ISRO Misfired- The Espionage Case that Shook India

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An infamous espionage case took the country by storm in 1994 and destroyed the lives and careers of many people. It has finally been put to rest after 25 years The main accused, Nombi Narayanan, was vindicated and in compliance with the Supreme Court's order received 50 lakh compensation from the Kerala Government. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2019 But was all this too late? And what about the others who were accused? Has their honour been restored? Do we know the full story yet?

Ex-IB officer KV Thomas reveals the long soga of interrogations, investigations and legal battles. Full of original disclosures, the book exposes deep secrets and closed-door conversations of india's most sensational spy case.

The author, a senior official of the Indian Intelligence Bureau, who was associated in various capacities in the alleged ISRO espionage investigation speaks out the truth about what really happened in the so-called ISRO espionuge case. The Supreme Court has now declared the case as faise and concocted The author talks about the victimological ill effects and ramifications, exposing the seality from many hitherto unknown areas. The book will interest anyone concemed with criminal and victim justice.

K. V. Thomas (aka Toms Kara) was closely associated with the different phases of the 1994 ISRO espionage case. A law graduate from University of Kerala, he has over 36 years of distinguished career in IB, MHA, Government of India, in various capacities in different parts of India including the far-flung insurgency-affected areas of the north-east. K. V. Thomas superannuated from IB in 2010 as Assistant Director.

For his outstanding contributions to the Bureau, he was awarded with President's Police Medal for distinguished service (2008) and Indian Police Medal for meritorious service (1996), besides special awards of the Bureau for his outstanding professional contribu- tions in the field of internal security. The National Police Academy, Hyderabad, awarded him Police Fellowship in 1997 for undertak- ing a research project on policing which he successfully completed in 1998.

He is now fully engaged in bringing out quality publications in various subjects, especially internal security/law enforcement, human rights and insurgency. He has authored four books: Human Rights, Terrorism and Policing in India (1999), Policing in 21st Century Myth, Realities and Challenges (2012), Left-Wing Extremism and Human Rights (2014) and Kerala: Insurgency for Politics (2018) besides publishing a large number of research- based articles in leading publications.

Whenever the TV screen flashes any breaking news or dailies. come out with banner headlines on ISRO espionage case', the wasp inside me stirs up its wings. An aching memory haunts me as I was involved with the probe of the sensational spy case. Many times I was astounded by how facts, fiction, myth and lies arc interwoven to create sensational stories or pursue vested interests of the key players of the story. Hence, after years of hibernation, I thought of deconstructing the whole episode of the espionage drama, thus this book ISRO Misfired: The Espionage Case That Shook India.

Οne more title on the infamous ISRO espionage case! Perhaps, readers might have genuine doubts that why such a book is published now, after almost two decades of the occurrence of ISRO case. So long as a spy story remains shrouded in secrecy or controversy, every now and then vested interests try to bring new skeletons out of the closet to suit their designs. On the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha polls, its echoes were heard in the political horizon when a national party coined a catchy slogan 'justice for the scientist and punishment to a top cop who investigated the case'. Similarly, coinciding with ISRO's successful Mars Orbiter Mission in November 2014, the self- proclaimed protagonists of patriotism had described the ISRO spy case as the outcome of a sinister international conspiracy to stall the progress and advancement of our space technology. Recently, Malayalam media were flooded with stories of the dubious role played by a set of senior Congress leaders in this espionage drama. Thus, day in day out, the so-called spy thriller becomes murkier. And recently, on an appeal filed by one of the victims, Nambi Narayanan, an ISRO scientist, pleading to take action against the police officers who allegedly implicated him in the case, the apex court ordered the state to pay a compensation of 50 lakh to him. Thus, the case once again has come to limelight and the ISRO story continues with all its mystery.