Death of R&AW officer in Dhaka in 1974 linked to Mujib assassination plot, claims book

The Hindu

5 hours ago

The mysterious death in 1974 in Dhaka of a senior officer of India's external intelligence agency, who had been serving as a secret emissary of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was a precursor to the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975, a new book has revealed.
Veteran journalist Manash Ghosh, in his recently published book Mujib's Blunders: The Power and the Plot Behind His Killing, has written that Phanindra Nath Banerjee, Joint Director of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), was found dead in his room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dhaka in July 1974. The incident, he noted, was never thoroughly investigated by either India or Bangladesh.
'It was the mysterious death of Phanindra Nath Banerjee [popularly known as Nath Babu or PNB], Calcutta-based Joint Director of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), that disturbed us, the Dhaka-based Indian correspondents, immensely,' Mr. Ghosh writes. Mr. Banerjee was the direct liaison between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh.
'For Nath Babu, nurturing his relationship with a leader like Mujib was vital for his professional success. But then Ms. Gandhi had wanted his relationship with Mujib to assume both professional and personal dimensions as he was Bangladesh's man of destiny. He directly reported to Ms. Gandhi and got his instructions straight from her without any intermediary,' the author writes, explaining the R&AW officer's access to the top echelons of power in Dhaka.
Mr. Banerjee had reportedly earned the trust of Sheikh Mujib's family, including Begum Mujib, and maintained a low profile in Dhaka's diplomatic circles while having frequent meetings with senior Bangladeshi leaders such as Tajuddin Ahmed and members of the Mujib household. His closeness to power in Bangladesh and his influential position attracted curiosity and speculation.
Mr. Ghosh claims that serving officers - colonels, majors, and captains - allegedly involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were in contact with certain Western embassies in Dhaka and were lobbying for 'regime change.' These conspirators, he suggests, may have viewed Mr. Banerjee as an obstacle.
'They probably suspected that Nath Babu had got wind of the conspiracy that was being hatched against the entire Mujib family and had been officially assigned by his government to protect Mujib's life and also that of his family members. They could have thought that with Nath Babu around in Dacca, it would be difficult to execute their conspiracy to eliminate Mujib,' Mr. Ghosh writes.
Though Mr. Banerjee's death was officially attributed to a heart attack, the post-mortem report was never released.
'The officer in charge of the Ramna thana, who was the first among Bangladeshi officials to reach his hotel room, told reporters that he had been instructed by his higher ups that the cause of Nath Babu's death should not be discussed with any media representatives,' Mr. Ghosh writes. He adds that the National Security Intelligence (NSI) officials in Bangladesh 'remained tight-lipped and refused to entertain our phone calls.'
The author also hints at the possibility that the R&AW official may have died due to poisoning after consuming a meal during a meeting with a prominent leader from a minority community in Dhaka.