Most of us know about the risky job of Indian spies from Bollywood film Raazi. While working undercover, they are constantly at the risk of getting caught and hardly get noticed by the nation.
One such spy was Ravindra Kaushik, an undercover RAW agent deployed in Pakistan until he was arrested and died in custody.
Born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on April 11, 1952, Kaushik loved doing theatre as a teenager and that’s when RAW spotted him.
He was recruited with RAW and was sent to Pakistan on a special mission with a new name, Nabi Ahmed Shakir, while all his records in India were deleted. Kaushik was just 23 at the time.
It is believed that Kaushik was adept in Urdu, acquainted himself with Muslim religious texts and the terrain of Pakistan during his training.
He later did his LLB from Karachi University and joined Pakistan Army and went on to become a commissioned officer. He was also promoted to the rank of a Major in the Pakistan army.
During his stay in Pakistan, Kaushik fell in love with Amanat, daughter of a Pakistan Army officer. The two became friends and soon got married.
It is believed that Kaushik did not let Amanat know about him being a RAW agent even after marriage. The couple had a son named Areeb Ahmed Khan.
Kaushik was leading an altogether different life in Pakistan. It is believed that he passed critical information to the Indian defence forces from 1978-1983 under the nickname ‘The Black Tiger’.
He was caught in 1983 when another person sent by RAW blew his cover off during an interrogation in Pakistan. Sentenced to death, which was later reduced to life imprisonment, Kaushik remained in Pak custody until his death in 2001.
It is reported that he had also written secret letters to his family in India while he was imprisoned in Pakistan. The Indian government refused to recognise him and deleted all his records.
According to a few responses on Quora, nobody knows about the whereabouts of his wife Amanat and their child.
