Ravindra Kaushik
Ravindra Kaushik (11 April 1952 – November 2001) was a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) operative. Famously known as Black Tiger, he is believed to be one of India's best spies ever. He successfully penetrated the commissioned officer ranks of the Pakistan armed forces. Kaushik spied for R&AW against Pakistan from 1979 to 1983. Early life. Ravindra Kaushik was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on 11 April 1952 in a Brahmin family. He also did his graduation from there. Recruitment in Research and Analysis Wing. Kaushik displayed his talent at the national level dramatic meet in Lucknow, Uttar  Pradesh, which was witnessed by officials from the Research and Analysis Wing. He was contacted and offered a job of being an undercover Operative in Pakistan. Kaushik was given extensive training in Delhi for two years. He underwent circumcision so he could pass as a Muslim. He was taught Urdu, given Islamic religious education and acquainted with the topography and other details about Pakistan. Being from Sri Ganganagar, a city near Rajasthan's border with Punjab, he was well versed in Punjabi, which is widely understood in Punjab and Pakistan as well., India. In 1975, at the age of 23 , He was sent to Pakistan. Activities in Pakistan. Kaushik was given the cover name "Nabi Ahmed Shakir" and entered Pakistan in 1975. He was successful in getting admission in Karachi University and completed his LLB. He joined Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer and eventually promoted to the rank of a major. He soon married a local girl named Amanat, the daughter of a tailor in one of the army units, and fathered a boy who died in 2012–2013. From 1979 to 1983, while working as an officer, he passed on valuable information to R&AW which was of great help  to India. He was given the title of 'Black Tiger' by India's then home minister late S. B. Chavan. Death and aftermath. In September 1983, R&AW sent a low-level operative, Inyat Masih, to get in touch with Kaushik. However, Masih was caught by Joint Counterintelligence Bureau of Pakistan's ISI and blew Kaushik's cover. Kaushik was then captured, tortured for two years at an interrogation center in Sialkot. He was given the death sentence in 1985. His sentence was later commuted to a life term by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was kept in various jails  in various cities, including Sialkot, Kot Lakhpat and in Mianwali jail for 16 years. He managed to secretly send letters to his family in India, which revealed his poor health condition and the trauma faced by him in Pakistani jails. In one of his letters he wrote: In November 2001, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis and heart disease in Central Jail Mianwali in Pakistan. According to Ravindra's family, Indian government had refused to recognise him and had made no effort to help him. Ravindra's family claimed that the storyline of the famous Bollywood flick "Ek Tha Tiger" released  in the year 2012 was based on the life of Ravindra and asked for the credit in the movie titles for Ravindra.