Can you imagine an Indian working on the ranks of Major in the Pakistani Army?
Meet Ravindra Kaushik famously known as The Black Tiger. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest Indian spy ever ( Certainly the best among those in the public domain). His story is not known to many. This man never got any honours, acclaims or reward for what he did, due to the nature of the service.
Pic Source:- Google
He was born in Rajasthan in April 1952 in a Punjabi family. He was a good artist, and once performed a mono act in National Drama Event at Lucknow, in which he played the role of an Indian spy. In one shot, he refused to give information to Chinese, and rather insisted on dying. This shot was done with so much perfection by Kaushik that RAW officials who were present there saw a real spy in him. After all formalities like background check, he was offered a job in RAW, that he happily accepted.
He was trained for 2 years in Delhi. He was taught all the tactics of a spy and Quran also. He was already fluent in Punjabi which is mostly spoken in Pakistan. His mission was to go to Pakistan, infiltrate into the Pakistan Army and send crucial information to the Indian Army. There was every possibility that he would not return alive, but still, he went ahead.
He reached Karachi from Saudi Arabia where he took admission in an LLB degree with name Nabi Ahmed Mir. After some time he joined Pakistan Army as a clerk. In no time he rose to the rank of a Major. From 1979 to 83, he passed some very crucial, and sensitive information about the movement of Pakistani Army to Indian Army due to which Army spoiled a lot of covert operations. It is also said that he had knowledge about Pakistani Nuclear program and shared it with RAW.
He also married a girl there and had a child. Now he got very famous with the name of Black Tiger in both Armies. Pakistani Army tried their best to catch him, but they had no clue that Black Tiger is none other than a Major working in their Army. But he continued his work there.
Once RAW sent another agent Inyat Mashia to contact with Kaushik but he was captured by Pakistani Army. They forced him to reveal the truth about Black Tiger and he told everything to them.
Ravindra Kaushik was immediately captured. Pakistani Army tortured him barbarically and awarded death sentence to him. He was not allowed to meet anyone in jail. His wife and children both were killed.
But thanks to the effort of Indian govt. behind the scenes, his death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. But this actually did more harm to him. He was being tortured by the Pakistani Army every day. His life had become hell. Finally, in 1999 he succumbed to Tuberculosis and died. He was buried inside the central hall of Multan jail.
He couldn't even see his parents and family before dying. Moreover, until today, he hasn't got any recognition for his work. But this great man will always be a great source of inspiration among Army and RAW agents.
May this great soul rest in peace!
Footnotes:-
The story of the RAW agent, Ravinder Kaushik, who worked as a Pakistan Army Major - Forgotten hero
Black Tiger (Ravindra Kaushik) - The untold story of Indian RAW agent – Revolutionary Minds