The attackers stood up and began firing indiscriminately at the other guards who were gathered at the gate. They started lobbing grenades at the guards too and threw four in all. It all happened in a blur. The attackers then crossed the road again, put their AK-47s in their rucksacks and leapt into the bushes.

By the time reinforcements rushed to the gate, the attackers had fled. Seven CRPF men lay dead, along with a civilian who had got caught in the crossfire.

The Uttar Pradesh police had to face the heat for not acting on the ‘specific intelligence alert’ they had received from the CTC to thwart the attack on the CRPF base. A committee comprising three senior officers dealing with internal security was set up to look into the alleged lapses.

It was the second big success after the 2005 attack on IIS&T for Babar and he was ecstatic.

Abu-Lakhvi, meanwhile, was planning for more ambitious attacks.

59. A PROMOTION

59

A PROMOTION

At noon on 1 January 2008, Babar’s phone trilled sharply. It was a text message from Abu-Lakhvi.

‘Well done, Tiger! Eight killed. Seven of the dead were CRPF commandos. Fateh, the Almighty is the greatest, all praise be upon him,’ the text read.

Babar reread the message after offering the afternoon namaz. Apart from the successful culmination of the operation, he was also secretly elated that he had been able to draw the best out of two known failures in the LeT, Sohrab and Janbaaz. As the Nepal commander, such a feat would reflect well on his leadership prowess, Babar thought to himself.

By midnight, as planned, his partners-in-crime, Sohrab, Janbaaz and the two fidayeen, Imran and Shabbir, were back in Kathmandu at the LeT safehouse located in Thamel.

Just after Babar had finished debriefing the four-member Pilibhit attack team, his handler Abu-Muzammil called.

‘Well-planned operation and executed beautifully, brother! Congratulations. May the Almighty shower His blessings on you!’

‘Whatever I did is thanks to the training you gave me.’

‘Two things, Babar. Abu-Lakhvi and I have decided to let you put together your own operational unit, a setup. It will give you some space to plan on your own as per the situation at your end, and the ability to take decisions on your own if needed since you are in Kathmandu and can’t wait for our nod for every minor issue.’

Babar was overwhelmed. ‘Shukriya. I can’t believe this. I don’t know if I have the ability to run a setup.’