Former RAW officer tells the complete story of the double agent who got away

[Singh]

Gripping read

===


"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.

For, the writer is Amar Bhushan, a former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). Bhushan was the head of the agency's counter-intelligence unit till he retired in 2005, and has now cleverly masked identities to reveal what's the unmistakable story of the detection and escape of Rabinder Singh — the former Army major who was discovered to be a CIA mole.

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.

Writes Bhushan: "Roben Singh was none other than Ravi Mohan. The tale of his so-called misfortune is what is on record. Also, on record are scratchy details of his lost Indian passport in the name of Roben Singh, which cannot be verified by Delhi, because it was never issued. The US passport issued to him in the name of Virdi at Kathmandu does not exist anywhere. Roben currently stays as a refugee in Florida. So where would the US State Department and Interpol look for Ravi Mohan and Vijita Mohan?"

In his epilogue, Amar Bhushan also writes how Ravi "left behind misfortune for his operatives and reprieve for his collaborators".

While the RAW faced flak for allowing the double agent to escape, the CIA Kathmandu station head was recalled from Nepal and retired compulsorily for "badly handling" 'Ravi's' escape and exposing the CIA's involvement. The CIA's director, Operations, for South east Asia at Langley (the CIA headquarters) was also reprimanded for failing to ensure that the "Agent" was evacuated covertly, writes Bhushan.

As for the "agent's collaborators", says the writer, 57 employees who shared information regularly with 'Ravi', continue to serve RAW. While 26 of them were never asked for an explanation, 31 who actively colluded and shared extensive operational details were posted abroad.

'For 7 years, I dithered'

In the preface, Amar Bhushan explains why he wrote the book:

"For seven years, I deliberated whether to write this story. The worry was that it might appear to be a flashback to an incident of spying that was, not too long ago, passionately commented upon by pundits on security matters and extensively glamorised by the media. There was a concern if the story could be told without violating the provisions of the Secrets Act... Then one day my dithering was put to a severe test. An officer asked me to look back at my experience of handling espionage cases and reflect whether there was any reward for persuing them doggedly. He said that he would rather have arranged for counselling for suspects to stop them from committing irregularities that hurt the reputation of the Agency than follow my prescription. I was frightened to hear the officer. Was he suggesting that subversion of officers would be tolerated and contained as a matter of policy, while a country's secrets made their way to unauthorised hands? It was at this point that the story began its journey...."

Former RAW officer tells the complete story of the double agent who got away - Indian Express

 

[The Messiah]

He should be tracked down and killed.

 

[sayareakd]

He should be tracked down and killed.

killing would have been simple punishment for him.

 

[venkat]

invite him for an atomic tea party!!!!

 

[sayareakd]

Singh initially served in the Indian Army, reaching the rank of Major.[3] He later volunteered to join R&AW, India's external intelligence agency. According to reports, he attracted attention from counter-intelligence officials when he was found photocopying documents not related to his work. After coming under suspicion, he was placed under surveillance and his phone conversations were tapped, but on May 14, 2004, he disappeared. He is suspected of having escaped to the U.S. via Nepal.[4] Recently, in an affidavit submitted to the court, R&AW deposed that Singh has been traced to New Jersey.[5] It is believed by some that, meanwhile, Rabinder has filed for asylum in US, in the name of Surenderjeet Singh, which was rejected by the trial court but remanded back for reconsideration by the court of appeals. There has been no official proof however that Surenderjeet Singh is an alias of Rabinder Singh.[6]

Rabinder Singh (intelligence officer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ani82v]

He should be tracked down and killed.

India is not called soft state for nothing.

 

[sayareakd]

India is not called soft state for nothing.

It is not that RAW cannot do it, just that our politicians dont have will to approve this kind of tough action.

 

[bhramos]

Of an Indian double agent: A true-to-life thriller

Book: "Escape to Nowhere: Story of an Indian Espionage Agent"; Author: Amar Bhushan, Publisher: Konark Publishers; Pages: 332; Price: Rs.299

In May 2004 a tsunami hit the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency. Rabinder Singh, a joint secretary, disappeared from Delhi though he was under 24-hour surveillance. The former Indian Army officer's disappearing act was as dramatic as was his spying career. But even as he made a safe getaway, a couple of eleventh hour mistakes he and his handler made helped the Indians to realize that the man had flown to the US under the protection of the CIA, whose agent he was.

The book under review is meant to be fiction; but it is clearly THE story of the traitor, his spying career, how he came to be suspected, how RAW's counter-espionage unit mounted a major surveillance on him, how the civilian brass at the highest level wanted the surveillance ended because they did not want anything to spike India-US ties, how the committed ones in RAW continued to keep a watch on the spy, and how, sadly, he got away via Nepal.

The book is unique. It has no chapters. It is so racy and thrilling that I would regard it as the finest work in the genre after "The Day of the Jackal". It begins from Day 1 and goes on, up to Day 96, when the mystery behind his disappearance is cleared. Akin to Perry Mason, the action is all too rapid with no full stops.

Rabinder Singh is Ravi Mohan in the book. The then RAW chief, C.D. Sahay, is Wasan. Barring the names, everything else in the book, from the minute description of the inside of RAW headquarters to the elaborate net that was laid to trap the traitor and his handler seem as close to reality as they can be.

This is a chilling book at one level. You realize that the Agency (RAW is never referred to by name) has men of steely character and moral courage. And there are those who are mediocre, view pornography at work, violate internal safety mechanisms and, in rare instances, betray their country.

Once the bird flew away, there was hell to pay. The months of painstaking surveillance mounted on the man, his car, his office and his home counted for nothing. The fact that his arrest was being delayed only to trap his handler was lost sight of. The finale was deadly: Some in the highest echelons of the government with no love for RAW went on the offensive, reducing some of those who were meticulously tracking the traitor into mental wrecks.

Amar Bhushan, who retired as special secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat in 2005, has written a fascinating book that everyone in the Indian security establishment must read. Indeed, every Indian ought to read this book. It chronicles a sad yet, seemingly, true story.

Of an Indian double agent: A true-to-life thriller - The Times of India

 

[Daredevil]

Inside, RAW

Inside, RAW

For the first time, an ex-RAW officer talks about how badly it is run

SAIKAT DATTA

On the night of June 3, 1999, a Pakistan International Airlines winged its way across to Islamabad from Delhi bearing vital evidence that would create a flutter during the Kargil war. Vivek Katju, an old MEA hand, along with the influential R.K. Mishra of the Reliance-funded Observer Research Foundation, were carrying a secret package for prime minister Nawaz Sharif from the Indian government. Their mission was approved at a meeting of the cabinet committee on security chaired by then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and attended by his senior cabinet colleagues—home minister L.K. Advani, defence minister George Fernandes and national security advisor, Brajesh Mishra.

In the package Katju and Mishra carried was the biggest intelligence coup that India's external intelligence agency, RAW, had ever managed to gather courtesy its technical wing—a telephone conversation between then Pakistan army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, and his chief of staff Lieutenant General Mohammed Aziz. The conversation proved beyond doubt that the Pakistani army too was actively involved in the Kargil incursions. Till then, it was being described by Islamabad as an operation being conducted independently by militants.

But was the decision to dispatch the tapes to Nawaz Sharif a wise move? Now, for the first time an insider from RAW says that it was not. Major General V.K. Singh, who served in RAW in its technical wing between 2000 and 2004, told Outlook: "You never ever reveal your source in the intelligence game. Once that was done when the tapes were handed over, the source dried up and we did not get any intelligence from this sector for the next two years. So were the brownie points that we earned from sharing the tapes with the world really worth it? In my opinion, this was a violation of the basic principles of intelligence gathering."

After the tapes were publicised, the Pakistanis came to know the technology being employed by Indians to tap into their internal communication and helped them get a fair idea of India's secret listening posts and their capabilities. Says Singh: "The leakage was quickly plugged by the Pakistanis, leading to a virtual drought of quality intelligence for RAW."

This clever-by-half move by the NDA and other revelations are contained in Singh's forthcoming book India's External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing. Singh is the first insider to throw light on the agency's inner working. The book addresses three issues that has plagued the agency for years—lack of leadership, no accountability and political mishandling.

He reveals that even when it came to installing a secret communication network for the prime minister, RAW's top bosses didn't do the necessary homework. In May 2001, the Special Protection Group (SPG), which looks after the prime minister's security, decided to procure a sophisticated communication system at an estimated cost of Rs 26.2 crore. RAW was asked to evaluate and identify the best system available. While the American firm Motorola emerged as the frontrunner, no mandatory tests were carried out for its "crack resistivity" (ability to withstand hacking) by the DRDO's systems analysis group (SAG). "All communication systems with encryption systems must be tested by the SAG to ensure that people cannot hack into the system easily," Singh told Outlook.

Also, as a rule, security and intelligence agencies always use indigenous crypto systems.

"But in this case," writes Singh, "it was developed by an American firm" and "it was quite likely that foreign intelligence agencies would have access to the algorithm." Any foreign intelligence agency "such as the CIA or maybe even the ISI would be able to eavesdrop on the network and know the exact details of the movements of the prime minister and the measures being taken to protect him," he says. While Singh's comments were accepted and the order postponed, it was given to Motorola without the mandatory SAG tests soon after his retirement from RAW.

The Rabinder Singh defection episode was a bad bungle. Officers with no knowledge of intelligence facilitated his escape to the US.


The defection of Rabinder Singh, a joint secretary with RAW looking after the Southeast Asia desk, shocked the agency. Maj Gen Singh now writes, "...lack of leadership at the top was responsible for the major fiasco." The activities of Rabinder Singh, a suspected CIA mole who later defected to the US, had already been brought to the notice of his superiors. A middle-ranking officer, S. Chandrashekhar, alerted special secretary Amar Bhushan. Rabinder was put under surveillance.

So how did Rabinder defect with such ease? The answers perhaps lie in the lax manner in which Bhushan handled the sensitive case. Bhushan, alleges Singh, was too busy appropriating positions for himself to attend to the Rabinder matter. "He (Bhushan) changed his designation from additional secretary (personnel) to special secretary without the approval of the department of personnel and training." Soon Bhushan was also appointed as the head of Aviation Research Centre (ARC), an autonomous outfit under RAW.

Singh feels that the then RAW chief, C.D. Sahay, "did not have the gumption to tell Amar Bhushan to stay out of RAW" and concentrate on his work in the ARC. Instead, Bhushan was allowed to induct N.K Sharma from the central paramilitary forces who had no training in counter- intelligence into RAW to keep a watch on Rabinder. As Sharma blundered along, Rabinder flew out to the US via Kathmandu. He left with top-secret RAW documents, including assessments on Southeast Asia countries as well as information that he had accessed from the reports of other officers. Ironically, Sharma was "rewarded" with a plum foreign posting.

While the Rabinder Singh episode is a stark example of the rot that had set in, Singh goes on to record other examples of professional misconduct. He refers to an additional secretary, who when overlooked for promotion to the rank of special secretary, did not attend office for months. But no disciplinary action was taken against him. "This is unheard of. In the army, anyone away without leave for more than 30 days is declared a deserter," says Singh. This revelation is likely to embarrass a senior serving RAW official. Then again, Singh writes about how a senior officer spent lakhs having a logo designed for the agency. It could never be used for security reasons. Equally shocking is the case of an officer who funded his daughter's education from the secret funds given to RAW. He had listed his daughter as an informant and paid her for 'services' rendered.

Singh feels the lack of accountability and financial auditing is detrimental to RAW's efficiency. "Coming under the ministry of home affairs, the Intelligence Bureau has a modicum of ministerial control," he writes. But "RAW does not even have this fig leaf of restraint to curb its activities." He says it is strange that our intelligence agencies are exempt from accountability which even the armed forces are subservient to. "If war is too serious a business to be left to generals, should not intelligence be considered too serious a business to be left to spies?" asks Singh.

 

[Spindrift]

We need patriots to be in-charge of things and not politicians

 

[Zebra]

We need patriots to be in-charge of things and not politicians

lol, patriots are scoundrels.

Well, at least on DFI, people do think like that........

 

[Bhadra]

Maj Gen VK Singh mentioned in the report is different from Gen VK Singh who was the Chief.

 

[sayareakd]

he should be put on unmarked grave for damage he has cause to country.

 

[Yusuf]

he should be put on unmarked grave for damage he has cause to country.

He is already living an unmarked life.

Surprising that india has not pressured the US to deport him back to India.

 

[The Messiah]

He is already living an unmarked life.

Surprising that india has not pressured the US to deport him back to India.

whats also surprising is how pseudo-patriots have also kept quiet.

if only his name was ravi mohammad/michael the right wing would be calling for his head and showing how patriot they are...but nevermind.

 

[ejazr]

It is not that RAW cannot do it, just that our politicians dont have will to approve this kind of tough action.

Actually the way RAW functions is also part of the problem. There is no parliamentary oversight over intelligence agencies and no laws that govern their functioning. We dont' have an intelligence comittees like the US senate committee or the UK parliamentary committee on intelligence that oversees the finance and keeps an eye on its functioning.

There is a need of a full fledged reform of the intelligence apparatus. We have an active thread running on this here
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...8-national-security-intelligence-reforms.html

 

[VenuT]

the author is constrained to not mention names and not make any allegations

however, a piece in open magazine speculates about the role of brajesh mishra (then national security advisor) in facilitating the escape of rabinder singh to the united states

source:
The RAW Files BY Hartosh Singh Bal, 8 September 2012

As the surveillance tightens and enough evidence becomes available to suggest that at the very least Ravi Mohan is violating Agency protocol, the matter is taken to the then National Security Advisor, read Brajesh Mishra. Worried about the potential fallout on his attempts to renew links with the US, which had been frozen after the Indian nuclear tests, he asks surveillance to be stepped down. Mishra has not commented on the book, and Bhushan does not get drawn in, "I don't know about the names you mention, but in fictional terms, I can say that our intelligence efforts are far too open to political vagaries. Espionage goes on irrespective of the state of relations between two countries, but the Agency has had to compromise on several occasions depending on what political leaders wanted. This is not a problem the CIA or ISI are ever afflicted with.''

 

[AMCA]

Rabinder Singh, spy who defected to US, is no more: Double agent lived his last years as a remorseful recluse. Died in a road accident.
Firstpost • Jul 07, 2018 18:25 IST

By Yatish Yadav

New Delhi: Rabinder Singh, a R&AW spy who fell for a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trap and defected to Washington in 2004, is dead. The double agent passed away sometime in late 2016 in a road accident in Maryland, informed government sources said. Singh was living as a refugee in the US after CIA dumped him months after a dramatic extraction to the US through Kathmandu in May 2004. He was faced with financial problems since the CIA had stopped sending him pay cheques. Singh’s attempts to get a job at a US think tank run by a former CIA deputy director were stonewalled, pushing him into deep depression, claimed an officer requesting not to be identified. A remorseful Singh, burdened with the sin of betraying his country, spent almost 12 years as a recluse in New York, Maryland and neighboring Virginia, where his extended family lives.

“We don’t know whether he is in heaven or hell, but what is clear is that he couldn’t take the guilt of betraying his country after his dream of being treated as a guest of state was shattered towards the end of 2004. He was totally neglected by the CIA and his efforts to get asylum were blocked by the American intelligence. He was left in the cold. He had invented a lie for US-based relatives that his life was in danger in India. They were convinced and despite so much material available about his treachery in the public domain, he was revered by relatives as a loving and kindhearted person. His death is seen as the closure of the case that was vigorously pursued till 2007. The betrayal of Rabinder Singh is one that R&AW would rather like to forget now,” the source said.

Singh, an army Major who joined R&AW on deputation in mid- 1980s, rose through the ranks of India’s external spy agency before he was recruited by the CIA. There is no clarity when he was compromised, however, sources claimed it was possibly either at a R&AW station in Damascus or Hague in early 1990s by a lady case officer of the CIA.


File image of R&AW double agent Rabinder Singh. Image procured by Yatish Yadav

“We always believed that he was not a walk-in for the CIA given his affluent background. Singh was perhaps honey-trapped and his recruitment was a long-drawn process. He was carefully trained by the CIA to transmit documents without contacting the handlers, and when he returned from a foreign posting, similar arrangements continued, though he used to frequently travel to Nepal, most likely for secret rendezvous with CIA agents and to receive payments. Unlike a few other cases, he was never caught on tape meeting his handler or making a delivery. After his escape, the subsequent investigation had revealed that the money was also delivered to his children at the US by the CIA officers. Disproportionate assets were also discovered and it became a known fact that Rabinder amassed huge wealth while working with R&AW,” sources said.

Singh continued harvesting intelligence from fellow spies and shipped it to his handler at CIA head office at Langley, Virginia after his return from a foreign posting. His activities were monitored by the R&AW’s Counter Intelligence and Security Division (CIS) after he came under suspicion of being a mole for the CIA in December 2003. The CIS wired his office and Defence Colony residence in January 2004, which revealed Singh was collecting intelligence from different sources at the agency and passing it on to the CIA. During the 4-month long surveillance, Singh was allegedly tipped off about the noose tightening around him, and the CIA is said to have plotted his escape.


According to sources, Rabinder Singh fled India in the wee hours of 1 May 2004 in his friend’s car and crossed over to Nepal. He was facilitated by the then CIA operative in Nepal David Vacala, who now works for a Florida-based intelligence and defence services training company. Vacala made a mistake by booking hotel rooms in Nepalganj in his own name and subsequently, flight tickets purchased for Rabinder Singh and his wife were also billed to his address at the US embassy in Kathmandu. Singh and his wife were put up at a CIA safe house and meanwhile, two US passports in the name of Rajpal Prasad Sharma and Deepa Kumar Sharma were issued for their safe evacuation on 7 May, 2004. Once they landed at Washington airport, a CIA operative whisked the couple away, bypassing the immigration counter. Temporary IDs were provided, completely erasing their original identity.

The R&AW chief mounted pressure on the CIA, and its station chief in India was summoned. Although he feigned complete ignorance about the Rabinder Singh episode, the R&AW shared evidence, including photocopies of fake passports, travel bills in the name of Vacala and imprints of some images that Rabinder Singh was said to have wired to the CIA using secure file transfer protocol. The forensic examination of his two laptops had revealed that Rabinder may have shipped over 20,000 files to the CIA. The American intelligence officials denied the allegations. Months after his escape, an application for asylum in the US was filed by one Surender Jeet Singh, claiming to be a former R&AW agent. Back at the agency headquarters, R&AW officers believed that Surender was none other than Rabinder. His application was turned down by the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, arguing that the facts stated by him were not credible. He subsequently filed an appeal against the order at US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, California. Although a circuit judge reversed the earlier rulings, directing the board to re-examine his case, an indifferent stand by the CIA halted further legal proceedings.

Inside Spy Game

During the investigation, 57 R&AW officers, including some from the top ranks, were found to be regularly sharing information with Rabinder Singh. A post-mortem in the case revealed that about two dozen officers had actively colluded with him in leaking the intelligence to Langley. No action was taken against the officers and they were quietly transferred to insignificant stations, to live with the burden of sharing top secret notes with the traitor, who sold them to the CIA.

The audio-video tapes of surveillance had also revealed Singh’s conflicting personality, as he was found to be preaching moral values to his children through hundreds of phone conversations he had with children studying in the US. At the agency headquarters, R&AW Chief CD Sahay defended the surveillance and subsequent investigation, despite whispers that one of his predecessors was frequently meeting Singh and he might have consciously provided classified information to Singh. His escape was followed by intense debate in the media and within the intelligence community about the damages his betrayal might have caused. Many R&AW spies posted abroad were transferred, due to the fear that Singh may have revealed the names of undercover agents abroad to the American intelligence agency. Some crucial sources were dropped from the list. The Indian government's effort to arrest and extradite Singh was abandoned in 2007. The US government never acknowledged the presence of its valuable recruit Rabinder Singh on its soil.

A section within the intelligence community believed that then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra dragged his feet over the arrest after Sahay informed him that Singh was a CIA mole. Mishra, according to sources, did nothing and the CIA pulled off a spying coup and prevented its network getting exposed. However, Singh’s treachery was not rewarded. In the ruthless profession of espionage, Rabinder Singh no longer had tactical value for his controllers. The infamous spy, who often quoted religious scriptures, lived and died carrying the darkest sins of betraying his motherland.

 

[Darth Malgus]

R&AW had found out about him running away as soon as he had left the building towards the airport. Unfortunately, someone fucked up and he got aware that Police along with RAW officials were waiting for him. So he decided to make it directly to Nepal.. At least that's what I had heard about him.

 

[Darth Malgus]

A section within the intelligence community believed that then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra dragged his feet over the arrest after Sahay informed him that Singh was a CIA mole. Mishra, according to sources, did nothing and the CIA pulled off a spying coup.

Who appointed this moron as NSA ?