Thiruvananthapuram: Nine former scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Wednesday alleged that former scientist Nambi Narayanan is making false claims regarding his role in India's space programme. "Narayanan takes all the credit for ISRO's success stories, when the reality is different," they said.

"Except for the fact that he possesses good communication skills, he has no expertise in cryogenic technology or the Vikas rocket engine," they alleged. "He neither had any responsibility in the development of the liquid propulsion stages nor did he work as the director of any center or project at ISRO," said veteran A E Muthunayagam, founder director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC), who convened a press conference here on Wednesday.

"The recent film 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect' was a move to project Narayanan as an expert in rocket science on which he, in reality, has zero knowledge," the scientists said. They also alleged that Narayanan received Padma Bhushan using his influence and there are hundreds of ISRO scientists who actually deserve the honor.

"Narayanan is hailed by public as the person behind cryogenic technology and the Vikas engine. It is not true. He was not even a member of the study project on cryogenic propulsion systems. After all, all the major developments in cryogenic tech took place in ISRO after 1994 when he wasn't there due to the espionage case. He also raised the tall claim that he had developed Vikas engine. The fact is the engine was created by modifying the French-made Viking engine," said Muthunayagam.

Muthunayagam added that during 95 per cent of Narayanan's ISRO career, he worked under his guidance. He also refuted Narayanan's claim that he had worked with stalwarts like Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and Brahm Prakash. "There is a sinister motive behind all his false claims," added Muthunayagam.

The team of scientists is also planning to write to the Central government requesting to revoke the honors given to him. D Sasikumaran, former deputy director of the cryogenic technology division, who was also a co-accused in the spy case, said that it is hard to believe Narayanan was tortured by the police.

"I was in custody for 12 days and Narayanan for just three days. I did not face any torture," said Sasikuamaran. "It was known from the beginning itself that the case was cooked up as the cryogenic technology wasn't developed at all when the charges were levelled," he said. "After all, spying can only be done by a person who has some knowledge on it. Narayanan had no knowledge about it," he added.