NIA summons cardiologist Dr Upendra Kaul, is left with egg on its face

Prominent Delhi based cardiologist Dr Upendra Kaul was summoned on Friday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to explain a SMS exchange he had with his patient Yasin Malik, the Kashmiri Hurriyat leader in jail.

While surprise and outrage greeted the news, NDRV editor Sreenivasan Jain took to Twitter to explain the mystery. “The text in the SMS read INR 2.78. INR, which in this case stands for internationalised normalised ratio, a blood report value. The NIA, in its wisdom, interpreted it as 2.78 Cr of Indian rupees (INR) of havala cash.” Meant for terror funding !

Dr Kaul, who is also the chairman of Batra Hospital, was summoned days after he appeared on a TV discussion on NDTV and criticised the Government’s action in abrogating Article 370. He had condemned the clampdown in J & K. Jain sardonically tweeted that this of course would have had nothing to do with what Dr Kaul said on NDTV!

There was outrage at NIA’s move on the micro blogging site Twitter.

The incident confirmed how the agencies are tracking not just calls but also text messages of the Government’s critics. It also left the NIA with egg on its face as it mistook the result and value of a blood test with Indian currency.

Had the NIA quietly called on Dr Kaul and sought an explanation, it could have avoided the embarrassment, as most people felt that NIA had made a laughing stock of itself by summoning the high profile doctor. The doctor was allowed to leave when explained what the exchange was all about.

On being contacted for his reaction, Kaul said that "NIA has the authority to summon anyone".