India’s Secret Spy World: RAW Operations, Honey Traps & Missions | Anirudhya Mitra | EP 76 | Part 1

In this 76th episode of Just Baat, host Konark Jain sits down with Anirudhya Mitra - bestselling author, award-winning screenwriter and former investigative journalist with India Today and The Times of India - the man who broke the Bofors scam, covered Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, exposed drug wars across India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and spent decades inside the world that most Indians only see in movies. His debut book, Ninety Days, became a national bestseller and was adapted into the SonyLIV series The Hunt, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. His latest book The Delhi Directive - a spy thriller based on India's covert operations that the government always denied - hit Amazon bestseller status within weeks of release. There is a world that controls everything. It does not appear in newspapers. It does not show up in press conferences. The people who run it have no identity. They live in shadows. They protect from shadows. And sometimes they are asked to do things that no medal will ever acknowledge. In this conversation, Anirudhya Mitra pulls back the curtain on India's spy world - RAW operations, honey traps, women spies, what India was prepared to do after 26/11 before America intervened, and why India has moved from defensive mode to aggressive mode in its covert intelligence operations. This is not fiction. This is the uncomfortable truth behind the headlines India chose not to print. Watch till the end. Here is what we covered in the podcast - 1. What a RAW spy actually does, how they are hired and why they live and die without any public identity or recognition. 2. How honey trap operations work in modern India and why women spies have become the most powerful tool in covert intelligence worldwide. 3. What India was prepared to do inside Pakistan after 26/11 and why America intervened to stop it. 4. How India shifted from defensive to aggressive mode in covert operations and what the Delhi Directive is really based on. 5. The journey from breaking Bofors and Rajiv Gandhi assassination stories to writing national bestsellers adapted into OTT series. Timestamps - 00:00 - Introduction 03:20 - Who Is Anirudhya Mitra - Bestselling Author and Screenwriter 04:35 - What Is a Spy and How Do They Actually Live 07:40 - How Spy Get Caught During Active Missions 11:10 - How Intelligence Agencies Hire and Recruit a Spy 19:50 - Ajit Doval's 1992 Undercover Operation in Pakistan 22:20 - Why Sam Manekshaw Always Kept a Copy of the Pakistan Map 24:15 - How Intelligence and Military Leadership Together Change the Course of a Nation 28:35 - India Shifting From Defensive to Aggressive Intelligence Mode 33:20 - Qualities Required to Become a Real Spy in India 37:20 - Surjeet Singh Pinda - India's Most Famous Spy Operation Exposed 43:10 - How Espionage Operations Are Planned and Executed Inside India 46:05 - Why Spy Missions Have Only a 10 Percent Chance of Success 51:50 - How Spies Get No Recognition and Face Government Abandonment After Missions 1:02:10 - Women Spies and Why Honey Trap Operations Have Exploded With Social Media Kya aap mante hain ki India ki covert intelligence operations ab aggressive mode mein aa chuki hain? ---------------------------------------------- Follow Anirudhya Mitra: Instagram: Instagram: anirudhya.mitra Books: The Delhi Directive, Ninety Days The Enforcer - Available on Amazon Connect with Just Baat: YouTube: @justbaat Instagram: Instagram: just._baat Follow Host - Konark Jain: Instagram: Instagram: konark.jain LinkedIn: LinkedIn: konark-jain01 X: https://x.com/konarkjain16 ----------------------------------------------