Produced by: Tarun Mishra
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) disclosed in a Thiruvananthapuram court today that the 1994 ISRO espionage case was allegedly orchestrated by a senior Kerala police officer to unlawfully detain a Maldivian woman who had rebuffed his advances.
CBI's charge sheet, made public recently, accuses five former police officers of falsely implicating ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and five others, including two Maldivian women, in the espionage case.
According to CBI, S Vijayan, then a special branch officer who later retired as an SP, obstructed Mariyam Rasheeda from leaving India by seizing her travel documents and air tickets after she rejected his advances.
Upon discovering Rasheeda's contact with ISRO scientist D Shasikumaran, Kerala police initiated surveillance on Rasheeda and her friend Fauzia Hasan, informing the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) despite finding no suspicious activity.
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Despite no incriminating evidence found by the SIB, Rasheeda was arrested under the Foreigners Act for overstaying without a valid visa, reportedly with the knowledge of the Commissioner of Police, Thiruvananthapuram, and the SIB Deputy Director.
CBI alleges that Vijayan submitted false reports against Rasheeda and Hasan as their custody under the Foreigners Act neared expiration, leading to an Official Secrets Act case and subsequent arrest by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Following these events, four ISRO scientists, including Nambi Narayanan, were arrested based on fabricated interrogation reports to sustain the false charges, according to CBI's chargesheet.
CBI's final report recommends prosecution of former senior officers including DGPs R B Sreekumar and Siby Mathews, SPs S Vijayan and K K Joshua, and intelligence officer P S Jayaprakash for their roles in perpetuating the wrongful arrests and fabricating the espionage case.