Samba spy scandal

Samba, Jammu is a sleepy town in the Jammu region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It borders Pakistan.

Between August 24 1978 and January 23 1979, 50-odd persons who had worked in the 168 Infantry Brigade and its subordinate units at Samba, 40 km from Jammu on the international border, were arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan at the instance of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (MI). Its investigations involved practically the whole officer cadre of the Brigade. Those arrested included a Brigadier, three Lieutenant Colonels and a number of Majors, Captains, Junior Commissioned Officers ( JCOs), Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and personnel of other ranks, plus 11 civilians who had worked in the Samba sector. They were all taken into custody at the instance of two self-confessed Pakistani spies who worked as gunners in the Indian Army - Sarwan Dass and Aya Singh. In December 1994, Sarwan Dass swore an affidavit and appeared at a press conference to admit that he had falsely implicated the men. In December 1990, Aya Singh was shot - while crossing the India-Pakistan border. The falsely implicated victims received justice only in December 2000, and not fully either. [cite news | url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1804/18041170.htm | title = Justice gone awry | ]

The whole story, written by A. G. Noorani, was published in "Frontline". The book "The Price of Loyalty", written by Captain Ranbir Singh Rathaur, is a first hand account of the brutal and inhuman torture inflicted on the officers and men who were falsely implicated in the so-called Samba Spy Case. [cite news | url = http://www.childplanet.com/english/samba/index.html|title = The Price of Loyalty - Samba Spy Scandal| ]

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