NEW DELHE: Ram Nath Rao, a former chief of Research and Nalysis Wing (R.A.W.), an Indian intelligence outfit, has said that ministers are a committed lot, In an interview with Pioneer, Rao says: “Having dealt with these people, I have wholesome respect for some of their qualities. They are not demented or unbalanced people. They have great leadership qualities and fanatical loyalties. Take the L.T.T.E for instance, its cadres are very committed, resourceful people.
Rao’s remarks have come suomoto without the reporter asking any question on the subject. He lives in his heavily guarded Vasant Vihar residence. Rao retired soon after Mrs.Gandhi’s death in October 1984.
Rao’s remarks on the Bombay blasts are significant. He says: “No one has taken responsibility so far, therefore we are left groping in the dark, it could be an act or reprisal.
Rao has further spent no involvement of any group, be it Iraqi mercenaries or the LTTE, should not had out at this stage though he cannot see a motive for the LTTE. As for Iraqis, unless the blasts are linked to Ayodhya and the Bombay roils, a motive cannot be established.
Rao does not agree that the Bombay episode shows the failure of the LB. or the RAW. Instead it should be seen as an eye opener for the problems confronting the two agencies. “In our business, information comes in bits and pieces. Agents do not get to read project reports, they have to solve jigsaw puzzles, it is really a battle of nerves,” he says.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 2, 1993
