Rishiyur Nataraja Manickam (1 July 1919 – 11 September 2015) was an Indian Police Service officer in the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, and retired as Principal Director in R&AW's co-agency, Directorate General of Security. He was Director of the Aviation Research Centre during the Bangladesh War.
Early life
Born in RishiyurR. N. Manickam in Forever Missed in the then Madras Presidency, he was educated in Board High Schools, Erode and Bhavani; Government Arts College, Coimbatore and St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli.
State service in Madras
Manickam initially joined the State Police Service, Madras, but was promoted to the Indian Police Service on 3 December 1950 with retrospective allotment year of 1943. He served as S.P. of Madurai and S.P. in the C.I.D.
Central service
Manickam went on central deputation on 1 December 1957 and joined the Ministry of External Affairs. Initially he was posted as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy in Washington.Diplomatic List, 1958, Department of State, U.S.A. He was thereafter posted as Director in MEA, New Delhi, from which he was transferred to the Intelligence Bureau on 31 August 1963Gazette of India, 1963, No. 143 and posted as deputy director.Gazette of India, 1963, No. 192 He was repatriated to Madras cadre on 15 December 1965Gazette of India notification and subsequently became Inspector General of Police in the state. During this time, he also became honorary president of the Madras Gymkhana Club in 1967–68.List of Presidents, Madras Gymkhana Club On subsequent central deputation, Manickam became Director of the Aviation Research Centre in the early 1969. As Director ARC, he was involved in technical and aerial intelligence during the Bangladesh War.Unraveling India's Foreign Intelligence: The Origins and Evolution of the Research and Analysis Wing, Ryan Shaffer, International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, April 2015 He became Principal Director, DGS on 30 November 1974, with oversight on SSB, SFF and ARC. Manickam retired as PD on 30 June 1977. Much later, in 1993–94, he worked as Member, Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.Author profile for Security, Espionage and Counter IntelligenceCourt case with R. N. Manickam as judge, 1993Court case with R. N. Manickam as judge, 1994
Awards
He had received the Police and Fire Services Medal for Distinguished Service in 1967 and Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1958.Police Medal Awardees List , search by Manickam and Manikam.
Memoirs
Post-retirement, Manickam wrote his memoirs of 36 years of service, titled Security, Espionage and Counter Intelligence, published in 2000.Book review at National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
Controversy
In March 1981, in a seven-page affidavit, Manickam alleged that his relatives had paid Rs. 10.75 lakh to the relatives of M. G. Ramachandran, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, as bribe for liquor distribution license, but they did not get the license. So, Manickam demanded the money back. This became a political sensation of the time, being used for political purposes by the opposition parties, DMK and the Congress, and resulted into three inquiry commissions.MGR: A Life, R. Kannan, 2017, pages 280-281Liquor scandal may cost Tamil Nadu CM much of his political credibility, India Today, 31 July 1983Liquor licences corruption case: MGR and other cabinet ministers get clean chit, India Today, 15 April 1984
References