Authors: AJAY
Bengali Market
The officer of
the special unit saved the voice file of the conversations between Sundaram Iyer, Somashekhar Rao and Parag Nanda in a pen drive and hurried to Siddhartha's room. "Sir, I've stumbled upon something important."
After hearing the recorded voice, Siddhartha rang up the Lalit Intercontinental Hotel and contacted the butler. "Go to the reception and see if the same men arrive."
"What if they enter from other gate? There are many."
"Then go to the lift and see what happens."
"I can't be present at ten locations, sir."
"Let's hope for the best. Stay near the reception desk where I think they will pick up the keys to the room. Somehow you have to record the video images through your cell phone. I'll be there in half an hour."
"Got it, sir."
Siddhartha hung up. However, he was not aware that even though the LeT could not track the Gold Lock protected call of Sundaram Iyer, they had been monitoring Somashekhar and Parag Nanda.
One of the LeT members contacted Hafiz Saeed and informed him about the meeting. LeT contacted a Maulana, who had just returned home after offering Namaz at Jama Masjid, and explained to him what was to be done.
Siddhartha reached the hotel entrance, but the hotel security stopped him. "What's the matter?"Siddhartha asked.
"Sir, something unfortunate has happened. A few gunmen entered the porch of the hotel and shot at two persons as soon as they got down from their car."
"Let me in."
"We can't, sir. The Delhi Police has cordoned off the area and they have asked us to ensure that no one enters or leaves."
Slightly away from the entry gate of the hotel, a car neared the exit, stopped for a few seconds, and sped towards the Bengali Market. Siddhartha reversed, made a turn, and accelerated. He turned right and reached the Copernicus roundabout. Seven roads radiated from that point.
Dubai to India
Shalim Amār Khan
contacted his travel agent. His travel agent booked a first class ticket of Air Emirates on the Dubai-Delhi sector, scheduled for the late evening flight on 2
nd
April 2010.
Shalim Amār Khan checked in at terminal-3 of Dubai International Airport, exclusively built for the use of Emirates Airline. The flight was on time and landed at New Delhi after three hours. Sundaram Iyer was waiting for him at the exit.
Sundaram went to Easycab, a taxi service and rented a car.
"I was trying to call you after I landed. Why isn't your phone working?"
"I have dumped all phones since they are under surveillance."
"But you said your phone was safe."
"That's true, but I'm not sure after the killing of Somashekhar and Parag."
"Oh! Perhaps they could not control their tongues. I think we can't take risks with the people talking a lot."
Sundaram nodded. "I suggest you switch off your cell phone too."
"No one in
Hindustān
knows about my number."
"But you made a mistake. You tried to call my number. We can't take any more risks."Sundaram Iyer took the cell phone and removed the battery. He opened the glove box of his car, "Take this phone. These are switched off and I've removed the batteries. Get it activated only after I have seen you off. I'll contact you from the public booth. I'll dial on this new number and hang up after three rings. Exactly after ten seconds, I'll call you and say that Citibank is offering car loans at a very low interest rate. And you'll reply, 'Don't disturb me' and then you will disconnect."Sundaram pulled out another phone and handed it over, "Now you will have the number of the public booth on the first phone, give me a call at the booth number using this second phone."
"Good. We have to tread very cautiously. We can't leave anything to chance."Shalim Amār Khan kept quiet for some time. "Has the semtex reached its destination safely?"
"My artist from the Sunder Nagar handicraft shop has reworked the cast model of the Pyramids of Giza, the figurines and statues of Tutankhamen, Nefertiti and Cleopatra."
"Why?"
"You can sell Egyptian art to rich men of Delhi and Mumbai, but not to poor people of remote villages. So, I asked him to mould them into Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Then, I got it transported to our site. I have also asked a talented, but poor local artist to re-mold semtex once again into the shapes of the Indian Hill trout and mahseer fish."
"Oh Great! Where is our man Khalil Deek? Only he knows how to make these 'fish' swim."
"He is waiting for you at Maurya Sheraton Hotel."
"I have booked my stay at the Lalit Intercontinental. They offer corporate discounts to Hussein Pharma."
"There are too many enquiries going on ever since the killings. We can't take risks just to save a few thousand dollars."
The car reached Dhaula Kuan, took a loop flyover road to Sardar Patel Road and turned right to the hotel.
"Take back these two cell phones. I don't need them,"said Shalim Amār Khan.
"Why?"
"Were we not safer some seventeen years back, when our part of the world was without cell phones? We used to do our work more efficiently, without bothering to worry about who was listening to us all the time and who wasn't."
"Still, just in case I need to contact you."
"Mr. Sundaram, no questions. I've lived in the jungle all alone for forty days and climbed beyond the Hindukush Mountains without any radio communication. Whenever I wanted to talk to someone, I always found a way out."
"I don't trust my phones anymore. How will you contact me?"
"From this moment onward, I'm taking command of the
Hindustāni
operation. Keep in mind that we won't be contacting each other anymore. I also direct you not to contact anyone, even remotely associated with Tupac-II. Talking too much is dangerous and you know it."
Sundaram shivered. After a long silence, he asked, "What do I do then?"
"Nothing, but relax. Go to the hotel room and ask Khalil Deek to check out immediately. Tell him to see me at the New Delhi railway station. Our train leaves before the day peeps through."
"Why are you leaving today? I have booked your air ticket for tomorrow's flight."
"
Hindustān
is a large country and the trains are crowded. I love the crowds when I move and a deserted place when I work."
"Should I cancel your booking in the hotel?"
"Why at all? You have paid for a two-day booking. Today is Saturday. You can relax for a few days in the hotel itself."
"Why don't you stay the night too and enjoy the company of the girl, waiting for you in the suite? She is very pretty. You will have a rather gala time."
"I'm completely loyal to my wife. No other woman exists for me."
"Tell me when will we be meeting then?"
"See me at the dam on D-day. We will watch the giant waves together."
Tracking
Siddhartha received a
call from his special unit informing him that an unidentified international number had tried to call Sundaram Iyer's number from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Siddhartha instructed the special unit to track the man with the help of the Air Intelligence Unit.
He had time since immigration would take at least an hour, even if someone had cleared the green channel. In the wee hours of the morning, when there was very light traffic on the road, Siddhartha drove to the airport and parked his car near the exit.
He saw Sundaram Iyer along with a man walking towards the rented cars. Who was the man so important that Sundaram Iyer himself was accompanying him? The tall man was wearing a hat, a dark glass and an overcoat even in the heat of April. The man continued walking with his tilted head and did not raise it even once.
Siddhartha was surprised to see the man's posture and gait. He knew that photographing him would be of no value because recognition systems fail if a person drops his head at more than a thirteen-degree angle. These were techniques in which the people of intelligence and army were trained in. The man seemed to know all of this.
Siddhartha stood staring helplessly. He could not arrest anyone on the basis of suspicion. He could not even confront them, because if he did, it would put them on their guard. He was not even sure if Tupac-II was just a figment of imagination, never to materialize or something actually so big that would turn the course of history.
Siddhartha started to follow the car. He switched on the portable cell phone tracker machine and obtained the number of the man. The machine cloned the
sim
card and started to catch the conversation between Sundaram Iyer and the mystery man. It continued to record till the signal went off. Siddhartha understood that someone had removed the battery and that the phone was as good as dead.
With no option left, he followed them into the Maurya Sheraton Hotel. Siddhartha waited for a few minutes and entered the hotel lobby. He saw both men walk up to the lift. When, they were out of sight, Siddhartha went to the reception desk and placed his identity card on the desk, "Which room did the two gentlemen go into? I need the keys of the room."
"To the Presidential suite on the top floor, sir. I'll get the keys from the manager."
Siddhartha nodded.
After a while, the receptionist walked back with the manager. "Sir, we cannot allow anyone to enter a guest's room without a warrant of authorization."
"Getting a warrant will take time and we are running really short of it. Try to understand that this is a matter of national security. "
"My apologies sir, but I'm bound by government directive. I have a copy of the circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs. One of the guidelines clearly mentions that under no circumstances can a stranger be allowed to enter restricted areas."
"I'm sorry, gentlemen. I'm here to breach government orders in the greater interest of the nation."Siddhartha turned and ran towards the lift before the hotel staff could react. The lift doors closed and Siddhartha made a swift ascent.
He ignored the footsteps on the top floors. He tried turning the door handle to open it. To his utter surprise, it gave way without resistance.
Sundaram Iyer smiled, pouring out scotch into his glass. "Welcome Siddhartha. I was expecting you."
"Where is the man who accompanied you?"
"I can't see anyone. But for your satisfaction, I suggest you check the adjoining rooms, and please don't forget the bathrooms."
The hotel staff, the security guards and the manager entered the suite. Sundaram Iyer spoke, "Well manager, nothing to worry about. Both of us are government servants and are on a mission, rather on the same mission. He is my guest."
When everyone left, Siddhartha asked, "How did you know I would be here?"
"Siddhartha, why do you forget that both of us are trained Class-One police officers? We know each other's way of working. Aren't we in the habit of sniffing out everything? It was not a big deal to realise that my phones were being tapped, that two guys were shadowing me, that a car had followed me all the way from the airport to this hotel? It was all too simple, my friend. I expected the cleverest officer of the Intelligence Bureau to come up with something more innovative."
Playing his cards close to his chest, Siddhartha responded, "Don't forget that I have proof."
"Oh Yes! Those stories of my visit to Chitral in Pakistan, my pleasure trip in a yacht in Dubai, and call transcriptions'they will surely stand scrutiny."His sarcasm was cutting. "How could you be so naïve, Rana? You will get ensnared in the warp and weft of the net of espionage, if you are not careful."
"I can still charge you for acting against national interest."
"Well, well, Siddhartha. Sounds quite convincing. Why don't you check the reports from Dubai and Pakistan that your friends in the FBI sent to R&AW? It's a pity that neither the FBI nor R&AW send the report to the IB, even though you asked for it. Isn't it ironic that our own intelligence agencies don't trust each other? The question is what will you do now? If you want the report from R&AW, it will take you a lot of time to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles and obtain a copy. I don't want you to suffer the agony of suspense. My dear friend, my Director sanctioned all of my foreign trips as official tours. I never went to Chitral. I was in Jordan at that time. I went to Dubai, but never left my hotel room."
"You cannot deny the call records,"Siddhartha retorted.
"Oh! You're still stuck with the Kerala officer's phone. The poor guy died while fighting the Maoists. Brave, wasn't he? The CBI traced the shopkeeper of Kochi, who sold the phone to a Muslim immigrant in Dubai. Isn't it true that many Keralites go to Dubai in search of jobs? We traced the man, but unfortunately he had thrown away the phone and the old
sim
card. He says that he got a brand new iPhone and a new 3G connection. We got his statement recorded. If you want, I'll certainly provide it to you."
"Then how has the phone continued to be active till a few days back?"
"Oh dear! Didn't I tell you that the missing phone of the Kerala officer was with an NRI Keralite? You know cloning of sim-cards is so easy nowadays. Many wives get their husband's sim-cards cloned to listen to what they talk with their girlfriends."Sundaram Iyer laughed, "I cloned my wife's phone only once. She is very boring. All that she can talk of is her children or gossip with her female friends. So, I threw the
sim
card away after a few days. It isn't exciting if one can't flirt on the phone."
"But you do flirt with the country's enemies. Don't you?"
"Come on, Siddhartha. In our diplomatic world, there are no enemies. And friendship is a matter of convenience."Sundaram Iyer continued, "Let me complete what happened to the cloned sim-card. For your information, the CBI had registered a criminal case against the shopkeeper and an unknown person who had misused the cloned sim-card. I'll definitely let you know, when we find the unknown guy. The IB can then flirt with that guy.""Care for some drinks?"
"Thanks,"Siddhartha stood up and reached for the door. He turned back swiftly, "Remember our training in the police academy, Mr. Iyer? Remember the famous paradigm, 'The enemy's enemy is a friend'? I relearned that 'The enemy's enemy may not necessarily be a friend, but the enemy's friend is almost always an enemy in this world."Siddhartha smiled. "I love a challenging enemy, but I will never have anything to do with an enemy's friend."