The next day, Rajiv Gandhi stood up in parliament to announce the uncovering of a plot involving the sale of government secrets to a number of foreign countries. As head of the Prime Minister’s office, Alexander was forced to resign immediately, although he denied any knowledge of the spy ring and was never charged. Gandhi did not name any of the foreign countries involved, but the Indian media was clearly being pointed in the direction of France, with Poland and East Germany being painted as minor players and the KGB getting no mention at all.

On the Saturday after the initial arrests, IB officers arrived at the home of the French Deputy Military Attaché Lt-Col Alain Bolley and ordered him to pack up and leave immediately. He and his family were escorted to the airport and left on that evening’s Air France flight to Paris. Meanwhile, the French ambassador Serge Boidevaix was told that he was also no longer welcome and although the Indian authorities would not openly expel him, he should make plans to leave within a month.

Jan Haberka, the Delhi representative of Służba Bezpieczeństwa, the Polish intelligence service, and his HVA counterpart Otto Wicker, were also expelled, but without the fanfare given to the French departures and, amid rumours that a KGB officer had also been forced to leave, investigators said there was considerable pressure from Moscow to suppress details of the Eastern Bloc’s involvement.