Contents ‘The Prologue PART ONE THE PLOT 1. AMale Ego is Hurt 9 2. The Wrath of an Editor 18 3. Plot Espionage 25 PART TWO THE BREAKTHROUGH 4. The Lie Detector 47 5. Brass Tacks 55 PART THREE ‘THE FALLOUT 61+1=3 65 PART FOUR THE VICTIMS 7. Soliloquy 81 8, The Mall 91 9. The Dirk 101 10. Chocolates 111 11, Squelch 119 12, Baptism 124 19, Light in the Tunnel 131 Bpllogue 137vil Contents Documents 1. CBI's Confidential Report on the IB (Excerpts) 141 2. CBI's Confidential Report on the Kerala Police (Excerpts) 149 3, Supreme Court's Judgement in the ISRO Espionage Case 155 4, Scientists’ Open Letter 174 5, Police Commissioner, V.R. Rajivan’s Confidential Report to the Kerala DGP 178 6. Mariam Rashecda’s Letter to the Chief Justice of India 183 7, Additional DGP, Joseph Thomas’ Letter to the then DGP TV. Madhusoodanan 187 The Prologue HAT was the ISRO ‘espionage’ stink all about? A W ‘simple case of overstay of & Maldivian woman, painted in sinister colours by both the press and police in Kerala? ‘Was It the outcome of the sexual frustration of a Circle Inspector, who thought he had an easy game in hand? Or the wrath of a local newspaper against a high-profile 1G and a self-styled king-maker of Indian politics? Could it be a case of the legal forums going overboard till the Supreme Court pulled the bridle and set things right? Or a meticulously planned international commercial con~ spiracy, executed through the American moles planted in the IB, to scuttle the satellite-launching potential of India ‘and deny the nation a share of the multi-billion dollar ‘space market’? “These questions cry for an answer, particularly when those responsible for the subversion of the system that saw pre- determined victims, including two noted scientists, put to such horrible torture, remain unpunished. ‘The chain of events that pulled the ISRO down from its soaring pride, hardly five days after the successful launch of PSLV-D 2, began at 4.15 p.m, on October 20, 1994, with the arrest of Mariam Rasheeda, a Maldivian woman held up in India due to the cancellation of Indian Airlines flights following the plague scare. ‘A case of overstay was registered against her. But, next day, Desabhimant, the CPI (M) organ, reported the arrest as a crackdown on a spy-ring operating from ISRO. The story took a new turn with Kerala Kaumudi, another local news- paper, naming Raman Srivastava, the then IG (South Zone), as the kingpin of the spy-ring. The media and politicians2 Spies from Space cried for his blood. But an arrogant K. Karunakaran ignored the mood of the public, creating a strong impression that the Chief Minister was shielding hs blue-eyed cop. Meanwhile, the Kerala police enlarged the spy-ring be- yond Mariam Rasheeda to register a case of espionage against Fauziya Hassan, another Maldivian, K. Chandraselchar, the representative of Glavkosmos in India, SK, Sharma, a Bangalore-based labour contractor, S. Namb} Narayanan and D. Sastkumaran, ISRO scientists, The cases ‘were handed over to a Special Investigation Team headed by Siby Mathew, TPS. On Decemiber 2, 1994, the cases were transferred to the BI, after Siby Mathew had put it on record that the Kerala police was ill-equipped to investigate the spy case. The CBI registered one more case against all the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act. ‘At this juncture, a legal forum based in Kocht moved a public interest litigation before the High Court of Kerala, secking direction to the CBI to arrest Raman Srivastava, A Division Bench dismissed the case on January 13, 1995 but ruled, quoting IB records, that the IG had links with the spy-ting and eriticised the CBI for taking a lenient stand towards the police officer. Srivastava was suspended the same day. At the political level, the ruling triggered a coup led by Karunakaran’s arch rival A.K. Antony with the overt sup- port ofthe press in Kerala, which saw the exit of Sarunakaran from Chief Ministership that eventually paved the way for his long political exile, ‘The CBI, RAW, IB and the Union Home Ministry moved a Joint Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court against ‘the observations of the High Court. The court passed its ‘orders on April 5, 1995, chiding the High Court's interfer- cence with the eryptic comment, “we say no more.” On November 14, 1995, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, acquitted Mariam Rasheeda in the overstay case and observed that Inspector Vayan who had arrested her ‘was chasing the victim “from the middle of October 1994, ‘obstructing her from leaving India” ‘Though different courts trying the cases had granted batl to all the accused as early as January 19, 1995, the two The Prologue 3 Maldivians could not taste freedom for want of sureties. ‘While under judicial custody, Mariam Rasheeda gave two separate Interviews to India Today and Savuy. She told In- dia Today that Vijayan and Sub-Inspector Thamp! S. Durgadutt had tortured her. To Savvy. she confided that she was a victim of Vijayan’s thwarted sexual advances. The interview generated four defamation cases—three criminal and one ctv. All the cases are pending before different courts in Trivandrum, On May 2, 1996, the GJM, Ernakulam, accepted the Re- fer Report filed by the CBI in the ‘espionage’ case, discharging all the accused on the count, that the case was “false”, In the corruption case too, the CBI court discharged all the accused, except Sasikumaran, on the basis of the CBI's Refer Report. ‘At that point of time, technically speaking, Fauziya Hassan was absolutely free. But Inspector Vijayan filed a defama- tlon case against her over an interview given to Astanet TV, and Fauzlya was remanded to judicial custody, again for want of sureties. ‘On June 27, 1996, the newly-elected Left Democratic Front government in Kerala ordered further investigation in. the spy case, The accused and the CBI challenged the noti- fication. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court didn’t quash the notification, but ruled that the State government has no Jurisdietion even to file a complaint before a court under the Indian Official Sterets Act, 1923, The order was challenged before the Supreme Court by the accused, the BI and the Union Government. ‘On December 11, 1996, Fauziya Hassan was discharged from the defamation case. Within a couple of hours the State government invoked the draconian National Security Act against her. But a year later, the government was forced to set her free, as the Act did not permit detention beyond twelve months, She then flew back to Maldives, a free bird, ‘The story of Mariam Rasheeda also has a similar note. On September 6, 1997, the court granted her unconditional bail in all the defamation eases. But the State government Invoked the NSA against her also, thus preventing her from leaving India even after she was acquitted of all the major