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Escape To Nowhere: by Amar Bhushan

- The document reviews a book called "Escape to Nowhere" by Amar Bhushan about the defection of an Indian intelligence officer who was a double agent. - It describes the book as being based on a true story and focusing more on bureaucratic issues within the intelligence agency rather than action or intrigue. - The review notes that while not very exciting as a story, the book provides a rare insider perspective on India's intelligence agency and some of its operations and challenges.

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986 views3 pages

Escape To Nowhere: by Amar Bhushan

- The document reviews a book called "Escape to Nowhere" by Amar Bhushan about the defection of an Indian intelligence officer who was a double agent. - It describes the book as being based on a true story and focusing more on bureaucratic issues within the intelligence agency rather than action or intrigue. - The review notes that while not very exciting as a story, the book provides a rare insider perspective on India's intelligence agency and some of its operations and challenges.

Uploaded by

Rajan Panda
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Escape to Nowhere

by Amar Bhushan

This review is part of my resolve to write consistently about debut Indian authors and their debut books.
Before writing this review, some advance disclaimers. I was one of the discussants at the launch of this book in
May (or was it June), which was published by the same publisher that brought out my debut book. However, I
have not interacted with the author before or after the event.
I revisited the book some weeks ago, as it is one of the few 'insider' accounts of an intelligence agency that must
remain ever so discreet that it might evoke gross circumspection at times. Interacting with some illustrious ex
heads of the agency, I was told that the success record of our intelligence agency is a lot more impressive than the
public cares to believe. Unfortunately, successes cannot be trumpeted, while failures come to the limelight and can
not be brushed under.
The story is about the defection of an Indian intelligence officer who was a double agent. The book cover says
'Inspired by a true story', and we can guess what that means with a Find/ Replace. But do not expect to find a plot
that takes you to exotic locales in Switzerland,Columbia etc. You only get as far as Nepal, that too in a jeep. Don't
look for someone wanting to assasinate the head of state etc. No, there's no vamp either. Well, there is one,
without action.
The book is more about the red tape inside the agency and the frustration of a diligent intelligence team that
doesnt get support or clear directions from above. It is a babu versus field operative conflict in all its Indian
richness. What they achieve despite the resistance, if true, is already a good mark for the state of our intelligence
folks. I loved the part dealing with covert internal surveillance of colleagues under the needle of suspicion.
Realising that the book was written by someone who is not a trained writer, I would say it is a good first book, rich

Realising that the book was written by someone who is not a trained writer, I would say it is a good first book, rich
with facts, written like a diary because it is probably based on diary notings.
After or before reading the book, do Google the real story in May 2004 of a senior officer that vanished/ defected.
You will then be able to appreciate the book lot more.
I give it three stars for the honesty and the guts shown by an insider who chose to write about the folly. I think I
recogised the author in the story. Maybe you will too.|There are books written by many investigative journalists
which unravel the mystery behind the spectacular life of espionage of renowned spies like Kim Philby of MI6,
Markus Wolfe of the Stasi, Aldrich Ames of the CIA and so on. But there is little public knowledge of any of the
major real-life spy stories associated with Indias external intelligence agency, the RAW (curiously called Research
& Analysis Wing!). I have read B.Raman, who retired from RAW and wrote newspaper columns on security issues,
mention that R.N.Kao, who used to head RAW in the 1970s, being regarded as one of the top six spy masters in
the world during his time by the French Intelligence service. However, Raman didnt give out much information as
to why he was regarded so highly and what his achievements were. Given such a history, I was naturally excited
when I found that this book was a novel written by an ex-RAW official and that it was based on the true story of
Roben Singh, who worked in RAW in the 1990s and spied for the US, just like Aldrich Ames did for the USSR while
employed by the CIA. I thought I would get an insight into the way Indias external Intelligence agency worked
and the sort of questions that engaged the organization. Unfortunately, the book is such a damp squib, leaving
the reader with the impression that RAW is just a bureaucratic and inept organization, hobbled by a whole lot of
constraints and lack of security awareness among its own employees!
The book starts by laying the background to the suspicion that Ravi Mohan (proxy for Roben Singh) was copying
documents from RAW and taking them home for possible transfer to a foreign agent. This happens inside the first
thirty pages and then till page 300, it is a boring narrative of secretly watching him, taping him, recording him and
more watching and recording him and so on. Perhaps, real life spy craft is just drab, unexciting and repetitive like
this rather than the dashing adventure of blondes, brunettes and redheads that one sees in the Bond movies. But
this is purported to be a novel, rather than a memoir. So, the author has the freedom to embellish the novel with a
bit of his imagination. Instead he chooses to be a poor story teller as he goes on endlessly spitting out the dull
conversations between the RAW officials, looking for concrete evidence to nail Ravi Mohan. It seems as though
the author just wanted to write a memoir on this case by just changing the names. The final 30 pages, when Ravi
Mohan gives the slip to RAW and escapes to the US and the Epilogue, which contains the authors views on the
case and other related issues, are the only interesting parts of the book. In the end, there is really no indication as
to the nature of the sensitivity of the documents that Ravi Mohan had transferred to the foreign agent. So, one is
left with the impression that a rather incompetent, two-bit spy in RAW did some treachery by transferring material
to foreigners and then escaped easily through Nepal even as he was under watch by RAW all along.
The book has the usual tone of retired and disgruntled govt officials and bureaucrats in painting a dismal picture
of the departments they worked for. There are the accounts of internal politics in RAW as well as the interorganizational politics between RAW and the IB (Intelligence Bureau). In addition, there is the familiar warning that
Pakistans highly efficient ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) has successfully infiltrated every government
department in India whereas India is just blundering along without much of a clue. What is odd is that when one
reads Pakistani newspapers, one finds that they write about how the efficient RAW has infiltrated deep into
Pakistan and has managed to pull off successful sabotages inside Pakistan! I even remember reading Tim Werners
book on the CIA, The Legacy of Ashes, which paints an account of how CIA stumbles from one disaster to
another, whereas developing nations have an image of the CIA as something which can pull off regime changes at
the drop of a hat because of their efficiency! The only passage in the book where there is some perceptive
observation is in the Epilogue when the author writes about investigative journalism. He writes: Investigative
journalism is akin to running an intelligence operation. In both cases, building an asset is a tortuous process,
fraught with prospects of frequent failures. It demands enormous investments and painstaking efforts over a long
period of time. But, who has the time and patience to pick the chaff from the grain..? Perhaps, this explains why
we see so little of credible investigative reports in the Indian media.
Overall, a disappointing book.
|Hardly worth a read, unless you are interested in a garrulous self serving defense of a discredited RAW officer

Overall, a disappointing book.


|Hardly worth a read, unless you are interested in a garrulous self serving defense of a discredited RAW officer
written in the form of a daily diary|*******Spoiler Alert..!!*******
If you are expecting it to be a thriller with deadly guns,expensive cars and exotic locations, you will be
disappointed. This book gives us insights in the celebrated intelligence agency of India. It's very much realistic.
Writer claims the book to be based on true story (A search on Google about the case after reading the book
confirms this claim).
Because it is being written by a formal bureaucrat and it is meant to be informative, we should not spent much
time in criticizing it with literary genres. It is evident that the characters are inspired by real people to whom the
writer was close.
A suspected espionage agent is a highly ranked officer of the agency. He is kept under surveillance by an officer.
The story unfolds his espionage activities. Story is written on the 'events of the day' basis probably because it is
taken from the writers diary. The title gives the hint of the ending.
What is more pleasing about the book is that it gives us the firsthand account of the agency's working. The story
touches the topics like - Kashmir question, US's role in Indo-Pak conflicts, ISI's reach in India, ULFA activities,
Nepal's internal security, India's stand on Myanmar's military Government, Pak-China relations (Apparently China
acted as coordinator between Pakistan and N. Korea in their Nuclear exchange), divide between IB and RAW and
how the petty political leadership fails the ambitions of agency/bureau. It also gives idea about how the
international intelligence agency's work and how the 'sources' are formed. Writer takes care to show these
discussions as personal views of the people involved, but we are free to take a clue.
I was surprised to read a few real names in the book like Saran (Indo-US nuclear deal coordinator), Nambi Narayan
(ISRO Scientist, falsely claimed to be a spy by Kerala Govt.)
The writer was always honest about the case and has criticized the agency at appropriate levels. Language of the
book contains vary few bureaucratic jargons and they make it more readable.
The Ravi Mohan is actually Rabinder Singh. He had filed a petition in US under alias for asylum in US, first it was
declined but it is now under consideration. The copy of that petition can be read here:
**http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspo...**
Read more about the case and other Espionage activities at: **http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/0...**
A few facts that I collected through net that will probably helpful:
Jeevanathan = Amar Bhushan
Chief Wasan = C.D. Sahay
Espionage Agent Ravi Mohan = Maj. Rabinder Singh
His Wife = Pammi Singh
Post Incident Enquiry Person- Sharma = M. K. Narayanan (The then Special Advisor to PM Manmohan Singh)
Ravi Mohans Canadian Relative who accompany him to Nepal = Monty Saigal (Actually his brother-in-law)

|I enjoyed reading the book. Some people may mistake this to be a racy thriller but it is not (since the ending is
already known). Since the author himself is one of the protagonists in the story, it gives an insider view of the
Intelligence establishment of our country. In most senses, it is an informative read. I would give it a 3.5 star and is
worth reading.

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