‘Had Rehmat stood his ground for a few more minutes, there would have been more casualties, but he was probably in too much of a hurry to run away from the site, unlike what a true jihadi should do,’ Babar said.

Babar’s comments were met with a deafening silence. Babar was obviously someone who gave as good as he got and he would not make an exception in the case of his Lashkar bosses as well.

‘Rehmat should bear part of the responsibility for the low casualties. A true soldier of jihad cannot be worried about his own skin instead of the tanzeem’s goals,’ Babar added for good measure.

Then Abu-Lakhvi spoke for the first time since the showdown had begun.

‘Who told you a true jihadi’s job is to die alone? Are you talking of a jihadi or a vain man bent on attaining martyrdom alone? A true jihadi is one who completes his missions without care for his own life. So you, as the planner, and Rehmat, as the actual attacker, executed the mission well for the tanzeem and so are both true jihadis,’ Abu-Lakhvi said.

‘Since Rehmat showed tremendous courage and innovativeness in entering India, carrying out the Powai mission, then returning unscathed to Pakistan, his feat is worth applauding. To execute the mission and return unscathed is a bigger jihad than dying while executing a mission. Shabash, Rehmat,’ Abu-Lakhvi said.

‘Babar, prepare for a new mission. I have a new Indian jihadi who will assist you. Go back to Birat Nagar, Imran will meet you there,’ Abu-Lakhvi instructed. ‘You will now handle the Nepal station for the Lashkar. You have passed the test with flying colours, all praise be upon the Almighty.

‘Al-Wali has too much on his plate; he assists me in overseeing dozens of operations, apart from his own setup’s operations, of which you have been a part. Now, you will have your own setup and Imran will be part of it,’ Abu-Lakhvi continued. ‘Al-Wali will now look after our operations in Bangladesh but not Nepal. Both of you will look after Sri Lanka and Maldives, as and when there is a need, on my orders.’

In Lashkar’s parlance, a ‘setup’ referred to a unit personally under the command of a mid- to senior-level operative.

Abu-Lakhvi’s announcements were met with murmurs, then loud words of congratulations.

As if to placate Al-Wali after what seemed like his demotion in the face of the purported failure of the IIS&T operation due to the low casualty figure, Abu-Lakhvi said, ‘Babar, you will report to me, but as Al-Wali is a senior leader, you will be under his command on a day-to-day basis. Only on critical issues will I or Abu-Muzammil step in.

‘Leave for Birat Nagar, go to our safehouse there, Babar. Be careful when you begin work on the operation. Once you have a plan in place, send it to us for approval,’ Abu-Lakhvi said.