Defence, home ministries accused of negligence in Purulia arms dropping case

The parliamentary committee that investigated the Purulia arms drop case has indicted the ministries of defence, home and civil aviation, for negligence in allowing the air-dropping of arms over Purulia district in West Bengal on December 18, 1995, despite being warned.

"Despite prior information from the British MI-5 agency that a substantial amount of arms (would) be air-dropped in eastern India sometime in December, the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing failed to act," the parliamentary committee report said. The report was primarily prepared by the Central Bureau of Investigation team which is investigating the case.

Though the report was submitted to the Cabinet secretariat in May last year, then prime minister H D Deve Gowda did not see it for three months. Neither the prime minister's office nor the Cabinet secretariat is willing to discuss the reasons for the delay.

The parliamentary report, according to government sources, accuses the IB of not informing the Bombay police in time that the AN-26 aircraft, commanded by main accused Kim Peter Davy, was returning from Thailand after dropping arms over Purulia.

RAW, India's overseas intelligence agency, also failed to pass on the vital tip-off from MI-5 to the West Bengal government, although the external affairs ministry received information about the precise location of the air-dropping nearly three days in advance. MI-5 had passed on the first tip-off 25 days before supplying the final information.

The Indian Air Force's air intelligence unit informed at least four top IB officials, including its then director D C Pathak, at 12.33 am on December 21, 1995 that a Russian cargo plane was entering Indian air space without informing either the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or the defence authorities. The plane may have had some connection with the Purulia arms drop, it suggested. "Please take care of the plane and its crew," the IB officials were told, according to the report.

The IB informed the Bombay police much later, by which time Kim Davy was already on a Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific flight.

The IB was informed though the RAX telephone system, a network available only to VVIPs. The recorded message is still lying with the IAF and the CBI, the sources said.

The report says the Air Intelligence radar screen had passed on all information about the AN-26's movements gathered using the infrared image developing system, to the IB well in advance. The IAF has no jurisdiction over civilian territory.

The aircraft, which was returning from Thailand, was grounded by two IAF MiG-21 fighters at Bombay, after its pilot refused to comply with the radio instructions transmitted by the air defence ground control system.

The IAF intercepted the plane when it was returning from Thailand's Phuket airport, which did not permit the aircraft to fly out of Thailand in the north-west direction, some three days after the Purulia arm-drop. The airport was acting on orders received after the Indian government informed all South Asian countries to verify the identity of all flights to or from India.

Davy is alleged to have bribed several airport officials in Bombay and escaped in an Airports Authority of India vehicle. The investigation into the bribery aspect of the Purulia case was withheld by the government after AAI employees threatened to go on strike if any staffers were interrogated.