Brajesh Mishra aids RAW spy to escape

Maj Rabindra Singh disappeared taking advantage of the then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra not agreeing to the RAW report for his arrest. Brajesh Mishra, awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2011 for his anti- national activity!
Missing Indian spy found in US
By Iftikhar Gilani Tuesday, March 14, 2006
NEW DELHI: Rabindra Singh, a senior Indian spy who went missing in May 2004 after suspected of becoming a double agent and passing on secret and classified documents to the Americans, has been ultimately traced in the countryside of Virginia state in the United States after 22 months of hunt.
The government knew from very first day of his escape that he had fled to the United States for whom he was spying in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s top external intelligence agency. His whereabouts, however, remained unknown until recently. A Delhi daily on Monday said Rabindra, a clean-shaven Sikh who was a joint secretary in RAW at the time of his escape just as he was to be arrested, is living in disguise with his wife and two children in Virginia. The Indian agencies have established his identity on the basis of his latest photograph in disguise and other evidences and now intense efforts are on to bring him to justice.
India and United States have the extradition treaty that may be explored to ask the US authorities to arrest Rabindra and send him back to India, though the authorities are sceptic in succeeding since Rabindra had become the American agent in RAW. Rabindra was under surveillance by the counter-intelligence unit of RAW on suspicion that he was photocopying sensitive files and classified information and handing them over to the US intelligence officials based in Delhi. He was already filmed zeroxing classified documents in his office after the agency bosses smelt rat the way he was hosting parties for the foreign secret agents.
He and his family, however, disappeared taking advantage of the then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra not agree to the RAW report for his arrest. His handlers in the US intelligence network in the American embassy had tipped him off that their clandestine dealings with him were no longer secret. He fled to Nepal via Bihar border and then managed to reach the Untied States with the help of the undercover operatives of the US intelligence.
Rabinder was part and parcel of several undercover missions and was one of the 15 joint secretaries in the country’s top external intelligence agency’s secretariat at the time of his escape. His disappearance had caused a lot of concern in the government since he knew a lot about the counter-intelligence missions and as such he can harm the national interests.
He was a major in the Army before he came to RAW on deputation to RAW in the 80s and was absorbed in the RAW service on completion of the deputation. Rated a poor intelligence analyst, he had talent to be a better field operative. During his RAW career, he worked in Amritsar and subsequently as a field operative in West Asia and West Europe to monitor activities of the terrorist groups and Sikh militants operating from there. In Amritsar, he was assigned the task of collecting transborder intelligence.
Missing Indian spy found in US

Babu shunted for leaking Army Chief's Top Secret Letter

Senior officer leaked army chief's letter to PM
May 13, 2012 21:58 IST
A joint secretary-rank officer in the Cabinet Secretariat has been found guilty of leaking Army Chief General V K Singh's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ] about the poor state of preparedness of his force and has been shunted out.
A probe into the leakage by the Prime Minister's Office has also cleared General Singh of any wrongdoing in the episode, highly-placed sources said.
In his letter, the army chief had highlighted the critical shortage of equipment and ammunition in artillery and armoured regiments.
The female officer, belonging to the Indian Economic Service, was handling the charge of intelligence agencies under the Cabinet Secretariat and was nailed after interrogation of some suspected people.
The officer has now been repatriated to her parent cadre and further action can be taken against her for leaking such a sensitive document, sources said.
After the letter surfaced, both the Houses of Parliament were rocked over the issue and certain parties had demanded action against General Singh.
At that time, General Singh had said that incident should be treated as "high treason" and the source of leakage should be dealt with "ruthlessly."
"The leakage of the letter should be treated as high treason. Cynical approach to tarnish my reputation should stop. Sources of the leakage should be found and dealt with ruthlessly," General Singh had said in a statement issued by the army headquarters. Following the incident, the government had asked the Intelligence Bureau to investigate the matter and find out the person responsible for it.
The letter was leaked to the media after General Singh made a sensational disclosure in an interview that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by a retired lieutenant general for favouring a sub-standard defence deal regarding the purchase of army trucks.

Readers comments sample

apology by aam admi on May 14, 2012 12:15 AM those political leaders, who abused and blamed the General for leaking the letter to Media, should apologise to General VK Singh, if they have left any grace in their behaviour, they should not shout and abuse people of the society in Parliament as and when they wish.This is disgraceful on their part.

by Raghvendra Singhon May 13, 2012 10:37 PM
Time and again it has come to light that General VK Singh has been correct in all his statements and actions. Yet every time there has been biased reporting against him, asking for his head. He has not been allowed to serve for an additional year as is rightfully his due, history will forever remember this. It is a National loss, but he will do his bit for the country in whatever direction Destiny will take him.
Senior officer leaked army chief's letter to PM
Babu shunted for 'leaking' army chief's letter
Army chief letter leak: Cabinet Secretariat officer found guilty
Government's Denial Drama and Dilemma
It's very understandable why the Prime Minister's office and the government is hurriedly issuing a denial because it gives a clean chit to the Army Chief but raises some alarming questions on the government's role behind this Army Chief controversy, and with the Opposition bound to corner the government once again on this, one can understand why the Prime Minister's office wants to step in and issue a denial.
Read More: Click here for the original post
Comment: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is correct when he said "After 60 years we are not a perfect Democracy". What he missed out was that we are fast graduating into a Banana Republic. The treatment meted out to a Patriotic Gen VK Singh by the Government speaks volumes of its gradual graduation!

The bitter side of spying

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: April 17, 2011 11:10 IST
Gurdaspur (Punjab): The case of Indian spy Gopal Dass, who returned home last week after spending 27 years in prison in Pakistan, has sparked off renewed interest in what actually goes on in this shadowy world.
Once a master spy, Karamat Rahi is now tea stall owner. Six years ago, he returned to his village in Gurdaspur, Punjab, after spending 18 years in Pakistani jails.
After his return, Karamat sought compensation from the Indian intelligence agency he worked for, but was refused. He moved court but his plea was turned down so he now plans to move a higher court.
"We spend difficult times in those jails, we are half dead in those interrogations. Now when we can't do anything we should get something to do business. Also, what do I do without pension? I am 58 and worth nothing," says Karamat.
Fifty kilometre away, in village Daduwal that once had a dozen spies working for Indian agencies, Sunil was lured into spying by a fellow villager. But three years later, he was caught in Pakistan and jailed.
He returned home after seven years. Physically weak and depressed, he is now fully dependant on his wife who works as a domestic help.
"We worked for the country and what we got was tears of blood. We don't get anything," says Sunil.
Grefan tried his hands at spying but soon decided to quit. But his mentors just won't let him. He alleges that Indian agencies implicated him in three false cases.
He now works as a labourer and earns Rs. 3000 a month.
"I refused to work for these agencies since they did not care. When I stopped working, I was implicated in false cases - of bomb blast. But I was proved innocent; they slapped more cases," he says.
Along the border belt in Punjab, almost every third village has a spy who once worked for Indian agency. These spies say they never got a fair deal; they say the way they have been ignored they feel they are the children of lesser God.
The bitter side of spying

Impingement of Official Secrets Act investigated for quarter century!

A retired lieutenant general has been put on trial by a Delhi court for allegedly divulging sensitive secret information about the country's arms and ammunition system to an international arms dealing firm, impinging upon the nation's security.

Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja put Lieutenant General (retd) Nirmal Puri on trial along with M/s Concord International Pvt Ltd's official Vinod Khanna, whom the top army officer had allegedly supplied sensitive information in 1984-87.

The court put the duo on trial after framing charges under various provisions of the Official Secret Act and the India Penal Code against them.

"During the period 1984-87, both of you entered into criminal conspiracy in order to obtain, collect, communicate secret/ classified/ official information/ documents pertaining to the defence of the country with the purpose that same may be prejudicial to the safety or interest of the state," the court said.

Puri is alleged to have prepared two hand-written notes containing classified information regarding equipment like light tanks, radio sets for AFV, training simulators and others.

The notes were recovered during search conducted in the premises of M/s Concord International Pvt Ltd from its Golf Links office here on February 2, 1987.

"During the aforesaid period, you being Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and having access, owing to your position as a person who had held office under the Indian Army, wilfully communicated such note/ information to Khanna, a person who is other than to whom you were authorised to communicate it," the ASJ said.

Khanna was charged with obtaining the information which "might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".

The court noted the disclosure of such information "is likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state or friendly relations with foreign state".

Puri had joined the Indian Army on December 11, 1949 and had retired on March 17, 1985.

The FIR was registered in January 1988 against Puri and Khanna following a complaint by D M L Malhotra, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, and the charge sheet was filed in 1989.
Army's Ex-Lt Gen on Trial for Leaking Official Secrets

Times Square Car Bomb Suspect Faces Terrorism Charges After Admitting to Plot

A man who was identified by neighbors in Connecticut as Faisal Shahzad is shown. (AP/Orkut.com)
Pakistani-born U.S. citizen Faisal Shahzad has admitted trying to set off a car bomb in busy Times Square and will face terrorism and mass destruction charges, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

Holder said in a press conference that Shahzad has been charged with an act of terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in the May 1 bomb plot.

Holder said Shahzad, who has provided "valuable information" to investigators, attempted to carry out a "lethal terrorist attack" aimed at "murdering Americans in one of the busiest places in our country."

Deputy FBI director John Pistole said Shahzad was placed on the No Fly list just hours before he was arrested Monday -- a key step in preventing him from fleeing the country on a flight to Dubai, he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Customs and Border Protection officials at the airport ordered that the flight be stopped before takeoff. Napolitano said they were able to arrest Shahzad on the plane and turned him over to the FBI -- though she declined to say how he was able to board the flight if he was on the No Fly list.
Times Square Car Bomb Suspect Faces Terrorism Charges After Admitting to Plot: FOXNews.com
NY bomb plotter was trained in Pak terror factory
Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani origin American arrested in connection with the botched car bombing in New York, is the son of a retired air vice marshal of the Pakistan Air Force.
What al-Qaida's greatest strength and its most dangerous capability today is the ability to indoctrinate and infiltrate other established militant groups that have operational capacity.
Analysts: Times Square Plot May Signify Terrorist Tactical Shift

Comments: Prompt action by FBI enabled apprehending the terrorist boarding a flight to Dubai within 72 hours of the failed bomb attack. Our anti- terror outfits need to learn lessons to apprehend terrorists rather than allow them free passage back to Pakistan including safe flights accompanied by a Minister!

India's long history of spies: R&AW seeks OSA as undercover for corrupt activities

Dear Friends,
Jai Hind.
Please read the news Click here- Medicare denial to feted soldier opens up RAW wound by Deepak Kumar Jha, New Delhi: Agencies fail to gather evidence against ex-Brigadier charged with spying, say friends.

It is a pathetic story of injustice to a retired officer.

Let the Government conduct the trial and punish the officer if he is found guilty. But playing dirty tricks to delay the trial so that the misdeeds of the Government agency remain under cover- is a shameful act.

It is time that all of us start thinking as to how to force the shameless government agency to start the trial of the officer.

Please do give this problem a serious thought and do whatever best you can to help Brig Ujwal Dasgupta, who has been behind bars without any trial. It is a disgrace to system of justice in India and disgrace to the officer community if we do not force the Government to start and finish the trial without further delay.
In service of Indian Military Veterans
Veteran Chander Kamboj

Dasgupta along with three other accused was arrested in 2006. The co-accused Shiv Shankar Paul (38), a systems analyst at the National Security Council Secretariat, his superior officer Commander Mukesh Saini (58) who had retired on March 31, 2006, and Brigadier Ujjal Dasgupta (64), head of the computer section of Research & Analysis Wing, were also accused of espionage and booked under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly passing on information to Rosanna Minchew (31), an American diplomat. Dasgupta, while deputed in the R&AW, was arrested on July 19, while Paul was arrested on June 11 in 2006. Saini was also picked up by the investigators on July 6. Dasgupta was involved in project - Anveshak, a software developed for R&AW by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) as well as the Army. Army has since clarified that the software developed was not classified. The trial is yet to begin in the case.
20 days after SC order, ex-Brigadier gets medical aid
Related article
India's long history of spies in the establishment
The irony couldn't have been more apparent. The international media has reported the bickerings in RAW—a dubious honour for an intelligence agency.

The government has finally ordered an investigation into the allegations of corruption in RAW made by Major General V.K. Singh (retd), an army officer who served with India's external intelligence agency. Singh's book, India's External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), published last year, detailed the charges he was levelling. The book's publication led to its author being investigated by the CBI under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for "jeopardising national security". But even as the probe against Singh continues, the allegations he made are also being looked into (sources say they have been taken very seriously at the highest level). Thus, two investigations are now on simultaneously—one against the accuser (Singh) and the other against those accused by him!
EXCLUSIVE raw corruption probe: Double Checking- Finally, V.K. Singh's allegations prompt a probe of RAW by Saikat Datta
RAW Lapses
•Probe into the procurement of 27 antennas between 2000 and '02 from Germany's Rhodes & Schwarz at arbitrary rates
•Also investigate the purchase of communication equipment for the Special Protection Group, without proper checks or mandatory approvals
•Identity of the officers involved in these procurements is known
•The probe is being conducted by a former special secretary of RAW

Lesson learnt: Officers from the Armed Forces should not volunteer for service in RAW as corruption is veiled as undercover! The Home Minister P Chidambaram is sure to see through the corruption game played by RAW and resolve trial cases quickly as he is an eminent lawyer of repute.

National Security: Mole in MEA a reverse honey trap

New Delhi, April 27
Madhuri Gupta may have been lured into a ‘friendship’ with an ISI agent — a reverse honeytrap — to pass on information detrimental to Indian interests in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The ISI man has so far been identified as Rana and was meeting her frequently.

The close nature of friendship between Gupta, a 53 year-old spinster posted in the Indian mission at Islamabad and the ISI man had caught the attention of Indian agencies, who had been monitoring her movements since she was posted to Pakistan in 2008, top-level sources here revealed.

Gupta had expressed a keenness to serve in Pakistan indicating that she may be having cross-border links even before her posting. Pakistan is anyway considered a tough posting for anyone. The nature of information accessible to the ISI through her was classified, including some sensitive documents pertaining to Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agents posted at the Indian High Commission at Islamabad. Also, the diplomatic strategy and list of officials, who were expected to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan, besides other secret government papers may have changed hands, sources added.
ISI’s mole in MEA held: Tribune News Service It was ‘reverse honeytrap’ Ajay Banerjee & Sandeep Yadav

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists

Naxal/ Maoist strike: soldiers rode into the death trap
Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress



The wreckage of a paramilitary vehicle blown up by Maoists' during an attack in Tadmela, Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

The bodies of 76 security personnel, 75 of them from the CRPF, were flown to their homes in different parts of the country. A glimpse at the last journey of Dantewada martyrs.

New Delhi, April 6 : Terming the killing of 75 security personnel in Chattisgarh by the Maoists as an act of terror, the Congress Tuesday said "there might have been an intelligence failure and the reason for this should be ascertained".

"This is very unfortunate that we have lost a number of precious lives of security personnel in a brutal attack. Those behind this terror attack should be firmly dealt with," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS after 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists in the forests of Chhattisgarh. The Congress also asked the government to take measures to prevent such attacks.
--IANS
Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress
Popular support leading to Maoist attacks on security forces?

E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada
It has been decided to conduct an Inquiry into the circumstances leading to the ambush of CRPF platoons on last Tuesday at Dantewada in Chhatisgarh. Shri E.N. Rammohan, IPS (retired), has been appointed to conduct the Inquiry and submit a report within 15 days. The Inquiry report shall:
a) establish the circumstances preceding and the sequence of events leading to the incident of April 6, 2010.
(b) reconstruct, as far as possible, the actual events that took place on that day from 0500 hrs to 1200 hrs. and until the first rescue party reached the place of incident.
c) examine the CDR of the mobile telephones used by the deceased/injured personnel of the CRPF during the encounter and gather evidence from family members and others that would throw light on the actual events that took place during the ambush.
d) analyze and establish the decision/command structure/ hierarchy and the specific levels which took relevant decisions concerning the AD(Ops) and leading to the incident.
e) examine the quality of the training imparted to the relevant Companies of CRPF and the details of SoPs issued to the Company.
f) examine the response of the State Police and the CRPF both during the ambush and the post-ambush relief and rescue operations.
g) suggest measures to mitigate the lapses, if any, which are documented by the Enquiry Officer so that such incidents do not reoccur.
h) consider any other matter that the Inquiry Officer may deem relevant to the scope and terms of the Inquiry.

All Paramilitary Forces and State Govt., Police and Home Departments have been directed to offer access to all relevant records, wireless, logs, etc. as may be sought by the Inquiry Officer. OK/KP/DB
E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada

China excels in Cyber Theft of Classified documents

Turning the tables on a China-based computer espionage gang, Canadian and United States computer security researchers have monitored a spying operation for the past eight months, observing while the intruders pilfered classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of the Indian Defence Ministry.

In a report issued Monday night, the researchers, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, provide a detailed account of how a spy operation it called the Shadow Network systematically hacked into personal computers in government offices on several continents.

The Toronto spy hunters not only learned what kinds of material had been stolen, but were able to see some of the actual documents, including classified assessments about security in several Indian states, and confidential embassy documents about India's relationships in West Africa, Russia and the Middle East. The intruders breached the systems of independent analysts, taking reports on several Indian missile systems. They also obtained a year's worth of the Dalai Lama's personal e-mail messages.
Read complete cyber espionage sequence
Researchers trace Indian Defence Ministry data theft to China

Comment: We need to subject Chinese to our "Official Secret Act", which will screw them beyond redemption.

Military options are never easy

The Mumbai attacks have served as a wake-up call and our political leaders appear to have stirred themselves out of their stupor to review the national security threats and challenges that the country faces.

The UAPA Amendment Bill and the creation of a National Investigation Agency are good first steps. Enhancing intelligence acquisition should now be the foremost priority. The solution lies in upgrading humint (human intelligence) capabilities by an order of magnitude, creating a suitable organisation to make intelligence assessments and fine-tuning India's counter-terrorism response to react quickly and effectively.

Simultaneously, counter-terrorism cooperation with friendly powers should be enhanced so as to benefit from a larger pool of knowledge and resources.

The intelligence agencies are cognisant of the existence of many sleeper cells across the country. A few of these terror modules have been eliminated in encounters in recent years. It is only by stepping up the deployment of humint resources and penetrating the control HQ of the sleeper modules -- a very complex intelligence operation -- that sufficient information about them can be acquired.

Thousands of well-qualified ex-servicemen retire at a young age (35 to 40 years) and go back to their villages every year. Many of them would be willing and eager to take up the challenge to be trained as agents of the Intelligence Bureau. The people of the country can also contribute to this national effort by maintaining vigilance and reporting all unusual activities to the authorities.

New police personnel and intelligence agents need to be recruited, armed, equipped, trained, housed and fed before they can join the work force. Surveillance devices like CCTVs and infrared monitors also need to be purchased and installed.

The ones that are already available need to be made serviceable. Coastal and border surveillance must be carefully coordinated. Meanwhile, the security of vulnerable areas must be ensured by calling for help from the central police and paramilitary forces, bearing in mind that some of these are also overstretched.

One action that all state governments can take right away is to withdraw the thousands of security personnel detailed for VIP security duties and re-deploy them at key locations that are more vulnerable than VIPs so that they can act as a deterrent.

On a larger plane, the Indian leadership must stop pretending that all of India's national security challenges are of external origin. Most of India's law and order problems like communal riots and agitations for increased reservations and quotas have been caused by vote bank politics and the extant politician-bureaucrat-police-criminal nexus.

The time has come to re-examine the merits and demerits of India's parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model in which both the executive branch and the legislature are manned by the same people.

India's political leaders have failed to rise above self interest -- that is centred on elections and secret funds to win them -- and have therefore failed to provide good governance. They have failed both the Constitution and the people and it is time for change.

India needs its own Obama moment if the present rot that lies within is to be stemmed. If the Mumbai terror attacks serve to cause some introspection and act as a catalyst for change, the sacrifice of the lives of 200 innocent people and security forces personnel will not have been in vain.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd)
Director
Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)
Read more: Military options are never easy
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