Exactly a month later, the Ganesh Chaturthi procession, a famous event in Hyderabad’s social calendar, would make its way past the Ganesh temple that Salim visited often, to the Musi River. Shekhar knew he was running against time to prevent the carnage Salim had been planning for.

11. HOLDING BACK

11

HOLDING BACK

The large TV screen in Shekhar’s residence flickered. A female news anchor was giving an update on a recent encounter in Jammu.

‘There were only two men, dressed in deep-blue pathani suits, but they managed to engage thirty-six-odd soldiers and commandos of the Indian Army’s quick-response unit, which was deployed to smoke them out,’ she reported.

‘After a fierce gun battle lasting ninety minutes, a search of the site and the terrorists’ combat packs revealed that they were carrying nine spare AK-47 magazines, eight hand grenades and two Pakistani army-issued curved daggers, meant for its elite Special Services Group commandos.’

At the crack of dawn, the two men had fired a volley of shots at the sentries standing guard at the army’s residential compound on Sydenham Road in Jammu. The duo had rammed a truck into the entrance gate, broken it open and then jumped out of the vehicle with their guns blazing. They had then walked, in no apparent hurry, to the two-storey building located at the end of the road, which housed the mess, the games and recreation centre as well as a modest library. They had taken up positions on the first and second floors, shooting at anyone who came close. Two snipers from the army shot them in their heads eventually.

At the end of the firefight, the army counted its casualties. Seven had died, including the sentries and a twenty-four-year-old lieutenant who had joined the army’s elite para-commandos only a month ago.

The chatter later intercepted by the CTC communications team and the army’s signals wing caught LeT commander Al-Cheema rejoicing over the success of their operation led by just one commander, Abu Anas.

India’s minister of defence, A. Bhadrakumar, warned Pakistan that it would have to pay for orchestrating a cowardly terrorist attack on the families of army men.

Shekhar switched off the television in his drawing room, wore his sneakers and went out for his daily four-kilometre jog. It was 7.00 a.m. He came back an hour later, bathed, ate a light breakfast and left his house. An hour later, he arrived at the unmarked detention facility where Salim aka Farhan was being held.

He was told that Salim had dozed off in his cell after having breakfast.

‘Wake up the Pakistani rat and drag him to the interrogation room,’ Shekhar instructed one of the guards.

Salim, his hands tied behind his back with a plastic restrainer, was hauled to the interrogation room. He had a scowl on his face and bloodshot eyes. He was asleep when the guard arrived in his cell and kicked him.