343 Indians on KGB payroll: Swamy

New Delhi

22 September 2005

Supporting a late KGB official's claims

contained in a book published recently, Janata Party President

Subramaniam Swamy on Thursday alleged that not only did two Indian

political parties receive monies from the erstwhile Soviet intelligence

agency but there were at least 343 Indians who were on its payroll.

In "The Mitrokhin Archives Volume II", the late KGB archivist Vasili

Mitrokhin claims the Congress party under the late Prime Minister Indira

Gandhi and the Communist Party of India used to receive money from

KGB during the Cold War.

Citing a "cold war project" that is available in the United States Library of

Congress, Dr Swamy told reporters the US authorities examined among

other things every KGB paper since 1930 and identified 343 Indians who

were on that agency's payrolls. "Work on that project was completed last

year and a book is likely to be released next year," he said.

Dr Swamy claimed that there was "prima facie collaborative evidence

from Indian sources" to not dismiss the allegations contained in the book.

"Besides the disloyalty to the nation implied in on the KGB payroll, there

is also the serious national security question of whether policies were

being altered at KGB behest," he observed.

"Was Netaji in USSR, and killed by KGB to alter Indian politics? Was Lal

Bahadur Shastri killed in Tashkent to enable a more pro-Soviet Indira

Gandhi to power? Was [she] prevented by KGB blackmail from allowing

the Indian Army to smash West Pakistan? [Did] KGB [induce] Operation

Bluestar? Did KGB finance LTTE ideologue Balasingham, and hence is

there as KGB link in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination ..?" Dr Swamy wanted

to know.

"I demand a [probe by] a Supreme Court judge be set up to unravel the

truth", he added.