamefully. case:

politicised afas <aid to le points, it and not the ~nique. But, n the ISRO did not, in R&AW, IB

ed to take a the.Ce- .

IF3 itself had agency with rove against ve discussed :awe, forced BI. The CBI :sted interest 1 developed .s and the IS1 organisation. he scientists. fact that, the A

:t of thievery. ated political vestigation of lad handed it

The Grounded Rocket 507

The CBI was not brought in by the PMO. IB did it. So, where wa3 the need of castigating the IB and its officers? From day one, once the name of the son of the PM figured in IB report the entire government machinery was made to ridicule and destroy the collage put together by the joint interrogation team. The CBI was used not only to demolish the Kerala police and the IB, but also a potent counter-intelligence case. The Central Bureau of Investigation investigated the case as if they worked on a brief to kill the IB and exonerate the suspected agents of the ISI. The CBI had received a major drubbing when on a public'petition by ' N i y g a Vedi', an organisation of lawyers before the High Court of Kerala, the Court had observed after appropriate scrutiny of documents that the CBI story was unsustainable. It passed severe strictures against the CBI. The CBI latei filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court, which observed that the High Court's order was premature as CBI investigation was incomplete. Following these developments Kerala witnessed political changes. I was told that the ISRO affairs had sullied the image of Karunakaran and it played a major role in the electoral discomfiture of the Congress Party. The Left Democratic Front government headed by E.K Nayanar had ordered a fresh probe into the case after withdrawing its earlier request to the CBI to investigate the case. But on an appeal by the CBI the Supreme Court had ruled on 29.4.1998 that the

- state government had no power to order reinvestigation by withdrawing consent earlier given to the CBI. The Supreme Court rulings on two occasions did not go into the merit of the case. It went by mere technicalities of the law, which itself was subject to deeper legal scrutiny.

* * * *

1 have had the opportunity to browse through all the, interrogation reports (backed up by video recording), reports prepared by Kerala police and the IB. I had also meticulously gone through the final report submitted by the CBI. As a trained counter-intelligence operative I have formed a strong belief that the ISRO case was derailed mainly for two reasons: the mention of-the name of a son of the Prime Minister in an IB report had sent panic waves. It had complicated the political situation for Narasimha Rao, who was already besieged by Harshad Mehta and share market scandal, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case and Jain Hawala Case, in addition to scandals that involved his ministers for Urban Development and the high profile minister for Petmleum, Captain Satish Sharma. .This contingency could

508 Open Secrets :;a ,?$ have been avoided had not the Director IB committed the cardinal mistake -, -v

of anaching an 'in house work sheet' with his report. ~. :-

~<AT:,~~ !$ the case. Such complicated cases are better handled under the wrap of ;@+ :&~ secrecy. At no point of time the IB had any intention of focussing the arch 7 ..-..-.-~ ~ ~=. fit

>-L7<.. 2 s : ~ .. lamp on the ISRO scientists. But the situation went out of control because

~ .>,.- *. ... " -. . . "*. .~~~ ~ ~ ? .

of interference by the feuding political camps in Kerala and the partisan : ..v...~ . = .& - . T i . g

media. *as ;*. . ~E - ~, . .~ :~ . ~-

1 still maintain that my insistence on the Director IB to hand over the ..c5.. . .- . e . ~ .

case to the CBI was based on sound reasons. What I really intended was , .i:, _ C . a-x.

~, ~2

- , ..~. investigate these matters with the help of the Interpol counterparts. > . , . ~ .

I ' directed at nullifying whatever has culled out by the joint interrogation of IB, R&AW and Kerala police. The CBI had taken cover behind thin legal prevarications and had never allowed the facts of the case to be re- examined, as if this one organisation was the final arbitrator of the entire

I intelligence procedure that was being observed by its dedicated team. . .

D.C. Pathak, Director IB, had capitulated abjectly. He did not have the ,

moral courage to stand up before the government and support his officers.

promotion and other service matters. Pathak's spinelessness did not glorify the agency. He was not a worthy General to command his forces.

. .. .. Before 1 retired on the last day of January 1995 1 had gone through the , . CBI reoort and discussed the lacunae in its investigation report with Srikumw,

~ e p u t ; Director Trivandrum (now ~ d d i t i o n a i ~ ~ ~ ~u ja ra t ) and other officers of IB's Kerala unit as well as my staff officers. From these discussions I drew tentative conclusions that the CBI had left the following gaps in its hurried investigations:

The real purpose of overstay of Mariyam Rasheeda and ~ a u i a Hassan at Trivandrum from 17.9.94 to 17.10.94 was not satisfactorily probed. They could easily obtain tickets to Male1 Colombo during this period particularly when Zila ~ a m d i , daughter of Fauzia could get air ticket for Male on 8.10.94.

partisan

wer the ied was is under stigation :ency to as. 3p made nce, was gation of hin legal o be re- :he entire the IB. It : counter- team. ; have the 3 officers. of the 1B

matters of 3ot glorify rces.

,rough the 1 Srikumu, and other rom these : following

and Fauzia 1 was not . :s to Male! di, daughter

. .

T h e G r o u n d e d Rocket SO9

Mariyam Rasheeda claimed that her visit was for seeking admission o f her daughter in Bangalore was not ~~nc lus ive ly probed by the CBI. TheCBI also did not probe adequately if Mariyam was deputed by the Male regime to gather intelligence on possible coup plot by hispolitical opponents residing in India and Sri Lanka. She was an employee ofMaldivian intelligence service.- . .

MariyamRasheeda claimed that she had a chance meeting with . ~ Chandrasekharan (Bangalore businessman) at Trivandrum airport.

CBI had not mentioned that Fauzia knew Chandrasekharan before he met Mariyam. This duplicity was not probed. However, the-

' whole team of ISRO scientist like D. Sasikumaran, businessmen like Chandrsekharan and S.K. Shama, Sqn. Leader S.K. Bhasin. had displayed unexplained eagerness to procure school admission . . and visa for Fauzia's daughter. The CBI did not probe into these aspets of intimate relatiopup between two Maldivian ladies and certan key indian nationals connected to the ISRO, and it did not come up with any explanation for such behavioural peculiarities.

, Both Fakia a"d Mariyam Rasheeda stated that :zuheria (supposed Colombo based Pakoperative) possessed threelpassports and she visited 1ndia on different occasions with Mariyam and Mohiuddin (another supposed Pak agent). CBI had examined only one passport of Zuheria..It did not look into the aspect of hei two other passports.

. . . . It is well recognised that the Pak IS1 provides its agents with seveial passports. I t has done so in case of Indian insurgents in the Noith East: CBS's abrupt finding is,' therefore, suspkct. How could it not request ihe Interpol and Sri Lankan police to investigate

-. t h e matter. of Zuheria holding three passports? Mariyam had stated that Fauzia was in the. habit of carrying a lot of US dollars. When Sasikumaran took Mariyam outfor dinner he was carrying a bunch of US dollars. These were allegedly given by

'

. Fauzia. The CBI didnot offer any comment on this. They simply disagreed with IB's interrogation report. After initial informal questioning by police Mariyam had destroyed her telephone diaries and other papers by burning a t her hotel

' Samrat room. This aspect was riot probed by the CBI and it did . not strike them that only a trained agent is taught to destroy

evidences once helshe comes under intelligence scanner. The link between Kunen Kalathil and Nambiinarayanan, as mentioned

' - in interrogation reports were not followed up by the CBT. His private passport also required scrutiny. That would have explained his private trips abroad. Huge telephone bills for the phone installed at Nambi's residence were not examined by the CBIto identify the numbers he had called. It also did not ex&irle Nambi's business links in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. How could a scientist manee bie

D. Sasikumaran had revealed during interrogation about one Chennai

Sasikumaran owns a plot measuring 1.5 acres at Amhatore, Chennai, jointly with his wife and had a plan to start a factory for manufacturing bullet proof vests. The CBI did not probe the monetary aspect of this expensive project. Where from the money

Sasikumaran had disclosed that he had a paln to purchase a fishing vessel for rupees 14 crores as a joint venture by an associated group. Order for the vessel was placed with an Italian compnay~ named Jet Lines through Thomas Kurisinkal of Cochin. The vessel was expected to be delivered in Fehrualy 1995. The CBI did not examine this huge financial commitment by a meargrely paid scientist. Where from the money was supposed to come? Nambi's links with Hindustan Exports and Imports, a Bombay company headed by one Grover and alleged siphoning of commissions for import proceedings of the ISRO through this firm from Arain Space Corporation of France was not probed by the CBl. Certain leads within india wre suppressed and existing rendezvoun points between the ISRO scientists and the supected Maldivian spies were declared by the CBl as non-existent. These meeting places were in position when CBI said these did not exist. The IB did not have the courage to prepare a broadsheet of contradictions between its findings and those narrated by the CBI. These were not brought to the notice of the Home Secretary and Cabinet Secretary to expose the CBI. The 1B Director had simply capitulated under pressure and withdrew all his earlier reports as being incorrect. How could he do that without destroying the very base of credibility of the 167 But he did.

team. The apex court had not applied its mind to the counter-intelligence evidences. It went bv leeal technicalities. A criminal case follows

refuse, C . . - , - certain legal procedure and ends either in conviction or acquittal. A counter-intelligence case is different from a criminal case. It examines the probable threads of connectivity and establishes a pattern to prove that certain external forces have tried to penetrate the secrets of the nation. Prosecution under the Official Secrets Act is different in nature from prosecution under the penal laws.

It was never explored if the Maldivian security agency was used by the IS1 to perform its taks in India ..The Maldives has no interest in rocketry and nuclear technology. This point deserved exploration, as Pakistan is known for stealing nuclear and rocket accom

technology. There are proofs to indicate that Male is an active IS1 operational base.

generated by the R&AW and examination of 70 odd video tapes made by vessel the IB's technical team should bring out the real ramification fo the 'ISRO

Espionage Case.' 1 have mentioned these facts only with a vew to arouse some stirring in sections of the government and its agencies with the following intensions:

Innocent IB and Kerala police officers should not be made to suffer by the suspect investigation by the CBI.

:ZVours

There is no harm if this reinvestigation is carried out silently and out -of theglare of. the media.

There are about 30 points of investigation on which the CBI behaved lorn as mysteriously. They blindly went by the disclosures made by the suspects,

who were not expected to repeat what they admitted to the joint interrogation team. The videotapes cannot lie. But for some inexplicable reason the IB refused to produce the same as vital pieces of evidence. The IB should

embarked on a 'demolish the IB and police' policy, in comivance with

~enetrate I do not intend to enter into a detailed debate on this issue, but I strongly feel that there is a genuine. case for' reinvestigation into the entire ISRO

- episode by the IB and Keraka police with assistance from the R&AW, CBI and ISRO. The track record of the CBI, in cases of investigation clouded by political interference, is not studded with gems and diamonds. The whole process of cover up had become transparent from the day I happened to

agency from internal and external sabotage. Mere political expediency should not stand in the way of thrashing out the vital issues of national security.

Political and diplomatic expediency and contingency often force the government to close down the process of an investigation and even withdraw a judicial case against individuals and groups. This has been the practice in free democratic countries like the UK and the USA.

The feasibility of the Maldivian government's involvement in allowing its operators in India to monitor the activities of the opponents of the deemed permanent president of the country is more distinct than any other intelligent guess. It was an illegal act, at least when foreign espionage agents are caught. India will not be alloowed by the USA to depute its clandestine intelligence agents to one of tis states for investigating certain Indians residing there. Similarly India cannot allow the Male regime a allow its agents to operate inside India. The Maldives had not disowned Mariyam Rasheeda. Her employment in the security and intelligence service of Maldives was confirmed by the R&AW.

It is possible that Delhi was under pressure from Male to play down the case and close it. Such requests are understandable.

It is g o r e than likely that the government of India did not like the ISRO to be stigmatised and admit the possible infiltration of the prestigious organisation by an enemy country, which was aggressively hunting for advanced rocket technology. The ISRO has done India proud. But the way the CBI investigation was conducted and the way the high-voltage counter- intelligence case was given a judicial burial leave tectonic gaps between the concepts of national security, political expediency and diplomacy. Even if it was decided at certain level to save the hides of international friends, domestic political allies and a prestigious organisation the power centre in Delhi should have not used the CBI to malign Kerala police and a section

nations is harming itself.

Herein are buried the seeds of suspicion and the practicability of reopening of the investigation.

I must mention a curious tertiary development related to the ISRO case. 0. Rajagopal, a former police officer and BE' stalwart from Keral% visited me in ~ u l y 1995. A Sangh Parivar friend accompanied hiin. He wanted from me the copies of the interrogation reports and the videotapes. I did not trust the visitor, as he appeared to c a w his own political axe. did not expect the BJP to wage a full-fledged war on the ISRO front and come to my rescue. In an earlier meeting with L. K. Advani after mY retirement I had gathered a similar impression. He Was on the look Out for a weapon to hit the incumbent government and was not keen to Promote vital national security interests. I was interested in revival of the ISRO

he Grounded Rocket

In April 1996 an emissary of A rjun Singh, thevete~an Congress leader from Madhya ~radesh, suddenly discovered me through one of his political snouts. I was requested -to meet himi He too. wanted to be briefed on the ISRO case with documentarysupport. His game wasveryclear. He wanted to use the materials against Narasimha Rao, his arch p.olitical rival. My three meetings with him did not go beyond exchange of pleasantries. I had decided against playing into the hands of the politicians o n a n important matter of national security, though I carried a deep wound caused by Rao and his lackeys in the government. I could, under no circumst&ces heal

highly disappointed by- my attitude. I was approached by a section of the media to write columns oa the

'inside story' of the ISROepisode. I did not see any reason to compromise' the counter-intelligence operation of the 1B and the coverup operation by Nafasimha Rao government. The media had already damaged the case by taking pro- and anti- Karunakaran stances. The media cannot try threats to the nation, though they play vital roles through investigative. jouialism. They can unmask the 'mukhotas' of the system.

As I stated earlier only a fresh investigation by a joint team of IB, CBI, R&AW and Kerala police officers adexamine all relevant records could do . . justice . . , to , . the . . . . buried ~ case .-.~.., ... even at this - .~.--- late stag^. Lack of any such coordinated investigation had given licence to iommik grave. lapses by th< IB and R&AW in important national security related fikcos like thepunilia Arms ~ r o ~ ~ i n g case and the Kargil faux pas. The country still is no wiser

Open Secrets

The ISRO case had not acted as my nemesis. I was not born to be bullied. Trench fighting is my forte. The incident has fortified my belief that India deserves to have Acts of the Parliament to regulate the prime intelligence and investigation agencies and they should be statutorily separated from the covetous manipulation by the political breed.

I have fervent faith that the media, intelligentsia and the opinion makers of the country will take up this crusade, as most often they are the victims of internal emergency, Official Secrets Act, POTA, MISA, DIR and some such draconian anti-democratic laws and regulations. A Indira Gandhi does not find it difficult to lock up a Vajpayee and an Advani, a Jayalalitha does not hesitate to apply POTA against a fellow politician, Vaiko. But i~onically the sufferers simply develop amnesia when they are on top of the table. They conveniently forget that elected democracy can be the worst foim of governance and it can facilitate criminalisation of national life unless refashioning of the constitution of the country restores constitutional liberty, freedom and accountability at all levels.

I had been a minor intelligence operator. I had the opportunity to witness certain segments of current national history. I too was used in a big way by the masters of the day to sabotage the law and order and weaken the constitution. In retrospect I feel we are not the real public servants, we are the servants of the public representatives, most of whom manipulate the system to acquire the status of statesmen.

* * * * ' "Open Secrets" is a vehicle to reach that message to the people who

still believe that India is more important than any individual and any government which may carry right, left, centre and various other ideological stamps that the ism-spectrum can offer.

The, somersaults and face-reversals of the politicians and bureaucrats did not surprise me. I was pained by the very inept handling of a fine counter-intelligence case by a person, who was helped by me to climb the ton.On the 30Ih J ~ U ~ N . 1995 n i ~ h t I received a call from the Director IB. He described me as an 'anti-nationalperson, who had deliberately tried to frame the son of the PM in the ISRO espionage case'. I tried to argue that it was he, who had overruled me and enclosed the in-house working sheet with his report, which had mentioned the need for questioning of the son of the PM. The confused person blabbered out something, which was

The Grounded Rocket

was based on 'independent verification' conducted by him. There was no such verification. He had not even appreciated and evaluated the burden a General carries on his shoulder. He did not even search his soul.

Path* simply capitulated. He betrayed the trust ofthe entire organisation and especially the trust of colleagues like Mathew John, Srikumar, S. Jayaprakash and Bishambhar, all belonging to the Kerala unit of the IB. Several officers of the Central Interrogation Team also received stinkers from the CBI in the f o m of charge sheet. We were utterly disillusioned by the cowardice of our General and his inability to protect the organisation. [.rued the day I had recommended him to the Cabinet Secretary.

From that night itself, my friends informed me, the IEI placed surveillanm on my telephone calls and our movements. I could see a few known faces perambulating around our home withrather embarrassing faces. .My wife was pestered by 'friends' in the IB to persuade me to remain silent. On February 2"* a speeding van tried to hit against my car. That night itself

nom

This decision was hastened more by a sudden attack of Bells Palsy on the right side of the face of my wife. Around the same t i m e i t was discovered that she had become susceptible to hormonal imbalance due to a previous total hysterectomy operation. This imbalance was leadihg to cancer of the breast. We suppressedthe disturbing infohation. from our children and continued with preventive treatment.

Sunanda supported the family decision.

She finally succumbed to cancer in September 2001. ~ .~ .

Epil

of th Estal

Intelligence is a tool of statecraft. It helps the state to maintain peace at home and make war and peace abroad. The intelligence community has served the bygone warriors, kings and monarchs. They are now servants of the people; at least they are presumed to be the servants of the representatives of the people in an elected constitutional democracy.

The trade has its own glamour and charisma, which is, in fact, derived glamour from the State Establishment. Like dark and dwarf stars the intelligence community cannot advertise its presence and emit its own glow. It emits the glow of the people'it serves. If an agency like the CIA is termed 'rogue', it reflects the 'roguish' character of the ruler of the day.

The days of kings and queens have changed in many countries and real and free elected democracy and constitutional liberty have substituted the draconian rules of dictators and controlled democracies. The intelligence fraternity is supposed to serve the System and the people who support the System, through expression of free will.

Has this goal been achieved in the real democracies? The candid answer is: yes and no. Yes, to some extent, in case of countries like the USA, UK and France, where the constitutional controls and accountability systems catch uo with errine leaders like Nixon. Bush and Blair. The Iraa war fiasco

1 ~. ..

has started catching up with Bush, whose election to thehighdst post has caugf

been subjected to scrutiny. Mounting evidence that his govemment had . ~ ~ . ~ .. ~ . . ~ , fudged the intelligence reports has already cornered Blair. However, the ...

Establishment in the free democracies still tries to misuse the intelligence

The pseudo democratic countries and the countries shackled to tin pot dictators, religious and ideological theocrats, and military junta cannot help but suffer the excesses of their intelligence establishments, which are an

. extension of the power hubs, Unfortunately for India, a supposed free democratic country, the

intelligence and investigation community have not been freed from the shackles of State Establishment. They are not accountable to the elected parliament and legislatures. The government can afford to breach the privacy

Epilogue

That politics has percolated down to each and every segment of the nation has been proved beyond doubt, from day one, after substitution of

TNLF have amply proved that the Indian political class do not understand the differences between minor political manipulation and major social,

Intelligence is basically dependent on humanresources. Intelligence is generated by trained professionals and the machines and gadgets contrived and deployed by them. The loveliest and purest diamond becomes the pride of a beauty queen's crown only when i t is chiselled andpolished by the master craftsman. ~ i m i l a r l ~ , a raw piece of information is churned into intelligence by the trained and seasoned intelligence operators, before the same is used by the policy' makers.

The Indian ~ntelligence Bureau (IB), of which Iwas an integral part for 29 years, is usually manned by professionals. In spite of deficiency in

,training, human resource management and development and of

logistics, the cutting edge level of the IB operators has proved their worth by dedicatedly sewing the Bureau, Government and the people. At least 50% of the human resources are dedicated to their profession. I had the unique opportunity to work with some of the best intelligence operators at the cutting edge level. Like all other government departments rest of the 50% human resources are utilised in questionable manner.

In lndia an intelligence operator is considered an officer. He is not an agent in the sense the CIA uses th.e word. He is equated with his rank-

a clerk. This is a big fallacy. The government of lndia shoold look into this

governments.

country-as far as pure security and intelligence matters are concemed. It i s a different matter that the agencies like the IB are suborned to the

political interests 'of the party in power and the Prime Ministers and Home Ministers. In spite of politiial abuse and misuse the IT3 has been admirably discharging its security and intelligence related charters of work. 1t can-do better if it is freed from the clutches of the politicians.

* * * * Other points that require clarification and clear underslanding are the

issues of CORRUPTION^^^^ CRIMINALISATION OF POLITICSPUBLIC

According to my personal knowledge Indira Gandhi was not personally corrupt. I have seen Rajiv Gandhi from close quarters. I strongly believe that he was not personally corrupt. His problem was that he was not the man of destiny to pilot a complex country like India. He believed in cheap

1

iecrets Epil'ogue 519

r wotth gimmicks and he believed in bad advices offered by his 'friends' 'coterie \t least members' and even his 'intelligence chief.' An intelligence chief cannot had the afford to be emotionally and ideologjcally identified with his main consumer. ators at That situation generates severe intelligence fault lines. Rajiv Gandhi was t of the trapped with such fault lines a number of times. I agree with an eminent

journalist that while Sanjay's backseat driving was a 'reign of terror', ; not an Rajiv's cockpit piloting w& a 'reign of is rank- For rest of the politicians I have no &fnment to offer, except P.v.~ sated as Narasimha Rao. It is unfortunate thatIndia was saddled with a man who into this was transformed fiom a teacher to toshakhana (treasure chest) manager. I

ain non- revalent I breathe with the hope that Indian people will soon rediscover the

meaning of. 'satyameva jqyate'; national honesty and character. Soonet mnge in

they do is better. Otherwise corruption, which oxidises the moral moorings i modem

of the nation, will sooner than later c o h d e away the national anchor-the . . /i d by the

~onstihkion-&d throw the country back to the mercies of the lootersand pendent

'I I

grabbers. The criminals have started making ir?r.oads.&j~,?hi mainstream ~ ~

:

of national life. They sell and purchase at ghipointj '%ey also succumb E Bureau easily to more powerful guns-the guns of the enemy of the nation, . i . decades.

Shall we trust them any longer? . ~ ,-.-. ~ . . ry cogent i

I shall be happy if Open Secrets raise a national debate on the vital issue lade any areas of of making the intelligence and investigative agencies accountable to the

I. I

ity of the elected Parliament under-appropriate Act. After 57- years ofindependence , i '

cemed. It a time has come to liberate the Intelligence and Investigation Establishments ed to the from the stranglehold of petty and visionless politicians.

1: I.

md Heme admirably It can do t

iandhi and on frying

jhotis they I gly believe was not the I

)f personal o Yadav- I ors.

personally . I