A Singular Spy

In January 1985 the story of India’s biggest spy scandal broke-state secrets were being sold to foreign governments, affecting national and international policy. A vast espionage network was exposed, which included foreign diplomats, low-level clerks in the highest public offices and one of the largest Indian industrial powerhouses. At the centre of it all stood Coomar Narain, a murky figure with several aliases and a shadowy past.

Who was Coomar Narain and how was he able to pull off the leak of confidential documents for years? The search for the answers only led to more questions. Coomar Narain was able to cultivate a network of peons and clerks and PAs, people with regular access to classified documents but none of the perks of high office, enticing them with bottles of Scotch. Over time the reach of the network grew from industrial espionage and at its height involved emissaries from the French and Polish governments.

Through extraordinary, meticulous research and dogged interviews, Kallol Bhattacherjee uncovers this audacious story of an outsider exploiting the weakest links in the Indian bureaucracy with far-reaching ramifications in international and corporate espionage.