BLOWBACK (18 page)

The two men returned to the living room.

‘So when do we move out?’ Iqbal tried to keep his tone casual.

‘Probably the day after tomorrow.’ Asif saw the flush on Iqbal’s face. ‘Excited?’ he asked.

‘Of course!’ Iqbal laughed. ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll come to know in due course,’ Asif replied, ‘when the time is right.’

‘Oh, I see!’ Iqbal looked offended. ‘You don’t trust me, Asif?’

‘I do! Why else would I leave that stuff with you?’ He gestured towards the bedroom in which the suitcase was kept. ‘But there are some basic security rules that we all have to follow. You see, what you don’t know, you won’t be able to give away even by mistake.’

‘Right! I understand.’

‘Anyway, I guess I’ll move on now.’ Asif made to leave. ‘We’ll get together tomorrow afternoon.’

A
sif had been gone just a few minutes when the door opened again and Tanaz let herself in. She was carrying a bag full of vegetables. Iqbal was onto her before she could even put the bags down. He quickly briefed her about Asif’s visit.

‘Fantastic! What a break!’ Tanaz said. ‘You must call Captain Sami right away.’

‘That’s exactly what I was going to do.’ Iqbal retrieved the tiny Sony mobile handset from his pocket and dialled a number.

Just two miles away as the crow flies, Sami answered his phone. He, along with Tiwathia, Dhankar, Khare and Ankita were parked at the Officers’ Mess behind the military hospital at Khadki. Anbu had given them carte blanche for this operation.

‘Hi, Iqbal, what’s up?’

Iqbal quickly filled him in on all that had happened. ‘What do we do now? You guys want to move in and take them down?’

‘It’s way too early for that, Iqbal. You know only these three or four guys. The group is much bigger, we already know that from the strikes they’ve carried out till now. Secondly, we need to know much more – their sympathizers and supporters and most importantly, their planners, financers and suppliers.’

‘Why? If we take these guys in, we can get the truth out of them.’

‘Maybe we can, but by that time the others will have vanished. We’ll never get our hands on them, especially if they decide to cross the border like they normally do.’

‘I understand,’ said Iqbal, some of his initial excitement abating. ‘So, what do you want me to do?’

‘First, I want you to open the suitcase and photograph it. Take careful note of the way everything is packed.’

‘I don’t see why,’ Iqbal said impatiently.

‘You’ll have to make sure that when you finish doing what needs to be done, everything is repacked exactly the way you found it,’ Sami explained. ‘You see, we don’t know what kind of person Asif is. Maybe he packs things in a particular way, whether by habit or by design. He may realize that the stuff has been tampered with if he finds it packed differently. That’s why the photos are necessary. You can refer to them as you repack. Got it?’

‘Right!’ Iqbal was impressed by Sami’s thoroughness. For a moment it occurred to him that he was lucky Sami and he were on the same side. He felt his confidence begin to rise as he hauled out the suitcase, placed it on the dining table, opened it and began to take photos using the 8-megapixel camera in the deceptively tiny Sony handset that he had been given in Kasauli. ‘I’m done,’ he told Sami when he called him again.

‘Good! Is your phone linked to your laptop?’

‘It is now.’ Iqbal clicked the Bluetooth icon on the laptop, mating it with the phone.

‘Perfect! Now take out all the bomb related items and start clicking them. Meanwhile, tell Tanaz to retrieve the photos from your phone and email them to me.’

They went to work rapidly. Tanaz retrieved the photos from the camera’s memory and emailed them to Ankita almost as soon as Iqbal clicked them.

At the other end, Dhankar began to analyse each photo as it came in. It took him only a few moments to break down the components and understand the type and construct of the bombs that they would be used to make.

‘It’s a fairly simple device, Iqbal,’ Dhankar said, taking the phone from Sami. ‘The Integrated Circuit is the key we can use to get the bombs to malfunction. Have a look at the seventh photo you sent.’ He tapped the picture of the tiny IC chip that glowed on the laptop screen in front of him. ‘That’s what is going to trigger the bombs. Just take all of them out and then rejig them as I tell you.’

‘Hang on then. Let me get the goody bag out,’ Iqbal replied. Dhankar grinned, because that was what he called his own toolkit. They waited as Iqbal retrieved the toolkit from the false base of Tanaz’s vanity case.

Using the computer link between them, Dhankar talked Iqbal through the process, ensuring that none of the ICs could send out the required current to trigger the detonators. He also got Iqbal to embed a GPS locator in every IC.

‘Use the smallest ones from the set I gave you,’ he said. ‘The microdot ones.’

‘Will they have the power we need?’

‘They will, once the bombs are hooked up,’ Dhankar clarified. ‘The way we’ve rejigged the ICs, it will be the GPS locators that use the bomb’s power source instead of the impulse being passed on to the detonators.’

‘Right! Got it! Give me a minute.’

‘Take it slow and easy, Iqbal,’ Dhankar cautioned. ‘You have to be careful you leave no trace of your work.’

It took them nearly three hours to take care of all the ICs.

‘That’s the lot.’ Iqbal finally leaned back in the dining chair, rotating his shoulders to relieve them of stress.

‘Good! Now pull the first picture back on your laptop screen and use it to repack everything exactly the way you found it. While you’re doing that, ask Tanaz to delete all the photos and emails from the laptop and the phone memory. Clean it out fully. Nothing pertaining to this should remain in the memory.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.’

‘And call me back as soon as you’re done.’

‘I will,’ said Iqbal. He remembered what Ankita had told him: ‘We’re not going to call you because we wouldn’t know who else is with you at that time, so it’s always you who must call us.’

‘What if there is an emergency? How will you reach me?’ Iqbal had asked worriedly.

‘We will. Trust me,’ she had said with a confident smile. ‘When the time comes, you’ll see how.’

The memory comforted him now as they went to work. Thirty minutes later, the suitcase was back under the bed. The laptop and camera had been cleaned up.

‘It’s all done,’ Iqbal finally reported in, giving a detailed account to Sami, who clicked through a mental checklist to ensure they had not missed anything.

‘Well done, guys.’ The appreciation in Sami’s voice came across clearly. ‘Delete the call history from your phone and get some sleep. Now we just have to wait for the operation to blow up in their faces.’

‘As long as the bombs don’t explode, I’m fine,’ Iqbal said with a laugh.

‘Don’t worry, Iqbal. Dhankar here knows all there is to know about bombs. Why do you think we call him the ultimate blowjob?’ They all laughed.

It was a satisfied set of people who finally took to their beds that night. So far, things had gone without a hitch.

Inshallah, they will continue to do so.
That was the last thought in Iqbal’s mind before he fell asleep, with Tanaz snuggled up against him. He sighed with contentment as he rested his palm against the tight swell of her stomach. It was good to feel the life within.

O
nce again, Asif was waiting outside the apartment complex when Iqbal returned home.

‘Come on,’ he said impatiently as Iqbal came closer, ‘we need to move fast.’

‘What’s the matter?’ Iqbal was unable to mask his anxiety. ‘Some problem?’

‘Our train leaves in exactly one hour and forty minutes,’ Asif replied, ‘and you know how lousy Pune traffic is. Come on, grab the suitcase and let’s move.’

‘Train?’ Iqbal was taken by surprise. ‘Where are we going?’

‘I’ll tell you on the way, let’s get the stuff and move now.’

‘What do I tell my wife?’ Iqbal protested.

‘Why do you have to tell her anything?’

‘Come on, yaar,’ Iqbal protested, ‘she is due to deliver in just a few weeks. She’ll want to know why I’m leaving her at this critical time.’

‘Tell her we have to go to Mumbai for an institute project and we’ll be back the day after tomorrow.’

‘Are we going to Mumbai?’ Iqbal was trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

‘No,’ Asif replied, ‘but how will she know?’

‘Okay, give me a moment to tell her,’ Iqbal said with a resigned expression on his face.

Tanaz was not pleased to hear that Iqbal would be gone for two days. Aware that Asif was listening to their conversation, she complained bitterly and at some length about being left alone at such a difficult time. The performance seemed to go down well with Asif: he turned away to hide the smirk on his face when Iqbal emerged from the bedroom with the suitcase and his own carry bag.

‘Do you have a mobile?’ Asif asked when they were at the door.

‘Yes. Don’t we all?’

‘Not on these missions, we don’t,’ Asif replied shortly. ‘Leave it behind.’

Iqbal was about to protest but decided against it. Pulling his mobile out of his pocket, he meekly left it on the dining table.

Fifty minutes later, they were at the Pune Junction railway station, rushing along the noisy, crowded platform. By the time they had run up the metal overbridge and pushed their way down the crowded staircase onto the platform from which their train would depart, both were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. The suitcase seemed to be wearing Asif down. He was nearly diagonal, one hand flung out to balance the weight.

‘Surat? Are we going to Surat?’ Iqbal panted, trying to catch his breath as they boarded the 1096 Ahimsa Express.

‘That’s right!’ Asif nodded.

‘So what was the big secret?’ Iqbal protested. ‘You could have told me. Unless you trust people, how can…’

‘I’ve already told you, Iqbal, there are some things you just don’t question… operational security is one of them,’ Asif retorted curtly. ‘You like it, fine; you don’t like it, that’s also fine.’

Iqbal bit back an angry retort as he grabbed his bag and boarded the train.

A
t the other end of the platform, alerted by Tanaz’s call as soon as Asif and Iqbal left the apartment, Tiwathia watched the two men board the train. He waited till the train was ready to move before he boarded the same compartment. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowded and he managed to find a vacant berth from where he could keep an eye on his subjects. By now Asif and Iqbal had been joined by Abid and Imtiaz.

What a jolly crowd
. Tiwathia watched the silent, almost sullen quartet settle down for the night. Then he reached for his mobile phone and shot off a text message to Sami.

Within minutes, a helicopter took off from the Indian Air Force base in Lohegaon with the remaining members of the Force 22 team from Pune on board. It gained height, then steadied on the flight path for Surat.

FIFTEEN

Making sure he maintained a discreet distance, Tiwathia followed the terror team as they ploughed through the busy railway station at Surat. He made sure there were a few people between them as he watched the four men exit the station. Then he reached for his mobile and called Sami.

‘We are here,’ he said.

‘Yes, I can see you,’ Sami replied. Tiwathia did not look around to try and spot him. ‘We’ve been waiting for you guys to clock in.’

‘Good. So I’m letting them go now.’

‘Do that. We have people in place to take over.’

Tiwathia allowed the distance between him and his quarry to increase before he spoke again. ‘You got them? The two guys behind Iqbal and the one in front.’

‘Got them.’ There was a pause as Sami spoke to someone. ‘Come out now, turn left, and then wait for me.’

Tiwathia did so. From the corner of his eye, he watched as the four men he had tailed climbed into autorickshaws and vanished into the crowded city in pairs. He knew the tails would be on them, he could now relax.

About two minutes later, Sami pulled up next to him. He was behind the wheel of an umarked police Maruti Gypsy. ‘Hop in, dude.’

‘Where are we operating from?’ Tiwathia asked, jumping in beside him and throwing his duffel bag in the rear, where two cops in plainclothes sat.

‘The local ATTF headquarters,’ Sami replied. ‘The Old Man coordinated it.’

‘Cool.’ There was a pause. ‘I wonder where they’ve gone.’

‘Why wonder? We have people on them. In any case, we’ll know the minute they assemble and power up the bombs because the GPS locators will come on.’

‘Yeah! If Dhankar and Iqbal haven’t screwed up.’

‘They can’t have.’ Sami was as confident as he was optimistic.

D
hankar and Iqbal had not screwed up. The first GPS locator embedded in the tiny ICs came alive just as the clock struck four. By 1645 hours, one by one, all sixteen locators were glowing red dots on the screen of Ankita’s laptop.

‘That’s a guesthouse.’ The local ATTF officer tapped on the map spread out on the table. ‘It’s in a rather shady part of town – the red light area.’ He added, ‘We have fourteen people in place around it. Should I tell them to move in now?’

‘No!’ Sami’s tone was sharp. ‘You guys will function precisely as we direct you to.’ Then, softening a little, he explained, ‘This op is just a part of the bigger picture, so we have to be very careful we don’t screw up – okay?’

‘Sure.’ The ATTF man nodded. His orders had come from very high up, and were very clear – they were to cooperate fully with these guys.
Whoever the hell they are, they seem to know what they are doing. That’s good enough for me.

He listened as Sami explained the plan in detail before he nodded. ‘Fine, I get it. So where do you want me to position my people now?’

‘Explain this area to me first.’ Sami gestured at the map. ‘Considering where these guys are right now, what would be the main markets, important buildings… you know what I mean? Show me the places that are most likely to be targeted.’

‘Here, here and here.’ Unhesitatingly, the ATTF officer tapped the map, indicating the areas immediately to the north, east and west of the guesthouse. ‘That’s where they would head if they’re looking for crowded, soft and high value targets.’