The Special Cell of the Delhi Police, in an investigation spanning across several countries have found that Army Chief General MM Naravane’s memoir ‘Four Stars of Destiny’ has entered the international online market before receiving compulsory clearance from the Defence Ministry.
The development comes days after the Delhi Police lodged an FIR on charges of criminal conspiracy in connection with the book being leaked online.
‘Planned and coordinated operation’
According to a report by India Todayciting police sources, preliminary investigation has suggested that the leak was not an isolated instance of piracy but instead a “planned and coordinated operation” that dodged the government approval process required for publication of defence-related books.
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The report further stated that the police are now tracking the digital and financial trails in the US, Canada, Germany and Australia, where the book was illegally made available online.
According to investigators, the leaked version of Naravane’s memoir was traced to a website using the “.io” domain extension-a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) originally assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory and also used by tech platforms and startups. They further revealed that a similar act was noticed across several hoisting platforms.
‘The leaked copy has ISBN’
Another aspect of the leak that has caught the attention of the investigators is the fact that the leaked copy of the memoir has an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a 13-digit identifier, which is mandatory for commercial publishing and distribution of books, indicating that the book had entered the formal commercial publishing system.
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Officials have indicated that the existence of an ISBN on the leaked copy indicates it was not an unprocessed manuscript or preliminary draft, but a version that had already been formatted and made ready for commercial publication.
Penguin India, the publishing house associated with the title, is currently being examined in connection with the allocation of the ISBN and the subsequent distribution mechanism.
An ISBN is a globally recognised unique identifier assigned to each edition and format of a book, facilitating cataloguing, distribution and sales. Separate ISBNs are issued for different formats, such as hardback and e-book editions.
‘A structured operation’
The report, quoting police sources, further stated that the pattern of online uploads, overseas availability, and distribution channels tied to the ISBN reflects a structured operation rather than an instance of standalone digital piracy.
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“The investigation is examining who facilitated the global circulation of the book before official clearance and whether there was any coordinated effort to push it into foreign markets,” the report quoted a police source as saying.
Authorities have since widened the scope of the inquiry to review digital trails across jurisdictions, scrutinise related financial movements, and identify any individuals or entities that may have assisted from outside the country.
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