A whistleblower nervously drops in to share his suspicion about a senior colleague's involvement in espionage with Jeevnathan, head of the security division of the Agency, India's External Intelligence Service. An inquiry is promptly launched and Ravi, the suspect is placed under an elaborate regime of surveillance. The investigation subsequently throws up a huge amount of A whistleblower nervously drops in to share his suspicion about a senior colleague's involvement in espionage with Jeevnathan, head of the security division of the Agency, India's External Intelligence Service. An inquiry is promptly launched and Ravi, the suspect is placed under an elaborate regime of surveillance. The investigation subsequently throws up a huge amount of evidence, showing the suspect stealing sensitive data. As panic sets in, investigators acrimoniously debate whether to allow the suspect to walk free or physically force him to own up his crime.
For Jeevnathan, the problem also is how to keep the tiring watchers going and persuade an edgy Chief to stay on course. As the story enters 96th Day, paradoxical consequences follow. Loosely inspired by a true incident that took place in 2004 when a senior intelligence officer suspected of being a spy for decades vanished, the story also treats us to a rare insight into the state of security awareness of employees in the Agency, constrains in conducting aggressive operations, pitfalls in liaison relationship, competing interests of intelligence services, hazards in co-ordination of intelligence inputs and the Kashmir imbroglio. This review is part of my resolve to write consistently about debut Indian authors and their debut books.
Before writing this review, some advance disclaimers. I was one of the discussants at the launch of this book in May (or was it June), which was published by the same publisher that brought out my debut book. However, I have not interacted with the author before or after the event. I revisited the book some weeks ago, as it is one of the few 'insider' accounts of an intelligence agency that This review is part of my resolve to write consistently about debut Indian authors and their debut books.
Before writing this review, some advance disclaimers. I was one of the discussants at the launch of this book in May (or was it June), which was published by the same publisher that brought out my debut book. However, I have not interacted with the author before or after the event. I revisited the book some weeks ago, as it is one of the few 'insider' accounts of an intelligence agency that must remain ever so discreet that it might evoke gross circumspection at times. Interacting with some illustrious ex heads of the agency, I was told that the success record of our intelligence agency is a lot more impressive than the public cares to believe. Unfortunately, successes cannot be trumpeted, while failures come to the limelight and can not be brushed under.
The story is about the defection of an Indian intelligence officer who was a double agent. The book cover says 'Inspired by a true story', and we can guess what that means with a Find/ Replace. But do not expect to find a plot that takes you to exotic locales in Switzerland,Columbia etc. You only get as far as Nepal, that too in a jeep. Don't look for someone wanting to assasinate the head of state etc.
No, there's no vamp either. Well, there is one, without action. The book is more about the red tape inside the agency and the frustration of a diligent intelligence team that doesnt get support or clear directions from above. It is a babu versus field operative conflict in all its Indian richness.
What they achieve despite the resistance, if true, is already a good mark for the state of our intelligence folks. I loved the part dealing with covert internal surveillance of colleagues under the needle of suspicion. Realising that the book was written by someone who is not a trained writer, I would say it is a good first book, rich with facts, written like a diary because it is probably based on diary notings. After or before reading the book, do Google the real story in May 2004 of a senior officer that vanished/ defected. You will then be able to appreciate the book lot more.
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I give it three stars for the honesty and the guts shown by an insider who chose to write about the folly. I think I recogised the author in the story. Maybe you will too.
There are books written by many investigative journalists which unravel the mystery behind the spectacular life of espionage of renowned spies like Kim Philby of MI6, Markus Wolfe of the Stasi, Aldrich Ames of the CIA and so on. But there is little public knowledge of any of the major real-life spy stories associated with India’s external intelligence agency, the RAW (curiously called ‘Research & Analysis Wing‘!).
I have read B.Raman, who retired from RAW and wrote newspaper columns on secur There are books written by many investigative journalists which unravel the mystery behind the spectacular life of espionage of renowned spies like Kim Philby of MI6, Markus Wolfe of the Stasi, Aldrich Ames of the CIA and so on. But there is little public knowledge of any of the major real-life spy stories associated with India’s external intelligence agency, the RAW (curiously called ‘Research & Analysis Wing‘!). I have read B.Raman, who retired from RAW and wrote newspaper columns on security issues, mention that R.N.Kao, who used to head RAW in the 1970s, being regarded as one of the top six spy masters in the world during his time by the French Intelligence service. However, Raman didn’t give out much information as to why he was regarded so highly and what his achievements were. Given such a history, I was naturally excited when I found that this book was a novel written by an ex-RAW official and that it was based on the true story of Roben Singh, who worked in RAW in the 1990s and spied for the US, just like Aldrich Ames did for the USSR while employed by the CIA.
I thought I would get an insight into the way India’s external Intelligence agency worked and the sort of questions that engaged the organization. Unfortunately, the book is such a damp squib, leaving the reader with the impression that RAW is just a bureaucratic and inept organization, hobbled by a whole lot of constraints and lack of security awareness among its own employees! The book starts by laying the background to the suspicion that Ravi Mohan (proxy for Roben Singh) was copying documents from RAW and taking them home for possible transfer to a foreign agent.
This happens inside the first thirty pages and then till page 300, it is a boring narrative of secretly watching him, taping him, recording him and more watching and recording him and so on. Perhaps, real life spy craft is just drab, unexciting and repetitive like this rather than the dashing adventure of blondes, brunettes and redheads that one sees in the Bond movies. But this is purported to be a novel, rather than a memoir. So, the author has the freedom to embellish the novel with a bit of his imagination.
Instead he chooses to be a poor story teller as he goes on endlessly spitting out the dull conversations between the RAW officials, looking for concrete evidence to nail Ravi Mohan. It seems as though the author just wanted to write a memoir on this case by just changing the names. The final 30 pages, when Ravi Mohan gives the slip to RAW and escapes to the US and the Epilogue, which contains the author’s views on the case and other related issues, are the only interesting parts of the book. In the end, there is really no indication as to the nature of the sensitivity of the documents that Ravi Mohan had transferred to the foreign agent. So, one is left with the impression that a rather incompetent, two-bit spy in RAW did some treachery by transferring material to foreigners and then escaped easily through Nepal even as he was under watch by RAW all along. The book has the usual tone of retired and disgruntled govt officials and bureaucrats in painting a dismal picture of the departments they worked for. There are the accounts of internal politics in RAW as well as the inter-organizational politics between RAW and the IB (Intelligence Bureau).
In addition, there is the familiar warning that Pakistan’s ‘highly efficient’ ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) has successfully infiltrated every government department in India whereas India is just blundering along without much of a clue. What is odd is that when one reads Pakistani newspapers, one finds that they write about how the ‘efficient’ RAW has infiltrated deep into Pakistan and has managed to pull off successful sabotages inside Pakistan! I even remember reading Tim Werner’s book on the CIA, “The Legacy of Ashes”, which paints an account of how CIA stumbles from one disaster to another, whereas developing nations have an image of the CIA as something which can pull off regime changes at the drop of a hat because of their efficiency! The only passage in the book where there is some perceptive observation is in the Epilogue when the author writes about investigative journalism. He writes: “Investigative journalism is akin to running an intelligence operation. In both cases, building an asset is a tortuous process, fraught with prospects of frequent failures. It demands enormous investments and painstaking efforts over a long period of time.
But, who has the time and patience to pick the chaff from the grain.?” Perhaps, this explains why we see so little of credible investigative reports in the Indian media. Overall, a disappointing book.Spoiler Alert.!!.
If you are expecting it to be a thriller with deadly guns,expensive cars and exotic locations, you will be disappointed. This book gives us insights in the celebrated intelligence agency of India.
It's very much realistic. Writer claims the book to be based on true story (A search on Google about the case after reading the book confirms this claim). Because it is being written by a formal bureaucrat and it is meant to be informative, we should not spent much time in.Spoiler Alert.!!. If you are expecting it to be a thriller with deadly guns,expensive cars and exotic locations, you will be disappointed. This book gives us insights in the celebrated intelligence agency of India. It's very much realistic. Writer claims the book to be based on true story (A search on Google about the case after reading the book confirms this claim).
Because it is being written by a formal bureaucrat and it is meant to be informative, we should not spent much time in criticizing it with literary genres. It is evident that the characters are inspired by real people to whom the writer was close. A suspected espionage agent is a highly ranked officer of the agency. He is kept under surveillance by an officer. The story unfolds his espionage activities.
Story is written on the 'events of the day' basis probably because it is taken from the writer’s diary. The title gives the hint of the ending. What is more pleasing about the book is that it gives us the firsthand account of the agency's working. The story touches the topics like - Kashmir question, US's role in Indo-Pak conflicts, ISI's reach in India, ULFA activities, Nepal's internal security, India's stand on Myanmar's military Government, Pak-China relations (Apparently China acted as coordinator between Pakistan and N. Korea in their Nuclear exchange), divide between IB and RAW and how the petty political leadership fails the ambitions of agency/bureau. It also gives idea about how the international intelligence agency's work and how the 'sources' are formed.
Writer takes care to show these discussions as personal views of the people involved, but we are free to take a clue. I was surprised to read a few real names in the book like Saran (Indo-US nuclear deal coordinator), Nambi Narayan (ISRO Scientist, falsely claimed to be a spy by Kerala Govt.) The writer was always honest about the case and has criticized the agency at appropriate levels. Language of the book contains vary few bureaucratic jargons and they make it more readable.
The Ravi Mohan is actually Rabinder Singh. He had filed a petition in US under alias for asylum in US, first it was declined but it is now under consideration. The copy of that petition can be read here:.
Read more about the case and other Espionage activities at:. A few facts that I collected through net that will probably helpful: Jeevanathan = Amar Bhushan Chief Wasan = C.D. Sahay Espionage Agent Ravi Mohan = Maj. Rabinder Singh His Wife = Pammi Singh Post Incident Enquiry Person- Sharma = M. Narayanan (The then Special Advisor to PM Manmohan Singh) Ravi Mohan’s Canadian Relative who accompany him to Nepal = Monty Saigal (Actually his brother-in-law). The book seems to be an authentic tale of how our intelligence agency runs. I got interested in the book as a non fictional read.
This is a story of how a senior official at IB became spy and started taking out secret information. The plan of collecting evidence through surveillance. The day by day account makes is less interesting.The narration is not captivating and even if you skip 10 -15 pages, you wouldn't miss the sequence. Towards the end I had to rush through to complete to know the end The book seems to be an authentic tale of how our intelligence agency runs. I got interested in the book as a non fictional read.
This is a story of how a senior official at IB became spy and started taking out secret information. The plan of collecting evidence through surveillance. The day by day account makes is less interesting.The narration is not captivating and even if you skip 10 -15 pages, you wouldn't miss the sequence. Towards the end I had to rush through to complete to know the end of the suspect.
The book is boring! A lot of technical jargon!
The author is a newbie and he makes the reader realize it in every word! The author wanted to tell his side of the story to the people without breaking any intelligence rules! He could have wrote a blog n published instead of dragging a 30 page story to 300 page novel!
Only good thing about this book is that you'll get to know how Indian intelligence is working! How incapable people are promoted!
Though author doesn't name anyone it's easy to map the c The book is boring! A lot of technical jargon! The author is a newbie and he makes the reader realize it in every word! The author wanted to tell his side of the story to the people without breaking any intelligence rules!
He could have wrote a blog n published instead of dragging a 30 page story to 300 page novel! Only good thing about this book is that you'll get to know how Indian intelligence is working! How incapable people are promoted! Though author doesn't name anyone it's easy to map the characters of the book to their real life identity. If you want a short version of this then read in the below link. Terribly edited. It seemed that the each of the character development was done solely for the sake of it, which neither endeared the reader to them nor made them particularly real.
However the working of R&AW and the petty squabbles that exist between different governmental bodies which hinder their working have been amply focused on. In conclusion I must say that this book might have felt better in a documentary format (fake classified papers/ phone transcripts/ all the story constricted in Terribly edited. It seemed that the each of the character development was done solely for the sake of it, which neither endeared the reader to them nor made them particularly real. However the working of R&AW and the petty squabbles that exist between different governmental bodies which hinder their working have been amply focused on. In conclusion I must say that this book might have felt better in a documentary format (fake classified papers/ phone transcripts/ all the story constricted in correspondences), not too much drama or masala that has become so quintessential to writing a book nowadays.:-/. Quite well done.
Could have been fleshed out more, but even this account of tradecraft in pursuing a suspected traitor in a intelligence setup is quite reminiscent of Graham Greene's The Human Factor - from the pursuers' viewpoint - while the bureaucratic millieu is nothing less than Le Carre at his most bleak. On the other side, some loose editing at a couple of places. Where words get dropped, a character's name gets changed midway through a paragraph before being restored. Are mildly a Quite well done. Could have been fleshed out more, but even this account of tradecraft in pursuing a suspected traitor in a intelligence setup is quite reminiscent of Graham Greene's The Human Factor - from the pursuers' viewpoint - while the bureaucratic millieu is nothing less than Le Carre at his most bleak.
On the other side, some loose editing at a couple of places. Where words get dropped, a character's name gets changed midway through a paragraph before being restored. Are mildly annoying in what is otherwise an engrossing read. Amar Bhushan served as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat before he retired in 2005. There was never a dull moment in his career that spanned nearly four decades and engaged him in various shades of policing, investigation and intelligence. However, due to his compulsive habit of dissenting, his passion to experiment with new and bold ideas, his penchant for rallying behind lost causes an Amar Bhushan served as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat before he retired in 2005. There was never a dull moment in his career that spanned nearly four decades and engaged him in various shades of policing, investigation and intelligence.
However, due to his compulsive habit of dissenting, his passion to experiment with new and bold ideas, his penchant for rallying behind lost causes and his intense dislike for stereotypes, he always remained an outsider in his profession. He now lives in Jasidih, a sleepy village in the state of Jharkhand.
Former Research and Analysis Wing officer Amar Bhushan's book Escape to Nowhere is nothing short of a thriller. It presents a scary picture of what happened or even happens within India's elite intelligence agency.
Here is what the book is about in brief. In May 2004, Rabinder Singh, a joint secretary at RAW referred to as Ravi Mohan in the book, disappears from New Delhi despite being under the radar 24/7. He is said to have made a safe get away and it was discovered that he had flown into the United States under the protection of the Central Investigation Agency - the agency he was actually working for. Although this book is meant to be a fiction inspired by real-life incidents, it shows how he managed to escape and the manner in which some higher officials wanted to bury the episode so as not to jeopardise Indo-US ties. Bhushan, who served as special secretary in the cabinet secretariat before his retirement in 2005, is referred to as Jeevnathan in the book.
He tells the story about how Jeevnathan is informed by a whistleblower about the suspicious behaviour of Ravi Mohan (Rabinder Singh). He also states about the manner in which a source in the agency in Kathmandu confirmed his escape with the help of the CIA station chief there.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa interviewed Bhushan. For how long have you been planning on writing this book? For seven years, I had deliberated on whether or not to write this story. I was worried it may appear to be a flash back to an incident of spying that was not too long ago. There was a concern of how to tell this story without violating the provisions of the Officials Secrets Act. One day an officer asked me to take a look back at my experience of handling cases of espionage and also reflect upon whether was a reward to perusing such cases doggedly.
I was scared to hear the officer and I wondered if the officer was suggesting that the subversion of officers would be contained as a matter of policy while the secrets of a country made its way into the hands of unauthorised persons. It was then that I started writing this story.
Click on NEXT to read further. A re you convinced about the decision? How has your book been received? Yes, I am convinced that it ought to have been written. From the bureau a couple of them have read the book and commented profusely on it.
The younger lot who were not involved in all this are quite excited. However, while there are comments no one asks me questions. I did not want it to be addressed only by the intelligence and the media.
I wanted everyone to read it so that they have no false notions about the agencies that we have. I want people to understand that the agency is not a state within a state. It is like any other institution. However, it is not like an (Salman Khan-starrer) Ek Tha Tiger story. My story does not have a happy ending. Mohan did manage to escape. There are many questions that have been raised after this book.
My idea was to write a truthful account, point out the constraints and how difficult it is to take major decisions in the agency. Many have pondered as to why Mohan was not bumped off or why he was not caught and interrogated and thrashed.
I do not want to respond to everything. The book says it all.
Click on NEXT to read further. W asn't there an option to arrested Rabinder Singh?
The option to arrest him was there from day one. It is not something that is coming out of the blue. I have explained every detail in the book.
Let the reader decide now. He was a CIA agent. Is this not a startling enough fact? See, this is nothing new.
We too do the same thing with other agencies. Why are our agents stationed all over the world? It is a part of the game and each one uses such things for their benefit. One should not get startled with these facts and remember if we are not doing the same then it is our failure. You have embarked upon something very risky.
These are details which are preferably kept under the wraps. I found it important that I bring all this to the limelight. I had to go through a lot of pain in producing this account. I ensured that the names were not revealed and this was done for the safety of those officers who were part of it. There are many such secrets and it remains in the library.
No one will ever know that things happened. There are a lot many things and no one can have access to such information. What has happened previously or subsequently was not possible for me to put in 300 pages. Basically what I intended to do was to send a message to the officers and those aspiring youngsters wanting to join the agency to be aware of the dangers. Click on NEXT to read further. H ow have you coped with the pressures after such an expose?
One needs to stand firm. There are pressures and constraints everywhere. One should remember that that the RAW is not in Mars. The entire political and administrative system is like this. We need to have people who will stand up to the pressure and fight. One may win or lose, but that ought not to bother you.
People tell me I still survived despite all this and they say I must be lucky. Is there another book on its way? I need a good feedback first. Let people question and raise issues. I am not looking for encouraging feedback and I do not mind that if the feedback is accusatory.
But let people debate it and if this happens then there will be another book for sure. The norm everywhere - be it a private organisation or something as big as the RAW - is to shove things under the carpet when they cannot deal with a problem. Do you think this would happen to the issues that you have raised in your book?
This is a menace and happens everywhere. No one wants to address the problem or even want to be seen as corrupt. Everyone wants to keep things under the wraps. A person working in an agency would need the support of the institution so that he can support himself and also his family. This is where the problem begins and people tend to swim with the tide. This is what bothers me no end. However, I am great optimist and I have never believed that India is short of people who can lift the country up.
Click on NEXT to read further. V K Singh, a former officer in the Intelligence Bureau, says that you are to be blamed for the slip-up in Rabinder's case. I have not read what V K Singh had to say. All I can say that is that you may serve in this organisation all your life and you would know just 10 per cent of what is happening.
This guy comes here on a 3-year deputation and he seems to have knowledge of everything. He is commenting on something that he has never been a part of. All through the book I have mentioned what my reaction was. Lastly this officer's interaction with me was barely three hours in three years and this topic was not even discussed. If he presumes something and writes about it then I have nothing to comment. Your book suggests a CIA hand.
What does this do to the relationship between the two countries? We call it loosely as honesty of thieves. We know that and we too do it all the time. Sometimes people get away, sometimes they get caught. There is no harm that has been caused to the relations. We know the area of operation and there are areas in which we cooperate with other agencies.
That is where I mention in the book that the fallacy should be broken. If we are improving our relations with Pakistan that does not mean we stop all operations. Both should work in their own way. There is a difference between diplomacy and intelligence. If we are not allowed to do this taking into consideration relations, then there will be a time when there is nothing to work on. Diplomatic relations are the job of the MEA. Click on NEXT to read further.
D o you think Rabinder Singh should be termed a traitor? He should be. In our view, he was an espionage agent. I am not aware of where he is now. Did he pass on any information that was critical to our security? I have given a few details.
Some information has gone no doubt about that. He handled a very low-profile charge, but he did keep talking to officers and tried to find out many things. He was never considered to be a bright officer.
This is quite a sad picture of the agency that has been portrayed. Would you want to work with RAW if given a chance again? I can tell you from my experience that if ever I got to work again it would be with the RAW. It is the only organisation that gives you freedom to work.
There is absolute democracy where you can argue, counter argue, protest irrespective of seniority provided you have the metal. If one wants to operate like an average bureaucrat then RAW is not the place to be.
It gives one absolute freedom to operate. I could not serve elsewhere. I have a lot of satisfaction in what I did at the agency. I am a happy person today and that is because I am an optimist.
Does the RAW need more accountability? I have a notion about accountability. One needs to be accountable to one self. All the officers who worked for me were accountable and I never let them down and they never did that to me either.
Accountability would also depend on who is the head of the organisation.
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