Samba Spy Scandal

Preface

The object of my writing this book - apart from vindicating my personal honour, a life force of a soldier - was to show to the people of my country, how a handful of military intelligence officers successfully conspired to inflict a blistering wound to the prestige of our army. It will continue to hound not only the army, but the entire nation for generations to come.

This is a case unparalleled in history where an entire brigade of our army was decimated through two confirmed Pakistan agents provocateur - Aya Singh and Sarwan Das. These agents were, due to the crass stupidity of the army top brass, able to achieve what was perhaps an impossibility for the entire Pakistan army.

This is a case that shows total lack of competence of the then army chief who had ordered arrests of the officers and men enmasse without evidence or without corroboration or verification of the statements given by the two gunners and other victims under extreme torture. It is a matter of analysis for future historians to make how this General could believe that so many honest officers could take to spying, that too from a single brigade overnight and indulge in transborder crossing as rightly observed by Lieut. General K. Chiman Singh, (as if there was a football match or a movie show) - in total disregard to their personal safety and throwing all norms of intelligence operations to the winds. He failed to see that no intelligence agency anywhere in the world could have acted in such a dilettante or amateurish manner in operating the alleged Indian army agents! Besides he failed to realise that not a single person was ever caught red handed, not a single document was reported missing, not a single person was found living beyond his means or had assets disproportionate to his known source of income, even though alleged to have been criss-crossing the border routinely for over four years. Even when he learned the truth instead ot giving justice to the victims he sentenced them to long terms of imprisonment.

This is a case which shows how the officers and men of Indian army were brutally tortured for months together, insulted humiliated and robbed of their honour in an utterly disgraceful manner by none other than their co-brothers in uniform. The safeguards provided to persons in the army were thus openly and blatantly trampled. This case was directly handled by the Army Headquarters breaking all the chains of commands.

This is a case that will show the degeneration of successive army top brass to rubber stamp the false case. Even when the truth had become unquestionable and fully manifested itself, the army top brass has continued to maintain silence and resort to inaction under the cover of àrmy discipline and morale’. It is left to wonder why do they want to build the army discipline and morale on the foundations of falsehood at the cost of the honour of the army and the victims of this great national fraud and betrayal.

This is a case that would show the imprudence of the members of the General Court Martial, of holding the Indian Post Kandral in Pakistan, the base of the Samba case, and the army top brass who confirmed my illegal sentence and thereby handing over this Indian piece of territory of Pakistan, albeit on paper.

This is a case that would show how the political leadership too failed to curb or check the unbridled powers of the army top brass despite the truth of the matter having being made known to them by their own agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau. The magnitude of their fuilt is no less than that of General Malhotra for perpetuating miseries to countless innocent persons and their families. I personally wrote petitions to each and every known leader of this country whether in power or opposition, telling them the inside story and cautioning them about the dangers it would present in case the truth was allowed to be suppressed.

Finally my petitions to civil courts also went unheard, being dismissed, until lately the strong stand taken by a Full Bench presided over by Hon’ble Mrs. justice Sunanda Bhandare of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in the case of Major N.R. Ajwani and others, that my dead hopes were once again revived. It is only after the judgement was upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that fresh evidence came to light and the publication of this book became a possibility.

I wish to thank Shri V.K. Kaul, I.P.S., T.V. Rajeswar, I.P.S., the then DIB and former Governer of Sikkin and West Bengal, and Lieut. General K. Chiman Singh for speaking in favour of the truth and the media for exposing and highlighting this fraud.

I wish to thank Lieut. Colonel J.D. Desai, under whom I served as adjutant of 11 Garhwal Rifles and who became my defending officer at the trial, for encouraging me to write about this unfortunate episode. I thank Shri Samuel Israil, then working in Vikas publications for going through the first draft of this book and his valuable guidance for re-writing it. My thanks are due to Shri R.n. Kumar who read the manuscript and sent the same for circulation in india as well as abroad. I also thank Shri Jean Ecalle, a French mathematician for comparing the work with the best of Russian Dissident literature and publishing the story in a play form in Ïndian Resurrection". I also wish to thank the Ëvil Genius"- Gurmukh Charles Sobhraj for his invaluable help in lending his typewriter to me in jail.

I also wish to thank my wife Swaran Rathaur through whose untiring efforts my life and the lives of many victims were possibly saved and I was able to complete this book. She stood by me like a rock and inspired me at every stage when my inner spirit seemed to desert me.

And finally my debts are due to Shri Ashwani Kapoor, Chairman and managing Director, Competent Holdings Limited for his invaluable help in getting this book published. This contains a true account of what happened to me and how the Samba Spies were created. But let me confess; the account is only one fourth of what actually happened, because I lacked the expression to portray it in totality.


Preface | Temporary Duty | The Move Order | The Train Journey | The Reception | The Army HQ | Close Arrest | The Interrogation | Background | The Intelligence | The Security | The Devil | The Confession | The Foundation Stone | The Great Detectives | The Corroborations | An Approver | Confrontaions | Hibernations | Leading to the Trails | Fairy Tales | Into the Fire | Army Procedure | As a Winess | Meeting with Family | Habeas Corpus | Death of Democracy | The Trial | Prosecution Case | The Defence | The Press | Rebuttal | Aftermath | Mystery | Postscript | Annexure I | Home |