‘There is the routine preventive policing work that is so crucial to preempting criminals. The police stay on high alert this time of the year as a month later, in August, the Ganesh visarjan takes place. The city’s majority population looks forward to this religious event. Thousands participate in the procession, including the elderly, kids and women. In the past, fundamentalists and extremist elements have attempted to disrupt the procession, especially since the Babri Masjid demolition.’

‘Can you tell me the route of the Ganesh procession?’

‘Sir, yes, it begins from—’

But Shekhar interrupted, ‘Does it pass by a few temples? Is Avanti Nagar’s Ganesh temple on the route of the procession? And does it end at the Musi riverbank?’

‘Yes, sir. The Ganesh temple is a key halt for the procession. The temple is old, at least a few centuries. It’s a tradition. The procession moves ahead after paying respect to the deity.’

‘Oh, I see. Thanks, Reddy. You may leave. I will call you later for an assignment we have for you in Kashmir.’

Shekhar turned to Rathod. ‘Now, we know what he was up to probably. Salim was planning to set off blasts along the route of the procession. He is out of the game. So, who will organize the bombing in his place now and who will plant the devices? Who has the explosives now and who will assemble the bombs? Who brought the explosives into Hyderabad? We have a key member of the team but the rest are on the loose and dangerous.’

‘It does seem like he was preparing for the procession, indeed,’ Rathod agreed.

‘Anvay, pick up that fellow, Moosa, from the restaurant that Salim used to visit. See if he has any idea about what Salim was up to. Thrash him, tell him to cooperate. He could be looking at twenty years in jail for being part of a terror plot, tell him that.’

‘Yes, right away.’

Shekhar continued, ‘Also, get details from interstate toll booths around Andhra Pradesh on Salim’s vehicles, both his pick-up van and his bike. I want records for the last six months. Let’s have them fast. Sound out the relevant authorities in Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala right away.’

Rathod quickly made calls to his police contacts in all the states that Shekhar had asked him to check with and sought the records on the van and the motorcycle. His contact in Tamil Nadu said that there was no record of either of Salim’s vehicles entering the state. He had better luck in Ahmedabad – Salim’s van had crossed the interstate toll booth.

Rathod also received confirmation from the authorities in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat that the pick-up van had paid toll tax at their booths a month ago, on 1 and 2 June.

At 6 p.m., Rathod met Shekhar. ‘On 1 June, Salim went in his pick-up van to Gujarat, the toll authorities have confirmed it,’ Rathod said.