The Ghost Prisoner

By: Syed Nazakat

In a remote southern Nepal village, THE WEEK tracked down a former 'ghost prisoner' of Indian intelligence agencies. A Nepali national and ex-Indian Army man, Prem Bahadur Chettri, was arrested in Nepal in 2001 and brought to India. "I was arrested on February 17, 2001, from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu by Indian intelligence agencies and was then jailed in India," said Chettri. The tall and lean man served four years in a Lucknow jail, before being released in February 2005. His interview with this correspondent was his first interaction with the media after his release. Unemployed and still monitored by sleuths, he now spends most of his time at the Om Shanti Dharam temple in his village. "I felt at ease there," said Chettri. “It is not easy to live a normal life after all that happened to me. But I have no anger. Perhaps it was my fate to go through the pain and suffering.”

Chettri's arrest came after somebody tipped off the snoops that some of the Indian Army's Gorkhas have been won over by the Inter-Services Intelligence. At least seven serving Gorkhas were charged with working for the ISI. A strange agitation had cropped up in the Gorkha region during the Kargil War, after it was rumoured that most Indian Army casualties were Gorkhas. The rumour, according to the Intelligence Bureau, was spread by the ISI to cause disaffection amongst the Gorkhas, who form a mainstay of the Army.

Chettri had served the Indian Army for 22 years, before retiring and running a shop in his village. The ISI issue put the spotlight on him and he was watched closely by the IB. He said he was nabbed when he went to collect his pension and was taken to the army interrogation centre in Gorakhpur. Once there, he claimed he was tied up and made unconscious. His rendition bred a lot of anger and mistrust in Nepal.

Said Chettri: "I was arrested from Nepal, but the Indian police told the court that I was arrested in India. That was a blatant lie. That is a closed chapter now. I just want your reader in India to know that I was a loyal to my unit and my Army [Indian Army]. But the arrest shook my faith in the Indian system.”

(THE WEEK, 7 Dec 2009)