‘Jihad is not just an emotion, it is my life’s goal,’ Babar had declared as soon as he sat down. ‘I will avenge the death of those whose bodies are strewn in the lanes of Gujarat, just show me the way.’

Babar had no clue that Tariq had ties with LeT recruiters.

Tariq had then sent Babar to an LeT resident agent living in Kanpur, known only by his alias, ‘Doctor’. The Doctor had dispatched Babar with a letter addressed to the LeT district commander of Rajouri, Atif alias Abu Saqlain. As instructed by the Doctor, Babar had left for Jammu, from where he took a bus to Poonch to meet Atif.

Atif had sent Babar and five other aspiring terrorist recruits to Muzaffarabad, where they had met Umar-Qama, Al-Wali, Abu-Muzammil and Abu-Lakhvi. For the next six months, the six were trained at the two Maaskar near Bayt al-Mujahideen, just like Atharv and the four other CTC operatives.

Like Atharv, Babar too was commended for his skills with an AK-47 automatic.

43. MURDER IN THE DARK

43

MURDER IN THE DARK

The two-storey structure was missing sections of its walls and floors. A faded signboard with ‘Seth Govardhandas English High School’ written on it lay near the entrance.

A peepal tree grew near the entrance, its branches climbing along the wall to emerge through the roof of the second floor.

The building was shrouded in darkness and not a soul was around, except Babar. Standing at the entrance, which was locked, he fished out a tiny pencil torch from a bag slung across his shoulder. Using the torch, he surveyed his surroundings and then jumped to grab a branch of the peepal tree. Slowly, he climbed the tree, reaching the first floor and finally the roof of the building. The rock-climbing lessons that were part of the Daura-e-Khaas commando course stood him in good stead here, he thought.

He took out a pair of sleek binoculars from his bag and studied the surrounding area. The view from the roof of the structure was breathtaking. All round him, a thousand lights twinkled.

Suddenly, the silence enveloping the place was pierced by a shriek.

‘Kaun hai re tu? You fucker, are you the son of a thief that you have come here like this?’

Babar turned around in a flash to see who was shouting. He could not afford to be discovered here. A man dressed in rags was lurching towards him.

‘Stop! Do you want to die?’ Babar asked even as he adopted a defensive karate stance.

When the man continued to approach him, Babar took three quick steps towards him and waited. The moment the stranger came within range, Babar struck out at him, dealing a sharp blow to his neck. The stranger crashed to the floor, making indecipherable guttural sounds.