Singh disappeared from India in May 2004, and applied for asylum in the US.[16] Frontline, an Indian newsmagazine, described him as "Joint Secretary handling South-East Asia" for R&AW.[17] He came to R&AW as an Indian Army major, who had "served with distinction in Amritsar during Operation Bluestar, the counter-terrorist assault on the Golden Temple in 1984. At some point after this, he again attracted the attention of his superiors, this time by procuring classified U.S. government documentation.