Two hours later, after visiting the city’s popular sites, including a sixteenth-century gurdwara and an eighteenth-century church, Atharv asked the guide to take them to an eatery as it was lunch time and he was hungry. They stopped at Desi Grill in the eastern part of the city. As soon as they were shown to their table, Atharv excused himself, saying he needed to find a public restroom as the small eatery did not have one of its own.

As soon as he left the restaurant, Atharv walked quickly to a nearby PCO that he had spotted from the car. He found a restroom and a shop specializing in make-up, memorabilia and dresses. Atharv bought stars and stripes of army ranks and army caps and toupees.

‘Somaiya sir, alert Shekhar sir. I am in Dehradun with Al-Wali’s men. Four Pakistani fidayeen will attack IMA on 11 Febraury to inflict maximum casualties. More attacks may be in the offing as, twenty-two years ago, on the same date, separatist Maqbool Bhat was hanged at Tihar,’ Atharv blurted out in one breath.

‘How will they attack?’ Somaiya asked.

‘Sir, they will be armed with AK-47s, bombs and grenades and will probably use the main entrance, the Drona Dwar. The LeT terrorist codenamed Shrikant, who masterminded the IIS&T attack, is a Pakistani, or maybe an Indian, and his name is Babar. One fidayeen came with me to Dehradun and is conducting reconnaissance of the IMA. Three more will come with Babar later. He is again masterminding the attack – setting the field, as we say in cricket,’ Atharv said.

‘I understood what you meant. What else do you know?’ Somaiya asked.

‘The terrorists will be dressed in Indian Army fatigues and will arrive at the IMA campus in a vehicle, which they may ram into the Drona Dwar to turn the vehicle into a fireball. They will be armed to the teeth. Killing the maximum number of army officers is their objective to demoralize the Indian Army and humiliate it by striking at its heart,’ Atharv said.

Somaiya was silent for a few moments as he digested this valuable information. ‘Well done, Atharv,’ he said softly.

‘Thank you, sir. I will not be in touch much as one of the fidayeen is shadowing me 24x7,’ Atharv said and hung up.

An anxious Somaiya called Shekhar, who almost fell off his chair on hearing about the planned LeT strike on the IMA. A flurry of calls were made, including to the top bosses of the army, military intelligence, the Uttarakhand police, and Delhi Police’s crack anti-terrorism outfit, the Special Cell.

Within two hours, a sixty-strong contingent of the National Security Guard (NSG) – also known as the Black Cats, India’s vanguard against asymmetric warfare including terrorism, hijacking and sabotage – and a team of Special Cell officers was rushed to Dehradun by air.