'Was poisoned thrice, son infected with COVID-19': ISRO scientist's shocking claims

In a shocking revelation, a senior scientist of ISRO has alleged his life was endangered multiple times since 2017, including facing three poisoning attempts.

Tapan Misra is a senior adviser of ISRO, who is superannuating at end of this month. He was previously director of the Space Applications Centre of ISRO.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Misra alleged he was poisoned by "deadly Arsenic Trioxide on 23rd May 2017" during an interview at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

Misra wrote, "Fatal dose was probably mixed with chutney along with Dosai, in snacks after lunch." He claimed he faced health problems lasting almost two years.

"Severe loss of blood to the tune of 30-40% through anal bleeding. I barely could come back from Bangalore and was rushed to Zydus Cadila hospital in Ahmedabad. It was followed by severe breathing difficulty, unusual skin eruptions and skin shedding, loss of nails on feet and hands, terrible neurological issues due to hypoxia, skeletal pain, unusual sensations, one suspected heart attack and Arsenic depositions and fungal infections on every inch of skin and internal organs," Misra wrote.

Misra wrote Dr Sudhir Gupta, a renowned forensic specialist, claimed he was seeing a "live specimen of a survivor of assassination attempt with fatal dose of assassination grade molecular As2O3".

Misra alleged the poisoning incident could have been motivated by an "espionage attack... remove a scientist with critical contribution of very large military and commercial significance, like expertise in building Synthetic Aperture Radar." Synthetic aperture radar is a method of radar technology that uses radar signals to detect a target area's physical properties. Synthetic aperture radar can 'see through' clouds, rain and changes in the earth's surface, such as those caused by earthquakes or construction. Synthetic aperture radars have considerable use in scientific research as well as in military applications.

Interestingly, Misra also wrote, “I will also not rule out it [poisoning] also as a new modus operandi of adjusting seniority and clear me who was perceived as obstacle.” Misra was director of the Space Applications Centre of ISRO from 2015 to 2018, when he was relieved of his responsibilities and transferred as an adviser to the ISRO chairman. Misra was touted to be a frontrunner to replace K. Sivan as head of ISRO when the latter's term ends in 2021.

Misra alleged the ISRO "hierarchy" shunned him, taking the names of former ISRO chiefs K. Kasturirangan, G Madhavan Nair and A.S. Kiran Kumar. "What pains me is that ISRO hierarchy and my colleagues tried to shun me as pariah. I pleaded with two successive chairmen to help me in getting justice. Kirankumar tried his best to convince me that my earlier case of squamous cell carcinoma is resurrecting. I personally talked to Dr. Kasturirangan and Shri Madhavan Nair and they developed cold feet," Misra wrote.

Misra claimed he "was bombarded with hundreds of threatening emails to keep my mouth shut". He alleged he was saved by security agencies from a "massive explosive incident, in which Rs. 100 cr. lab was destroyed" on May 3, 2018.

Misra alleged an attempt to poison him was made on July 12, 2019. "My security was breached and I was poisoned with gaseous poison, probably Hydrogen Cyanide, which hypoxiates leaving no trace, on 12th July 2019. I was hypoxiated severely, leading to convulsion, loss of senses and memory. I survived because of NSG training of my PSO. I was transferred immediately to hospital, administered ozonised oxygen and had to spend couple of days in ICU." He claimed the incident took place two days before the planned launch date of the Chandrayaan 2 Moon probe and added it was "probably to prevent me to be present there on this occasion".

Misra even alluded to a foreign hand in the episodes. "On 19th July 2019, an Indian American professor of one of the topmost US university suddenly appeared in my office. He requested me not to utter a word in future. As a quid pro quo, my IITK grad son will be accommodated in a top notch college in USA. I declined and he left my office at 1430 hrs. And my thirty plus years contributing career was consigned to sinecure position at 1630 hrs. on the same day. I was removed from all responsibilities, including SAC directorship," he wrote.

Misra even claimed "For last two years there were mysterious appearances of poisonous snakes like cobra, krait at a regular intervals of a few days in my quarter." Misra claimed a "secret tunnel" had been laid to his compound, which may have been used to facilitate the intrusions by snakes.

Misra alleged "mysterious people are after me and probably going to hit me hard before my superannuation at the end if this month" and cited two incidents.

The incidents were "1... deliberate poisoning of my mentally challenged son with COVID-19. The poor boy, who cannot even speak or eat or carry out hygiene activities himself, had to be hospitalized for 10 days, followed by months of complications. 2. There was a failed attempt in poisoning me with Arsenic, probably in first week of September 2020. It failed, but it was enough to create signature of quite good amount of poisoning, leading to skeletal pain, skin peeling and nail dying."

Emphasising he had faith "in our security apparatus", Misra appealed to the government, fellow scientists and others that all “efforts should be made to keep me and my family safe and punish these mysterious men. I am convinced that these are the men, embedded in our system, are leading to mysterious deaths of scientists and destruction of our institutions."

Misra began his Facebook post by referring to the "highly suspicious death of Prof. Vikram Sarabhai in 1971”, doubts about “sudden death of Dr. S Srinivasan, Director of VSSC in 1999” and the ISRO spy case involving Nambinarayan in 1994.

In 2019, a Facebook post by Misra following the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission was interpreted as being a criticism of the leadership style of Sivan.