Five former army officers, among those accused of being Pakistani spies in infamous Samba Spy Scandal, which broke in May 1975, Friday demanded an impartial inquiry into the affair to establish their “innocence as they were falsely implicated”.
Addressing a press conference here Friday, Major Nirmal Ajwani, Major Vijay Dewan, Major Ashok Rana, Major R S Rathor and Captain J S Yadav said that even though the Supreme Court, in 2014, had dismissed the relief given to them by the Delhi High Court — which the officers termed “doubtful” — they want the present government to order an inquiry to ascertain “true facts”. “The Delhi High Court had said in 2000 that the entire case was a frame-up, camouflage and based on extraneous matters and that there was not an iota of evidence against us. But unfortunately, despite there being nothing on record, the Supreme Court bench of Justices B S Chauhan, J Chelameswar and M Y Iqbal turned down the high court judgment,” said Maj Ajwani.
The officers, who were removed from service, said that the nation must know the “real truth behind the conspiracy”, which had at that time stunned the rank and file of the Indian Army. “How is it possible that in an area of 5 sq km of Samba Brigade, there were 50-60 Indian Army officers and jawans working as Pakistani spies. We were all framed,” said Major Dewan.
He added that they could not sit on dharnas in New Delhi, but they would continue to demand justice. “I am an ex-NDA officer from the Brigade of Guards. I was an upcoming officer and had cleared the exam for Defence Services Staff College when I was implicated falsely. My battalion still helps me out and stands by me, but the country must know how our careers were destroyed,” he said.
Major Ajwani said that it was a travesty of justice that the two “spies” that the army had nabbed — Gunners Sarwan Das and Aya Singh — were not only reinstated in service after three years, but also used to implicate other officers. “Today Das, the surviving spy, is paid pension from the national exchequer whereas we are rotting in hell. This clearly shows that our authorities have no conscience,” said Major Ajwani.
Das, who was present at the press meet, reiterated his earlier statements that he had been used by certain army officers of Military Intelligence to implicate several others and jawans. “I was compelled to implicate Major Rana and Major Rathore,” he said. Major Ajwani said that Major Rana was severely tortured and made to implicate 52 persons. He was also implicated as a spy when he refused to implicate innocent people, while acting as an officer of Judge Advocate General Department.
The Samba spy scandal dates back to 1975 when the two army jawans — gunners Das and Singh — posted in a unit of 168 Infantry Brigade in Samba were arrested on a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau for spying. The two admitted to their involvement but did not name anyone when interrogated in Jammu. They later implicated some personnel from their own 253 Medium Regiment as well as the Brigade Headquarters. Singh, Major Rathor and Capt S R Nagial were charged with having travelled to Sialkot in Pakistan on several occasions and passing secret information to an officer of the Field Intelligence Unit of Pakistan Army.