Ravindra Kaushik

Early life Ravindra Kaushik was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on 11 April 1952. His father, J. M. Kaushik, was an Indian Air Force officer; his mother Amla Devi died in 2006. He graduated from S. D. Bihani P. G. College, Sri Ganganagar, earning a B.Com. Kaushik was also involved with theatre acting and debates while in college when he was recruited by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

Recruitment in the Research and Analysis Wing Kaushik was trained in Delhi for two years to be an undercover operative in Pakistan. He was also trained to live as a Muslim and was taught the Urdu language. Being from Sri Ganganagar, a city near Rajasthan's border with Punjab, although he was native to Bagri, a local tonal language of Rajasthani, which is predominantly spoken in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, he was also well versed in Punjabi, which is widely spoken in Punjab, India and Pakistan as well. In 1975, at the age of 23, he was sent to Pakistan. He married a local woman named Amaanat and fathered a boy, who died in 2001.

From 1979 to 1983, Kaushik worked as a Pakistani army clerk, sending valuable information to R&AW. He was given the title of 'The Black Tiger' by then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi.

Death and aftermath In September 1983, R&AW sent a low-level operative, Inyat Masih, to make contact with Kaushik. But Masih was exposed by the Joint Counter-Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and blew Kaushik's cover.