The ‘jilted’Karachi woman who saved Pak nuke programme from sabotage

The ‘jilted’Karachi woman who saved Pak nuke programme from sabotageIslamabad, May 28 : In a startling revelation, about 30 years after it actually happened, it has been disclosed how a young woman, who was betrayed by a nuclear scientist, helped the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to nab 12 scientists and engineers, who were planning to sabotage the country's nuclear sites.

The story dates back to 1978 when Pakistan was trying hard to join the list of nuclear countries.

A female college lecturer of a Karachi Memon family had exposed the plans of sabotaging Pakistan's nuclear programme by certain scientists at the behest of a `superpower' to the then ISI Sindh head Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmed, The News reports.

Unveiling the secret he had maintained for over 30 years, Brigadier Ahmed said that a young woman college lecturer, feeling betrayed after a romance with a nuclear scientist of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP), had given a lead to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which led to the arrest of 12 scientists and engineers.

"Listen, almost 30 years have passed since this incident, but till date I can't forget how a heartbroken woman's commitment to herself to take revenge from her lover had led to the unfolding of this secret, which, if not shared, might have deprived Pakistan of its nuclear assets and we might not be celebrating this day," he said.

Brigadier Ahmed recalled the meeting with the young female lecturer who admitted that she was dating Munshi, a nuclear scientist working with KANUPP, but felt betrayed and cheated as she believed he had spoiled her life.

She told Brigadier Ahmed that she was thinking of taking revenge from him.

She revealed that Munshi was working for a secret agency of a superpower which used to provide him questions related to the nuclear programme and he used to give them replies to those.

Brigadier Ahmed was later awarded the Tamgha-e-Basalat by the Pakistan President for unearthing the conspiracy. (ANI)