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CBI suspects Pak hand in ISRO spy case
The agency made the submission while opposing the anticipatory bail plea of the former joint director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) RB Sreekumar.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the conspiracy in the infamous ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) spy case on Thursday informed the Kerala High Court that it suspects the hand of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) in the case, HT has learnt.
The premier investigation agency made this submission while opposing the anticipatory bail plea of the former joint director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) RB Sreekumar. This is the first time the CBI is taking the name of a foreign agency in the sensational case.
Opposing his bail plea additional solicitor general SV Raju told the court it was a serious case and some foreign agencies, including the ISI, were involved in the conspiracy to sabotage the country’s cryogenic project. Later, the court granted him interim bail and directed the CBI not to arrest him till the next hearing.
Sreekumar was accused of hatching a conspiracy to frame cryogenic division head, Nambi Narayanan, in the case by the CBI. Earlier, the court had granted interim bail to first accused S Vijayan and another accused S Dugadutt, both Kerala police officers. The court is expected to take the case again on Monday.
The spy case surfaced in 1994 when two women from the Maldives were arrested in the state capital on charges of overstaying in the country. Later, police arrested ISRO scientists Nambi Narayanan and Sasikumaran Nair after their numbers figured in their dairies.
Heading the cryogenic division of the ISRO, Narayanan and Nair were charged with espionage and other sections. But in 1995, both were acquitted after the CBI inquiry and the case was dismissed. Though the state government filed an appeal in the apex court it was also rejected in 1998.
It was a long fight for justice for Narayanan since then. Later, the apex court ordered enough compensation to him and constituted a judicial commission which later recommended a central agency to probe the conspiracy angle. Former circle inspector of Pettah police station S Vijayan, former Kerala police chief Sibi Mathew and RB Sreekumar are among the accused in the case. They were charged with conspiracy, framing of false evidence and illegal custody.
Sreekumar was a Gujarat cadre IPS officer and had an uneasy relationship with PM Modi when he was the chief minister. He was on deputation with the IB when the case surfaced and claimed that he had no role in the case and that he never met or interrogated Narayanan.
