On October 20, 1994, two Maldivian women were arrested by the Kerala Police for overstaying in India. Their phone records showed they had contacted D. Sasikumar of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), kicking off the biggest spy scandal in Kerala. The suspects were tortured in custody and compelled to name the then Inspector-General of Police Raman Srivastava (who later became Kerala DGP) and ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan. It was alleged that Srivastava was the kingpin of a spy ring that had deep access to ISRO.