Facing obstacles with courage and dignity, sums up the experience of Lucky Bisht, former National Security Guard (NSG) commando and spy whose real life story has been penned by S Hussain Zaidi in the book R.A.W Hitman: The real story of Agent Lima. Published by Simon & Schuster , the book, to be launched in the US and India, focusses on the years from 2011 to 2015 when Lucky Bisht, a personal bodyguard to many leading political leaders such as LK Advani, Chandrababu Naidu Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, was accused of twin murders and imprisoned for five years.
The year was 2011 when Lucky, who was the bodyguard of LK Advani was on a 15-day leave when international arms dealer Raju Pargai and Amit Arya were murdered. and it was deduced that Agent Lima, a covert agent, considered one of the best snipers, was their killer. Investigative agencies then arrested Lucky Bisht, presumed him to be the face behind Agent Lima. “The book raises pertinent questions,” says Lucky over the phone from Mumbai. “It asks if Lucky and Agent Lima are the same; if they are not, why was Lucky accused, jailed and subsequently released?”
The writer took a year to research and a year and a half to write the book. “I was revisiting the painful phase when I met Zaidi sir (the author) and the team. I was in a 6x6 feet room for four years, tranferred to 11 jails across India and didn’t see the stars or moon.,” recalls Lucky.
The two things that sustained him through the ordeal and gave him strength through his imprisonment were his belief that the truth will prevail and the advice of his seniors during his training in Israel. “My seniors used to say: ‘Yeh zaroori nahin ki insaan kitna bahadur hai, par aap zindagi ki kis hadh tak haar nahin maantein (It is not about how courageous a man is, but to what extent you will remain indefatigable without losing hope.”
During the period of solitary confinement, Lucky let his imagination take wing and began writing. “My mind couldn’t be solitary. I kept writing and wrote 70-plus stories in the four years.”
Lucky retired as a Major from the Army in 2019 and now wants to try his luck in Bollywood as a writer. The stories about wars, spies and action span conflicts across the globe and are inspired by his own experiences as a soldier. “I see beyond the visible and write stories with a different perspective. For instance, everyone can see the reality of Russia’s war on Ukraine but did anyone think who is benefiting from this war?”
Lucky hopes to direct films and make a mark in Bollywood.
