Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK) 

Mangaluru, Sep 23: For 76-year-old Edwin D’Souza and his family, the news that Edwin is a sole inheritor of a farm house worth Rs 10 crore at Delhi came as an utter shock. However, what makes the story interesting is that the property belonged to Coomar Narain, a spy who rocked Delhi’s power corridors in the 1980s.

Coomar Narian died at the age of 75 and his wife Geetha was murdered at her farm house two years later. But none of the family members turned up. More than two decades later, a policeman named Shiv Dev came in search of Edwin D’Souza, only to let him know that he is the inheritor of E-152/A, Sainik Farms purchased by Coomar and his wife Geetha in 1995.

Edwin D'Souza 

 
Farm house in Delhi 

However, what is the relation between Coomar and Edwin? Well, it turns out that Edwin is Coomar’s stepson. 

Coomar had married Geetha, whose real name is Gerty. However, Gerty was married to Gilbert before marrying Coomar and had a son, who is Edwin D’Souza. There are no much details on what happened to Gilbert. 

Gerty, a single mother left baby Edwin with her mother Juliana and went to work in Mumbai. It is here she met Coomar, working with the Bombay-based S L M Maneklal Industries Ltd as regional manager. 

Who is Coomar? 

Coomar Narain is from Vedkancharry in Kerala’s Palakkad district. He worked as a havildar in the Indian Army’s Postal Service and later joined SLM Maneklal industries. 

Narain was influential and had built up a network of friends and contacts across the Indian Civil Service. He exploited his acquaintances by bribing them and obtained favourable business opportunities for his boss Yogesh Maneklal, the owner of the company.

Narain had access to classified documents and he sold them at £100 a piece to a commerce ministry civil servant, who then sold them to two Indian businessmen operating in Eastern Europe. 

The espionage had shaken Delhi’s power corridors. The documents Coomar sold included top secret papers on India’s atomic energy programme, military satellites, government electronics systems and the country’s defence planning – including potential purchases of military aircraft, warships and weaponry.  

Why did Edwin lose contact? 

The fact that Gerty was Edwin’s mother was hidden from Edwin for many years. He was told that he was Juliana’s son and Gerty was his sister. Gerty used to send money for Edwin’s upbringing. 

Gerty told Juliana to send Edwin to Delhi when he grew up. 

“We lived together in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi. I remember the house but I didn’t like Delhi. My life and my grandmother were in Mangalore, so I came back in six months. She looked after me well when I was there but did not stop me from leaving… That was the last time I met my mother,” D’Souza tells a media. 

However, Edwin eventually lost all contact with his mother. 

Not a sole claimant 

However, Edwin is not a sole claimant for the property. A woman named Radhika who claims to be Coomar’s and Geeta’s adopted daughter has claimed the property to be hers. 

She claimed she has given the property for rent to Rann Singh, a retired police officer and later claimed to have sold him the property for Rs 30 lacs. She also said that she has a sister but she went missing after Narain was arrested for espionage. 

However, when an independent vigilance inquiry was launched to look into the property issue, Rann Singh and Radhika gave contradicting claims. 

In 2016, Shiv Dev became the investigating officer. He decided to investigate everything afresh and Coomar’s family background was investigated. When there was no luck, he decided to investigate Geetha’s routes which led them to Bikarnakatte in Mangaluru and eventually to Edwin. 

Meanwhile, Edwin says he came to know of his mother’s death in 2002. However, he was not aware she was murdered. Ediwn lives with his son Prakash, who has worked as a driver in Dubai for 28 years. 

Prakash says he has seen his grandmother Geetha aka Gerty once. “We managed to get her birth certificate and gave it to the police. We did not expect to inherit the property. However, now we shall fight and ensure that it reaches the rightful owner,” Prakash tells media.