1977âs Agent Vinod had it all.  

© Sangam Pictures

With several James Bond films to draw inspiration from, the Mahendra Sandhu starrer featured femme fatales, daring action sequences and high-stakes thrills - all viewed through the lens of a suave, flamboyant hero willing to gamble his life in the service of his country. 

Itâs all Bollywood at its most classic - the very name of Mumbaiâs film industry was coined during this period in Indian cinema. And among the thousands that would crowd theatres that summer to watch this flick, there must have been a few, who - whether they knew it or not at the time - had a closer connection to the world of espionage than the average filmgoer.

I am, of course, talking about Indian National Army (INA) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agents - the crème de la crème of Indiaâs intelligence, espionage and counter-espionage efforts. Given Indiaâs long and sometimes tumultuous history with its neighbours, these elite individuals ended up with one hell of a life behind them, and while the nature of espionage itself means that many incredible stories will be forever lost to time, thereâs a handful that make it into the public eye. 

Hereâs 5 of the most fascinating, thrilling and downright hardcore spy biographies in the history of India.

© Wikimedia

One of the earliest documented spies to work for the Indian cause, Rajamani originally hailed from Rangoon in present-day Myanmar, where her father, a supporter of the Indian freedom movement, owned gold mines, making them one of the richest families in the region. In a 2005 Rediff interview, the INA veteran recounted a visit from none other than Mahatma Gandhi himself, who was shocked to find the then-young girl practicing shooting in the garden.

She would go on to disagree with Gandhijiâs principles of ahimsa and join Netaji Subhash Chandra Boseâs INA in 1942, under the Rani of Jhansi womenâs regiment. 

For almost two years, Rajamani and some of her female colleagues masqueraded as boys and gathered intelligence. While posing as a boy, her cover was called âManiâ. Once, one of her colleagues was caught by the British troops. To rescue her, Rajamani infiltrated the British camp dressed as a dancer. She drugged the British officers who were in-charge and freed her colleague. In a thrilling escape, Rajamani was shot on the leg by a British guard but she still managed to avoid capture - serving the cause until Netaji dissolved the army after World War II.

© Wikimedia

In a 1983 autobiography titled An Indian Spy in Pakistan, Bhaskar says that he took on a false identity as Mohammad Aslam and had himself circumcised to operate as a Pakistani Muslim on behalf of Indian intelligence in Pakistan - aiming to obtain details on the countryâs nuclear programme.

Unfortunately, Bhaskar was betrayed by double-agent Amrik Singh who played on both Pakistani and Indian sides of the field, and between 1967 and 1974, was imprisoned in Pakistani jails. It was here that Bhaskar made friends and enemies alike within the Pakistani jail system. In his book, he mentions both kind and cruel jailers - the latter of whom would torture Bhaskar for valuable information through these years.

His account remains one of the earliest and most interesting documentations of Pak security from the era - making key observations about top officials and Pakistani society alike.

© Navbharat Times

Born in Rajasthan in 1952, Kaushik began his career far away from the military - his talent as an actor at the national level dramatics meet in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was witnessed by officials from RAW. Soon, Kaushik was called in and offered the job of an undercover agent in Pakistan.

After two years of training in espionage, politics, Urdu, Islam and other useful subjects for an agent embedded in Karachi, Kaushik began his infiltration into the country as a law student at Karachi University at the age of 23, with the cover name âNabi Ahmed Shakirâ. From 1979 to 1983, while in military service, he passed on valuable information to RAW which was of great help to the Indian defence forces. He was given the title of 'Black Tiger' by India's then-Home Minister S. B. Chavan.

Unfortunately, in 1983, a low-level RAW operative named Inyat Masih was captured by Pakistan and Kaushikâs identity was compromised. He spent the next 16 years in jail, writing secret letters to his family about the torture he faced as a captive.

© Reuters

Currently serving as the National Security Advisor to PM Narendra Modi, Doval has previously been head-honcho at the Intelligence Bureau and was an instrumental figure in the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 - continuing to pull some of the most important strings in the nation today.

Before filling up these big shoes however, Doval excelled on-ground, first as a police officer in Thalassery, Kerala during the late sixties, where he helped quash violence against Muslim communities. This preceded a truly spectacular career as an intelligence operative across the country from the early seventies to the mid 2000s, when he retired as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau. 

In these years, Doval not only infiltrated the Miso National Front insurgency forces, gaining the trust of the majority of its commanders - he also facilitated the merger of Sikkim into India and even infiltrated the Golden Temple of Amritsar, collecting critical intel before Operation Black Thunder - a set of feats that earned him the media moniker of âIndiaâs James Bondâ.

© Dharma Productions/Penguin

Played by Alia Bhatt in 2018âs Raazi, Sehmat Khan was a mysterious figure in Indian intelligence circles that surfaced in ex-Navy Lieutenant Commander Harinder Sikka's novel Calling Sehmat. Back in 1999, Sikka visited Kargil to research the state of the intelligence department. After expressing his disappointment, he managed to discover Sehmat Khan - the pseudonym for a woman who provided intelligence for the Indian forces during the 1971 Bangladesh conflict. 

Daughter of a wealthy Kashmiri businessman, Sehmat married a Pakistani Army officer. Though she was meant to be just a facilitator for the Indian Intelligence, Sehmat Khan went a step ahead to gather important security information for India - going deep behind foreign lines as the tutor to Pak leader Yahya Khanâs children.

Her efforts culminated in intel that thwarted a Pakistani plot to INS Viraat, a Centaur-class, flagship aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. She eventually returned to India pregnant with her son, who eventually joined the Indian Army.

Know any cool spy tales from Indiaâs espionage elite? Share them in the comments with us!

View the full article