NEW DELHI: The US department of justice's indictments against Nikhil Gupta do not read like a high-stakes espionage thriller; they, if true, point to an amateur crude plot conceived and sought to be executed with no regard to the basics of intelligence tradecraft.
Serving and retired security establishment officials feel, going by the claims of FBI, the whole affair seemed to brazen violate every rule in the book that even rookie interns at any agency across the globe wouldn't, a recklessness that is associated with an overzealous operative in a terrible hurry who was not bothered with irritants like protocol requiring restraint.
