The Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) has recently declared that the espionage charges against aerospace scientist Nambi Narayanan, which caused a stir in 1994, are false and part of a larger “international conspiracy.”
According to a report from the Times of India, the CBI stated during a hearing at the Kerala High Court that the arrest of Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) espionage case was fake as the charges against him were fabricated.
The CBI has announced that they will release a case diary that proves Nambi Narayanan’s arrest in the 1994 ISRO espionage case was part of an international conspiracy. Prior to his arrest, Narayanan was a well-known liquid propellant engine scientist at ISRO, India’s space agency. He was falsely accused and subsequently arrested.
The Kerala High Court is currently hearing a plea for anticipatory bail for those being investigated for their alleged involvement in framing Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 ISRO espionage case. The CBI is opposing the granting of bail to the accused individuals.
How Nambi Narayanan was framed in the ISRO espionage case
In 1994, ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan was arrested by Kerala police with some of his fellows including D Sasikumaran, K Chandrashekhar, and a few others on the charges of selling classified information about India’s cryogenic engine program to Russia and Pakistan’s ISI. The Kerala police had launched the case on the basis of input received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). However, when the case was soon handed over to the CBI, the CBI found that the case was fabricated and the defendants were being falsely accused by the Kerala police. The CBI probe revealed that there was no case within a month of their apprehension. However, the matter lingered on because of its involvement with Kerala politics.
The role played by IB had come into question, as the so-called evidence of spying had come from the agency, based on which the police had acted.
The CBI eventually informed the chief judicial magistrate in May 1996 that the espionage case was untrue and that there was no supporting proof. The report was approved by the court, and all of the accused were cleared. However, the newly elected CPI(M)-led government chose to play by its own rules and ordered more investigations until, in May 1998, the Supreme Court struck down Kerala’s request for a new probe.
Since then, the Kerala government has shielded the corrupt cops and delayed paying the compensation that was mandated by the High Court and the National Human Rights Commission. In order to begin criminal procedures against the police officers who allegedly falsified evidence against him, Narayanan filed a petition in April 2017. RB Sreekumar, who was recently arrested with Teesta Setalvad on 25th June 2022 for his false testimony in the Gujarat riots case, was one of those police officers.
Based on the petition of Narayanan, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member committee to look into the matter. After the D.K. Jain Committee report pointed out a conspiracy by Kerala police and others to frame the scientist, the apex court ordered CBI to probe the case last year. Accordingly, CBI conducted an in-depth investigation and filed an FIR against several police officials based on the committee report.