‘They have been committed and steadfast. I can’t think of a reason to suspect them,’ Abu-Muzammil said emphatically. He considered the five Indian recruits – Atharv, Nirav, Anant, Rohit and Sahil – to be valuable assets in his setup. Unlike typical Pakistani LeT operatives, the Indian recruits were all educated and understood their responsibilities well, a fact that Abu-Muzammil had often mentioned in his discussions with Abu-Lakhvi and Al-Wali.

‘Yes. But the fact is that from the time they have been made operational in India – and I am not accusing them of anything, at least for now – Lashkar-e-Taiba has suffered costly failures, including the loss of precious trained fidayeen and war stores. Is there any connection between their entry and our downward slide? We should raise the question and do the due diligence in this regard,’ Abu-Lakhvi said.

‘Shikast pe shikast pe shikast,’ he murmured, almost to himself. Then, as if coming to a decision, he said, ‘Abu-Muzammil, call the five Indians back to Pakistan. They need to explain to us what went wrong in the last three operations.’

‘Ji janaab.’

Abu-Lakhvi then turned to Babar. ‘I want you to be part of the scrutiny.’

He did not make it clear, however, if Babar was also under the scanner. Would he be there to appraise the five Indians’ performance along with Abu-Lakhvi and the others, or would he be appraised himself?

‘Babar, stay at Bayt al-Mujahideen for a few months. Help us plan a few operations from here. Also, Abu-Muzammil will show you our two electronic explosives laboratories there. You should learn how to make bomb timers and switches,’ Abu-Lakhvi said.

‘Anant, how are you? Kaam kharab hua. You need to lie low. Seniors are asking questions. They are also worried about your safety as we have been facing failures, one after another,’ Al-Wali spoke softly.

‘Ji, janaab,’ Anant said. He was making the mandatory call to LeT, although Atharv, the designated contact person to interface with Al-Wali, was better. In fact, he had emptied a few bottles of beer with Anant and Nirav the previous night to celebrate the seizure of LeT’s cache at Bhilad by the Maharashtra ATCS. Operation Trojan Horse, as Sawant had said, was truly in ‘play’.

‘Bhai, come to Karachi. Go to Patna and then Raxaul. Cross into Nepal and fly to Karachi via UAE. We need to discuss why we have been failing continuously over the last few months. The flaws, if any, need to be spotted and dealt with. Only then will you and I be able to wage jihad in India,’ Al-Wali said. ‘I will also assign you a very sensitive work once you meet me,’ he lied to ensure Anant did not get alarmed.