Of moles & molls
V. K. Kapoor on how human spies, the backbone of espionage, continue to fascinate

Spies have been around since the Biblical times. Human agents, in spite of advanced technology, are still the backbone of espionage. Female spies have been extremely effective. The first recorded female spy is in the book of Joshua, where a prostitute called Rayhab helped Israelis capture the city of Jericho. Israelis continue to be the master of espionage.

World War II produced some of the best spies on both sides. An opera singer, Margaret Booth, spied on Germans for Britain and fooled Nazi secret police, Gestapo, by hiding secret documents in her underwear as she sang for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi top brass at the Berlin opera house. Later on, she was arrested, but escaped during the raid.

British intelligence detected the famous sex spy ‘Mata Hari’ (Her name meant ‘the eye of the morning’). During the war, she developed contacts with important military figures on both sides. She plied her erotic espionage in Paris, Berlin and Madrid. She was, later, arrested by the French and shot dead.

Britain produced the biggest communist super spies. Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burger, Anthony Blunt and another man, who is protected by libel law. The damage the ‘infamous five’ inflicted on Britain, America and various innocent parties has still not been fully assessed. A British foreign office spokesperson once said: ‘Philby robbed European countries of their freedom.’

In 1943, American intelligence agencies had recruited a young budding Indian politician. Post-Independence, he had a phenomenal rise, and remained a cabinet minister for a long time.

Instilling fear and appealing to greed are the two most commonly used motivators. Primal power of sex and the commercial energy of greed play a great role in prying open the secrets. Human soul is pre-eminently amorous and nothing if not amorous. Politicians and people in power are very vulnerable. For them, state is but a surrogate of the self, and politics an extension of the personal. The central purpose of pursuing power and status is to convert it into money and sex.

When President Kennedy was assassinated, there were stories that the Mob (mafia) was involved. Bobby Kennedy as the Attorney General had gone after the organised crime. The name of a moll was mentioned, who was the mistress of a mafia boss. She knew the Kennedy brothers very well.

I remember a senior politician. He was a man of large appetite. He had become friendly with a woman. With sparkling eyes and a sizzling body language, she looked like a Greek goddess. The politician was on the hit list of a terrorist group.

One day, a message picked up from her vicinity. The caller was speaking to someone in London. The language was Punjabi: ‘Kudi pasand kar layi hai, marriage palace book karva liya hai, massi nu pucchu, rishta pucca kar diya’ (The girl has been liked. Marriage Palace has been booked. Ask aunty that the relationship should be solemnised). The interpretation was sinister. The person has been identified (the politician). The ‘marriage palace’ was the place for carrying the Hit. ‘Massi’ (aunt) was a terrorist based in Pakistan. ‘Rishta pucca kar diya’ (the assassination).

I told my boss, who after verification said that we must brief him. Both of us went to him. His first reaction was of annoyance and defiance. He harshly asked us, if we were doing our job, or keeping him under surveillance. When we told him about the woman, he said ‘Woh meri milne waali hai’ (She knows me), we told him that she planned to kill him in a compromising position. He calmed down and with the hard-earned wisdom of a survivor told us to take necessary precautions. After the briefing as we came out, my boss said disdainfully: "We should have called the Hit." The "Hit" did not take place.

Later, I met this woman at the Indian International Centre, Delhi. She needed some help. I told her to use her friendship with the influential politician. She told me that he had abruptly dropped her, and refused to meet her and speak to her on the telephone. She blamed the young wife of another politician, who had poisoned him against her. She said philosophically: "Like the expiry date of a medicine, the youth of a woman and relationship also has an expiry date".