Though the Indian intelligence agencies were tipped off
that the consignment of arms and ammunition would be
dropped in Purulia, West Bengal they failed to avert the
incident. Both the R&AW and Intelligence Bureau
approached it as a routine case making it one of the
most shameful episodes in the history of Indian
intelligence, writes senior analyst B Raman.
The clandestine Purulia arms drop of December 1995, in
which an aircraft piloted by a group of mercenaries hired
by an unidentified extremist organidation -- suspected
to be the Anand Marg -- managed to fly right across the
Indian air space to Purulia in West Bengal, air drop a
consignment of arms and ammunition to a collecting
party on the ground and fly to Pattaya in Thailand
unintercepted by the Indian intelligence and security
agencies and the air force. This, despite the availability
of precise advance intelligence is a shameful episode in
the history of Indian intelligence.
A few weeks before the actual incident, the extremist
organisation, which had procured the arms and
ammunition, had approached a retired pilot of the British
Air Force and offered to pay him handsomely if he
organised the air drop successfully. Even though
tempted by the sum offered, he did not initially agree to
carry out the operation. He asked for time to think over
it. He then contacted an official of the British defence
ministry and told him about the offer made to him by the
extremists. The official advised him not to reject the
offer and wait for further instructions.
The defence ministry official then told MI-5, the British
security service, about the conspiracy. The MI-5
immediately informed the Research & Analysis Wing with
which it had a liaison relationship. The R&AW, after
examining the matter, asked MI-5 to advise the pilot to
accept the task and to keep the security service
informed of all his meetings with the extremist
organisation and the detailed plans for the air drop
including the date and time, the place of the air drop
and the flight path.
Image: Former British army pilot Peter Bleach enters a
court in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta April 9.
Bleach along with five Lativian crew members were
arrested December 21 in 1995 in the Purulia case
Photographs:Reuters
