THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Twenty-three years after the controversial Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) espionage case against top scientists, including Nambi Narayanan, an upcoming autobiography by the then investigating officer is bringing more skeletons out of the closet.
In his autobiography 'Nirbhayam', set to be released this week, the then investigating officer and former DGP, Siby Mathews, has revealed that Raman Srivastava, the then inspector general (IG) and present advisor to the chief minister on police affairs, named in the list of accomplices to the accused, was innocent.
The book also mentions suspicions of a conspiracy against then chief minister K Karunakaran led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy in connivance with the top bishops in the state.
According to Mathews, there was pressure from the intelligence bureau (IB) to arrest Srivastava which he, as the then ADGP had prevented. In the espionage case, the IB had alleged that Srivastava had tampered with evidence against the scientists.
“The reason for the IB's move is still unclear", Mathews says in the book. However, the then Additional Director of IB and later Gujarat DGP, R B Sreekumar, dismissed Mathew’s revelations and suspected there to be an internal spy.
Raman Srivastava, former IG, Trivandrum police, was accused of handling the logistics of the espionage, apart from procuring vital defence details.
The sensational espionage case reported in 1994 had alleged that top scientists in the nation's premier institution had leaked vital defence secrets to two alleged Maldivian intelligence officers, Mariam Rasheeda and Fauzia Hassan.
Nambi Narayanan and D Sasikumaran were the two accused of selling ISRO secrets for millions. The incident led to the resignation of then chief minister K Karunakaran.
The Kerala High Court had in 2012 ordered the state government to pay Rs 1 million in interim compensation to Nambi Naryanan for falsely implicating him in espionage.
In April, 2016, the Supreme Court has said it would hear Nambi Narayanan’s plea seeking action against Siby Mathews and others, in August. A Bench comprising justices Dipak Mishra and A M Khanwilkar said the matter would be listed in the first week of August.
Earlier, Narayanan had filed an appeal against the judgment of the division bench of the High Court.