His tone mocking, Salim addressed Shekhar, ‘Good morning, janaab. You’re here early today. Khairiyat hai?’

Shekhar stared at him but said nothing.

‘Did somebody die?’ Salim said, a smile dancing on his lips now. ‘Now also think of those who were crushed under your army’s boots in Kashmir!’

‘You knew about this attack today? They were your men – Babaji’s men, I meant,’ Shekhar asked.

‘Perhaps. Are you referring to Kashmir? Upar waley ka reham ho toh sab ho sakta hai,’ Salim replied.

‘Your men died like dogs. You will meet the same fate. But later. First you will tell me when the blasts are going to take place. Where are your accomplices?’ Shekhar asked.

‘You nabbed me, so who will do the blast now?’ Salim was in no mood to talk.

‘Why do you go to temples? You want to bomb the Ganesh temple? The clerk you used to meet has exposed you. He said you went to bribe him for a contract to clean the manholes and gutters in the city. Why? Aren’t you running a garage? So why shift to municipal contract work?’

Salim was silent for a while before finally answering. ‘The blasts were to be set off by two boys who would enter India via Bengal. But they will no longer be coming as there won’t be any signal from me. I do not know anything about the temples or any clerk.’

Losing patience, Shekhar instructed his men, ‘Take him to his cell and make him understand. He stays alive today if he talks!’

The guards dragged Salim to his cell, where two CTC men, experts in persuading suspects to ‘talk’ their hearts out, took over.

12. WHAT IS SALIM HIDING?

12

WHAT IS SALIM HIDING?

Three days after he had been picked up and put under sustained interrogation, Salim was yet to give a full disclosure. His strategy was simple: reveal something only if his interrogators had an inkling about it and were asking. Shekhar was looking for some new information related to Salim’s bomb plot, hoping it might provoke him into revealing what was unknown to the CTC.

Shekhar called for the files on Salim that had been compiled by the surveillance teams. He also requested Rathod, Anvay, who had supervised the watch, and another colleague, Srinivas Reddy, an inspector with CTC’s transport wing, to join him.

‘Be seated, all. Reddy, you were earlier with the Hyderabad police?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘So, for a policeman in Hyderabad, what is the prime priority in terms of measures against a terror attack?’

‘If there is a general terror alert, no chance is taken as there could be a bomb blast in a crowded place or a targeted attack on a high-profile authority. Frisking, roadblocks to conduct random checks of vehicles and their passengers, and intensified patrolling at sensitive locations are some of the measures taken. You never know which of these preventive checks may net a suspect.’

‘What else?’