ISRO spies

The ISRO espionage case that rocked India in 1994 cost Kerala's Congress strongman K. Karunakaran his chief ministership. Many in Kerala believe it was only a case of immigration rules violation that allowed two women from the Maldives to overstay in India. However, P.A. Vishwambharan, former IB officer, thinks otherwise. 

It was Vishwambharan who did the initial investigations. He believes it was prima facie an espionage case. However, he does not accept that a sex scandal was involved.  Vishwambharan quit his post when he felt that the authorities were bent upon a cover-up. He vividly remembers his interrogation of senior ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, his colleague Sasikumar, businessman Chandrasekharan and the Maldivian women.

Sasikumar confessed to him his tainted links with Nambi, Chandrasekharan, Raman Srivastava (then IG of Police) and Maldives nationals Fousiya Hassan and Mariam Rashida. Sasi also confessed that Nambi had passed on classified documents to Srivastava to be sent abroad. Nambi couldn't deny the charge.  The Maldivian women were deployed to lure high-level officials and squeeze information out of them, says Vishwambharan.

He says once the alleged involvement of Prabhakara Rao, son of then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, was established, the PM made an unscheduled 36-hour visit to Kerala. Thereafter, CBI director Vijaya Rama Rao visited Thiruvananthapuram and had talks with Kerala police brass. 

Then the case was handed over to CBI, which did everything in its powers to derail the investigation.  Vishwambharan still believes that espionage had actually taken place and all the accused had got monetary benefits. He is now writing his memoirs.

Chandrasekhar is now engaged in his own business. Sasikumar, Sharma and Nambi Narayanan are leading retired lives. Srivastava became DG of Kerala Police and now occupies the high position of DG of Border Security Force (BSF).