Maha DGP launches novel penned by former IB official

Maharashtra Director General of Police Datta Padsalgikar unveiled "The Velvet Gloves", a novel written by former Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Balakrishna Kamath, at a function here.

The book was released at a function in south Mumbai Saturday.

Besides Padsalgikar, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Atulchandra Kulkarni, publisher Malini Nair and senior police officers were present.

The plot of "The Velvet Gloves" is about behind-the-curtains tussle between Indian intelligence agencies and the US law enforcement agency FBI.

Padsalgikar said the book shows another aspect of Kamath's personality, namely, his flair for writing, and he should continue to write.

He described Kamath, as intelligence officer, as somebody who could work magic, finding solutions out of nothings.

The DGP referred to a case where Kamath -- who retired as assistant director, IB -- had only three scrambled digits to go on, but he cracked the mystery within half an hour, leading to swift arrest of a suspect.

Kamath said that in films intelligence sleuths are portrayed in a glamours way, like the character of James Bond.

But in real life intelligence officer's work is often hard and monotonous, requiring many sacrifices, he said.

Though the book is a work of fiction, it will offer insight into intelligence operative's life and its challenges, he said.