There were two incidents in R&AW when two of its senior officers were won over by the CIA to get inside information of this agency.
These officers were K.V. Unnikrishnan, a Director level IPS officer, who was arrested in June 1987 for giving classified information to the CIA. He was put in prison under National Security Act for one year and was released subsequently when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi let him off for further prosecution.
In the second case, Rabinder Singh, an ex-army Major, who was working as Joint Secretary in R&AW, fled the USA via Nepal with the help of the CIA. Both these officers were, however, dismissed from service.
CIA was found involved directly in these two incidents but there were other instances when R&AW officers managed their settlement in foreign countries like the USA and Canada with the help of the sleuths of these countries and abruptly left their job in R&AW.
Some of these officers were working on sensitive posts in R&AW before their disappearance to these countries. They defected on legal documents and R&AW hierarchy in particular and the Government of India, in general, watched these incidents haplessly without getting involved in any controversy to extradite them from these governments. But, the extent of damage and level of its magnitude would never be known to R&AW in view of their working on sensitive desks.
In this regard, some former officers of R&AW and found the following spies vanishing from India in foreign countries.
1. Sikander Lal Malik (Personal Secretary of R.N. Kao)
Malik joined Intelligence Bureau in 1958 as the personal assistant of Kao. After the formation of R&AW in 1968, Malik too was transferred as the personal secretary of Kao. Malik was arrogant while serving with Kao and some senior officers were behind his blood due to this reason.
After completion of three years of his tenure in New York, Malik was supposed to return to India but he managed his stay in the USA by getting an extension of one year twice citing personal problems. According to US laws, a person is automatically entitled to get a green card—a work permit for an indefinite period of time, when he stays there for five years regardless of the status of stay, legal or illegal. Malik returned to India and sought retirement from service.
2. M.S. Sehgal (Senior Field Officer)
Sehgal used to work for the household activities of Saxena due to which he got rapid promotions and became Senior Field Officer in R&AW. Saxena was on a foreign assignment in Indian Mission in London in the early eighties. On his recommendation, Sehgal too was sent there over the seniority of many capable officers. While serving in London, Sehgal was involved in many unethical activities like womanizing and gambling. He was spending his salary at the racecourse as a result of which he was in heavy debts. He paid these loans after he received money from an insurance company following the death of his wife.
However, there were rumours inside R&AW that his wife died in mysterious circumstances which were made to look like an accident. He returned to R&AW headquarters after completion of his assignment in London when G.C. Saxena was Chief of R&AW in 1983.
Suddenly, Sehgal disappeared from his duties and was never traced thereafter. He was spotted in London afterwards where he was found living in a comfortable manner. He neither resigned from his job nor sought retirement but vanished from R&AW as a serving officer. R&AW too did not make efforts to extradite him from London probably at the insistence of G.C. Saxena.
3. Major R.S. Soni (Assistant Director)
While R&AW sleuths wanted to arrest him red-handed, he became suspicious and disappeared from his residence and was never traced thereafter. Subsequently, it was discovered after a thorough investigation that Soni had migrated to Canada without resigning and taking prior permission of R&AW.
4. Ashok Sathe (Senior Field Officer)
Later on, he was transferred to Khorramshahr in Iran. While in Iran, Ashok Sathe’s senior at Tehran found him embezzling secret fund by footing bills of fake agents and entertainment activities.
When he was confronted on this account, he had a brawl with his senior at Tehran Mission. He was recalled prematurely to R&AW headquarters for this act of indiscipline. But prior to his departure from Khorramshahr, he set his office on fire and sent a report that due to a short circuit, all his records had been damaged in the fire.
5. Shamsher Singh Maharajkumar (IPS Officer)
While in Canada, he managed to procure an international passport for himself. He did not inform R&AW authorities about this passport. Shamsher Singh quietly returned to India in October 1976 and resigned from his service at a very young age. He slipped back to Canada and settled there.
6. M.I. Bhaskar (Senior Field Officer)
Normally, a three years tenure was fixed for such foreign postings after that one had to service in India for quite some time. But in the case of Bhaskar, this practice was overlooked or managed since he joined Washington posting directly from Tokyo. Bhaskar too managed a green card for himself while serving in the Indian Mission.
After completion of his terms in the US, he returned to India, resigned from service before settling down in Washington.
7. B.R. Vaccher (Senior Field Officer)
Vachher was the younger brother of a former Inspector General of Punjab Police. Due to his high-level connections, first, he got a foreign posting in Nepal and later served in the USA. Curiously, Vacher was a bachelor who was barred from any foreign assignment in R&AW for security considerations. But this condition was waived in the case of Vachher and he was sent on two such assignments.
8. R.J. Khurana (Additional Secretary)
When this fact came to the knowledge of R&AW authorities, he was asked to clarify the reasons thereof. He put forward some flimsy excuses which did not satisfy the authorities. Although he was kept away from the R&AW headquarters to an obscure posting, no disciplinary action was taken against him since he was retiring after some months.
Khurana migrated to the USA after retirement from R&AW. It was later discovered that he and his family members were green card holders of the USA which he managed while posted in the Indian Embassy in Washington. There are rumours in R&AW that the CIA managed his migration to the USA.
R&AW could not keep a tab on his activities while in the USA but it is a matter of serious concern that such a senior officer of this agency was got settled in the USA and Indian The government remained silent on such a sensitive matter.