He answered the phone and listened briefly. ‘Okay, thanks,’ he said curtly and hung up. He then left the booth and went to another one 300 metres away to make a call.

‘Get ready, Usman, you and your brother Zafar leave tonight for Jogbani by train, via Patna,’ Kabir said.

‘Okay,’ said Rohit.

Rohit and Sahil smiled at each other. Like the three other members of Operation Trojan Horse, Rohit and Sahil had been working hard to be recruited by the LeT since January 2002, when they had finished their training with the CTC.

Thousands of kilometres away, Shekhar’s encrypted phone was abuzz with calls as he received updates about the latest developments in the mission.

Finally, he made a call to his boss. ‘The eagles are flying,’ Shekhar said softly into the receiver.

It was 28 August 2003.

35. KARACHI APPOINTMENT WITH LeT BOSSES

35

KARACHI APPOINTMENT WITH LeT BOSSES

‘Our friend in Nepal said you feel strongly about the wrongs done against us by the idol worshippers, the Christians and the Jews. But have you taken any action so far against the enemies?’ the forty-something man, who had introduced himself as ‘Al-Wali’ a few minutes ago, asked Atharv. It was around 3 p.m. on 2 September 2003.

Atharv stood before Al-Wali, who sat on a wooden chair, next to which was a small table with a lamp. The two men were in Al-Wali’s ‘office’ in Defence Officers Enclave in Karachi. This was one of the several LeT hideouts in Pakistan. Only a handful of senior operatives knew of its location. Al-Wali was one of them.

Al-Wali had been with Abu-Muzammil’s team for carrying out operations against India for at least a decade. Abu-Muzammil trusted Al-Wali and often sent him to LeT stations located near India in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even the United Arab Emirates to coordinate and instruct Indian operatives directly for operations under way. Both Abu-Muzammil and Al-Wali were key members of Lashkar’s anti-India ‘Operations’ team. Al-Wali was Abu-Muzammil’s deputy. They had earlier worked together for LeT’s terror formation in Jammu and Kashmir in the mid-1990s, where they had ‘distinguished’ themselves for their outfit by orchestrating numerous terror attacks that killed security personnel as well as civilians. Abu-Muzammil had led the Kashmir Lashkar formation and Al-Wali was his deputy there too.

Abu-Muzammil, over six feet tall and a ‘combat veteran’, who flaunted his two bullet wounds on the right shoulder, had a certain swagger and a penchant for talking big. Al-Wali, five-feet-eight-inches tall and with a sturdy frame, was a networker, kept notes of important details related to operations and personnel, and possessed an almost photographic memory. Abu-Muzammil reported to LeT operations chief Abu-Lakhvi, alias Chacha.

‘I offer namaz five times a day; I have been to Saudi Arabia on holy pilgrimage,’ Atharv offered, haltingly. ‘I may not have yet learned the texts by heart, but I know the core teachings, customs and traditions.’