Who is Satnam Shah? Friends, colleagues are confused
SONAL MANCHANDA & GAURAV C SAWANT

NEW DELHI, FEB 9: It's turned out be a classic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde case. Revelations about Wing Commander (retd) Satnam Shah (clipped accent, nattily dressed, well-heeled) have left his friends and colleagues dazed.

``Yes, we know he was into trading, but it was never big. Railways, defence, ship brokerage, these are just a few of the things that I know he was involved in. But drugs....that is unbelievable,'' says a former air force official and earlier colleague.

He says that `Biloo Shah' as he was known in the forces was a `regular guy', commissioned somewhere around 1954-55. Satnam and his elder brother Sanwal Shah were both fighter pilots and came from a well-to-do family. ``He used to fly both the Hunters, the Vampires and maybe even the Toofanis. I don't see how he could be claiming to have flown in 1962 since there were no air operations in the 1962 Sino-Indian operations. But he did participate in the 1965 Indo-Pak war. He flew well during the day and in the evenings he enjoyed his drinks,'' anIAF officer added. Sanwal Shah died some time ago.

A IAF official, who knew Satnam well, said: ``If my memory serves me right, his father was an income tax commissioner. They had family money and lived in comfort. He (Satnam) used to dress up very smartly and was very polished.'' Another adds that his family had a lot of landed property. When his brother Sawal retired, he went over to manage their farmhouse in Punjab. ``His two sisters are well settled. One of them served in the health ministry and the other was married into a well-known Kashmiri family Dr M L Soni the famous dental surgeon who has treated almost all the Indian Presidents,'' says a member of the Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC).

In fact, the DG) is abuzz with stories about Shah and his daughter Priya. Taking you into a corner, a waiter whispers: ``You know he used to stay here. This was around four-five years ago when members were allowed to stay in the cottages. He stayed here for two years and then moved to the Defence Officers ServicesInstitute (DSOI). He stayed there for a few months and then back here.''

Members now look at the stay with suspicion, holding that he was using the place to conduct his business deals in privacy. However, a friend feels that he was staying here because he did not have the inclination or maybe the money to run two establishments in the city. ``I remember once he allowed a couple, also DGC members, to use his office space in his Khan Market showroom. However, later they refused to move out. He actually paid them money to vacate his office.''

More unbelievable, for some, is daughter Priya's involvement. ``She could have been assisting him in his legal business but that a sweet girl like her could be a drugs carrier is hard to believe,'' the wife of one of the officers wondered, amazed.

Officers who knew him once (they all now insist they lost touch decades ago) say Satnam was impatient and in the 1970s became unhappy with the service. ``I do not recollect whether he got superseded or was looking forgreener pastures outside, but he was not very happy in the IAF,'' one said. Though he left the service, he remained in touch with everyone, especially the powerful officers.

An official recalls when a former air chief marshal (as an air marshal) was posted to Jodhpur, Satnam was one of the first to reach there to greet him. ``He knew the air marshal and his wife were devotees of a particular goddess and rushed there with the prasad.''

Satnam had also been a regular at the Air Force functions during the tenures of successive chiefs. ``Probably just to keep in touch with the force and not for seeking favours. He was talking about expanding his business like most officers do to keep busy after retirement. But nobody had a clue that he could be into drugs,'' recalls an officer posted at Air Headquarters.

All the adjectives