T: You are right, sir. She was opening up and was about to reveal more than what we would have liked. So, we snatched the phone away.

Shekhar, Rathod and Tomar were stunned by the conversation they had just heard. They looked at each other in disbelief. Neither uttered a word nor moved, as if they had frozen. An uneasy silence fell over the bay containing terminal number twenty-seven.

Shekhar called up his superior to update him about the situation in Mumbai and the fact that the attackers were in touch with their controllers, possibly located outside of the city.

Five minutes later, the number became active again. Silence descended upon terminal number twenty-seven once more.

H: Yeh jo aapne abhi grenade phenki hain na, usse media mein shor mach gaya hai.

‘The man whose phone we have intercepted appears to be at the Taj hotel,’ Shekhar told Rathod. The ‘target’ had received a call from a virtual number, which was used by a bevy of ‘handlers’ who spoke to the terrorists in Mumbai, Rathod explained.

A few minutes later, Shekhar and his team heard the conversation between the handlers and the target.

H2: Ashfaque had dictated a statement to you. Do you have that with you?

T: Yes.

H2: Speak to Qama till then, I am handing over the phone to him. He wants to dictate a couplet to you.

H3: This is Qama here. Do you have a pen and paper ready?

T: Qama Bhai, how are you? May the Almighty keep you safe and bless you.

H3: May the Almighty bless you. Now write this:

Ye sach hai ki andheron ka tasalluf hai magar

Shama bujhne na denge zulm ke iwanon mein

Aandhiyan zulmon tashadud ki bahot tez

Hum hi woh deep hai jinhe jalna hai tufaanon mein

H4 (Ashfaque): Tell the media what you would like to tell them, reveal your thoughts to them. Do not reveal your location and numerical strength to them. The media will run for hours whatever you may tell them. Tell the Indian youth to sacrifice their lives for jihad.’

H5: There is a wazir at your hotel, probably on the first floor.

T: Yes.

H5: Abduct him, and then all of India will kneel before you, will agree to your demands.

H1: Are you setting the fire or not?

T: Not yet. I am getting a mattress ready for burning.

H1: What did you do with the body?

T: Left it behind in the boat.

H1: Did you not open the boat’s lock located at its bottom? You had been told to open the lock while exiting the boat … The seawater rushing inside the boat would have drowned it within minutes. You left a vessel brimming with evidence instead of sinking it all!

T: No, we did not open the locks. We left in a hurry. We made a big mistake.

H1: One more? What big mistake?