As interesting as Purulia Arms drop the case.
By the way what has happened to that case?
Peter Bleach,one of the accused in the Purulia arms drop case of 1995 and who has served Eight years in Indian Jail, has revealed startling facts.
He was approached by a man who wanted some arms to be dropped into India.
Bleach, though an Armsdealer, got suspicious and informed MI5( Internal Security) of British Intelligence.
He was informed that the Government of India was interested in finding out the destination of these Arms and they would like Bleach to go ahead to enable Government of India to arrest the conspirators.
MI 5 has informed him that R&AW was informed.
The British Government backed the plan.
“The Purulia arms drop case was an infamous incident in which unauthorised arms were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft in Purulia district in the state of West Bengal in India on 17 December 1995.
A Latvian aircraft dropped a large consignment of arms including several hundred AK-47 rifles and more than a million rounds of ammunition over a large area in Jhalda, Ghatanga, Belamu, Maramu villages of Purulia district on the night of 17 December 1995.[citation needed] Several days later, when the plane re-entered Indian airspace, it was intercepted by the Indian Air Force MiG-21 and forced to land in Mumbai.[citation needed] While the true motive of the operation remains shrouded in mystery and conjecture, it has been alleged that arms were intended for the socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (Sanskrit for “The Path of Bliss”).
http://ramanisblog.in/2011/04/28/purulia-arms-drop-indian-or-international-conspiracy/
Main Story:
“Ravi Mohan and (wife) Vijita landed at Dulles International Airport (Washington) at 3.40 am. As they came out of the aircraft, they were received by a man who introduced himself as Patrick Burns. He whisked them away, bypassing immigration and Customs and took them to a secluded house in the heart of Maryland woods… the fugitives stayed incognito, while documents were being arranged to permanently wipe out their real identity. Three weeks later, Ravi and Vijita were set free to live their American dream as fake individuals, burdened to carry the sin of betraying their nation for the rest of their lives….”
The passage appears in the epilogue of a yet-to-be released spy story titled Escape to No-where. But it’s the blurb ‘Inspired by a true story’ on the cover and the name of the author that sets this work of fiction apart.
“Ravi Mohan and (wife) Vijita landed at Dulles International Airport (Washington) at 3.40 am. As they came out of the aircraft, they were received by a man who introduced himself as Patrick Burns. He whisked them away, bypassing immigration and Customs and took them to a secluded house in the heart of Maryland woods… the fugitives stayed incognito, while documents were being arranged to permanently wipe out their real identity. Three weeks later, Ravi and Vijita were set free to live their American dream as fake individuals, burdened to carry the sin of betraying their nation for the rest of their lives….”
The passage appears in the epilogue of a yet-to-be released spy story titled Escape to No-where. But it’s the blurb ‘Inspired by a true story’ on the cover and the name of the author that sets this work of fiction apart.
Every name and several locations have been changed, but the narration of events — from Day 1, when Jeevnathan (the head of the Security Division of the Agency) is informed by a whistleblower that the “behaviour” of “Ravi Mohan” was suspicious, to Day 96 when the agency’s source in Kathmandu confirms the escape of the “suspect” with the help of the CIA Station Chief from there — is a fascinating account of the manner in which RAW’s security unit mounted an over three-month-long surveillance and then, for want of clinching evidence on who his handlers were, allowed Ravi (read Rabinder Singh) a window to escape.
Singh had been serving as a joint secretary in RAW when he fled to the US.
The surveillance drill that the RAW’s security unit put the suspected spy through included tapping his telephone lines, fixing surveillance cameras in his office (in the AC ducts), and listening devices in the official car and residence (codenamed ‘Alister’). Teams of watchers monitored his movements, contacts and flamboyant spending habits.
The RAW even planted an operative at the gym where ‘Ravi’ would work out in the evening, writes Bhushan. When video footage showed him making photocopies of secret reports daily in his office to carry home, it was replaced with a sophisticated machine that allowed officers to get copies of every document that had been xeroxed.
It was in mid-2004, says the book (by Konark Publishers), that ‘Ravi’s’ peon was intercepted transferring 13 files to his car. Bhushan writes that the files were seized and to ensure that he didn’t get suspicious, RAW conducted a search of each and every employee as they exited the high-security headquarters. The yield was a huge cache of secret documents (restricted from being taken home), DVDs and CDs as well as pornographic material.
This was also the turning point, Bhushan writes, with ‘Ravi’ getting a hint that he may have been caught and beginning to plot his escape. The RAW chief, who was getting daily briefings, however, decided not to involve the “Bureau (Intelligence Bureau)” in laying the final trap and at one point almost called the surveillance off, writes the ex-RAW officer.
Most revealing are the sections apparently inspired by Rabinder Singh’s “escape” to the US via Kathmandu. In the book, Ravi and his wife’s US passports have been issued by the “Authority”.
Six weeks after ‘Ravi’s’ escape — even as the issue was being taken up by the RAW chief with his American counterpart — the author describes that a certain Roben Singh applied for asylum in the US, but his plea was turned down by an immigration judge.
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