Ravindra Kaushik’s story is something which every Indian should want to know. He was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on April 11, 1952. He was an alleged Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent who lived ‘undercover’ in Pakistan. Let’s learn about the story of a raw agent who worked as a Pakistan Army Major.
Kaushik showcased his real talent at the national level dramatic meet in Lucknow, UP, which was spotted by officials from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency. He was then contacted and offered a job of being an undercover Indian agent in Pakistan.
Kaushik went through a wide range of training drills in Delhi for two years. He had also undergone circumcision so much so that he could pass as a Muslim. He was taught Urdu, given Islamic religious education and was also acquainted with the topography and other details about Pakistan.
Hailing from Sri Ganganagar, a city near Rajasthan’s border with Punjab, he was highly-experienced in Punjabi, which is widely understood in Punjab, Pakistan.
In 1975, Kaushik was sent to Pakistan on a special mission with a new name called Nabi Ahmed Shakir, while all his records in India were deleted. He was just 23 years old when he first went undercover for RAW. Kaushik is recognised as India’s best spy to ever get through the ranks of the Pakistan army.
He later did his LLB from Karachi University and joined Pakistan Army and went on to become a commissioned officer. Finally, he was promoted to the rank of a Major.
Talking about his personal life, Shakir then married a girl named Amanat and became the father of a girl.
From 1979 to 1983 he had passed on important information to the Indian defense forces which were truly of great assistance and it was because of the valuable tip-off being sent by Nabi Ahmed, he became popular- ‘The Black Tiger’ in Indian defense circles, a nickname conferred by the then PM Indira Gandhi.
According to a report in The Telegraph, he was caught when Inyat Masiha, sent by RAW to get in contact with him, accidentally blew his cover to the Pakistani forces upon interrogation in September 1983. He was then sentenced to death in 1985 for spying but the punishment was later cut down to life imprisonment.
Kaushik went through hell as he was immensely tortured for two years at an interrogation centre located in Sialkot, jailed in Mianwali for another 16 years. In November 2001, Kaushik experienced pulmonary tuberculosis and heart disease and nobody came to his rescue because he was left to die. He then passed away in the New Central Multan Jail.
After Kaushik drew his last breath, he was buried behind that jail.