by AJAY
Juhi took the paper and went to her room. She opened the dossier. Her hands started to shake when she saw the chapter titled''Interpol Blue Alert on Aban Malik'
Rawalkot-Poonch Road
The Hummer reached the Saidu Sharif Airport. The passengers were boarding the last flight to Islamabad. In fifteen minutes, the aircraft took off. Aban and his uncle waited at the airport for another half-an-hour. "Now power on your cell phone, Aban and talk to Hafiz Saeed and tell him that you missed the flight."
Aban did so and Hafiz Saeed told him to travel by road and reach Lahore as quickly as possible.
"That's great. It gives us time to plan our things better. Now listen, we'll have to reach the Pakistan-India border before sunrise."
"Are you coming with me, Chacha Jaan?"Aban was surprised.
"I'll see you off at the border. I have a few friends among the Pakistani Rangers. I've already talked to them. Now you tell Siddhartha Rana to make some arrangements on the Indian side."
"Which place should I say?"
"The Poonch border. Tell him that we'll take the Rawalkot-Poonch road."
"That is a long distance. Isn't it? Why can't we take the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar highway? We can reach the border in less than seven hours."
"Try to understand. This is a busy road with many check posts on both sides of the border. The Rangers will always be suspicious of a young boy in western clothes."
Aban laughed, "Oh! Chacha Jaan, look at our young boys. They all are lookalikes of me. Hardly anybody wears a beard and Shalwar Qameez in our metropolis."
"But very few look like Brits with an American accent. Moreover, tourists are not allowed in the buffer zone between Azad Kashmir and the Indian part of Kashmir. I have lived like a wanderer. I know every nook and cranny of these places. Rawalkot-Poonch road is a safer bet. Before 1947, a nine-seater bus travelled on this road. Each passenger was allowed to carry fifty kg. of goods. Due to partition, this road was closed to traffic. Many generations, who lived together for ages, suddenly could not bear to look at each other. This sector was heavily affected in the 1971 War. Not only were roads and bridges damaged, but also anti-tank mines and landmines were planted everywhere on both the sides. Since the last thirty-nine years, no civilian has ever traveled on that LOC road."
"How will we travel then?"
"My dear Aban, the area in Poonch has many rivers, thick forests and small dirt roads. We'll walk in the darkness."
"What about the landmines?"
"Just pray to Allah."
David Coleman Headley
Siddhartha got a call from Robert McLean, "Hi Sid, the FBI has arrested a man called David Coleman Headley aka Daood Sayed Gilani at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport when he was to board a Pakistan bound flight. He seems to be a double agent. Although, he was working as an informant of the Drug Enforcement Administration, it seems he was more interested in passing all vital information to the Pakistani LeT and the ISI. He was even trained by LeT a few years back."
"Great news, Bob. The mysterious cell phone number 0321-5023113 is now somewhat resolved."
"Do you have a lead on this number?"
"Oh! Yes. It seems Imran Shah Malik and the LeT had planned something big. They and a few others including Indians were at some place in the Hindukush Mountain, near Chitral on 14th March 2007. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. Anyway, you have been of great help, Bob."
"My pleasure, Sid. By the way, where is your boy?"
"Who?"
"Aban Malik?"
To Poonch
The drive along the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway was smooth. Aban and his uncle stopped at a roadside motel at a small place in Dhowk Manat for dinner. Aban's uncle spoke to a few truck drivers and found out that one of them was driving to Lahore.
"Give me your cell phone."He demanded of Aban.
"Why, Chacha Jaan?"
"You are too precious for Hafiz Saeed. He must be definitely tracking your cell phone. Let him find it tomorrow morning in some truck depot of Lahore."
Aban smiled. "Let's enjoy the delicious Peshawari food. Peshawari mutton and biryani are the best in the world."
Instead of driving southwards to Lahore, their journey began towards the east when the Hummer sped on Grand Trunk Road after crossing the rotary bridge at Burhan interchange. After a few kilometres, once again it turned left to accelerate onto N35, the Karakoram Highway Pass. Aban dozed off and woke up with a start when the vehicle came to a sudden halt at a small rapid. "There is no road ahead, Chacha Jaan."
"We left the main road long back and have travelled on dusty tracks. We are near Salotri. The Pakistan-India border at Chakan-da-Bagh is less than two miles from here."
"Thank God. We didn't step on a landmine."
"It starts from here, Aban. Any wrong step that you take from here will blow you up and your plans. And I'm not talking about the landmine beneath your feet. You will face unforeseen challenges in the unknown land into which you are about to step in."
"What's that fire?"Aban pointed his hand towards a bush fire, quickly spreading towards the mountain forest.
"The Pakistani Rangers. They have lit up a small bonfire to engage their Indian counterpart, the BSF, who will be busy controlling it for hours. You swim across the Poonch River. It is safe as no one can plant a landmine in the river. Even if a fool does so, the river erodes everything under her bed and deposits it at some faraway place. Climb over that hill. That's safe too. No one plants landmines there because the army will always choose to march through the valley, when it is there, instead of the rugged mountain route. Once you reach the other side of the foothill, you will be in India. Khuda Hafiz, Aban. May Allah be with you and protect you from harm."
"Shukriya for all that you have done for me, Chacha Jaan. Do convey my love and regards to Ammi. Khuda Hafiz."
To Dehradun
Juhi went to the Old Delhi Railway Station to board the Mussoorie Express for Dehradun to see the Director General. Lost in her thoughts, she waited for the train to pull up at the platform. Suddenly, a throng of beggars materialized in front of her. Scrawny little girls, who looked like they had not bathed for ages, crowded around her with extended palms, beseeching her for alms in their nasal tones. At first Juhi tried to sidetrack them, but the crowd of urchins was big and persistent. They ran on nimble feet and crowded around her once again with renewed, higher pitched voices begging her to give them 'something'.
Juhi fumbled in the purse for coins, trying hard to keep away from one girl, who had a little brother astride her hip, and was alternately scratching her head behind her ears and extending the same palm to receive. When Juhi could not find any change, she tried to cut corners by slipping into one of the phone booths, as the gathering of the humming street kids chided her, saying she had enough money to travel in the comfort of an air-conditioned first class, but had no money to spare for the poor.
A red-faced Juhi quickly hurried behind the doors of the comforting phone booth. She rang up Aban's number. Someone else answered the phone, "Who are you?"
"Juhi."
"Aha! Juhi Shergill, the daughter of the Ambassador."
"Yeah."
"Where is Aban?"
"I don't know."Juhi was surprised, "This is Aban's number. Isn't it? Please ask him to call me."
"That son of a bitch has not only abandoned you, but also ditched us."
"Who are you?"Juhi was getting nervous.
"Forget about us. But if you happen to contact him, tell him that we found his cell phone from the truck. He'll know who we are and very soon we will know where he is. Tell the traitor that he may choose to hide anywhere in this world, we'll surely find him. That's our promise. Khuda Hafiz, Mohtarma."
Delhi
"I hope your journey from Uri to Delhi was comfortable,"Siddhartha Rana smiled.
"Thank you. That's very welcoming. The Indian Army officers were very courteous."
"My pleasure, Aban, and I've wonderful news for you."
&n
bsp; "What's up?"
"Juhi was to leave New Delhi for Dehradun. Would you like to meet her?"
"Great. But how do you know about her whereabouts? Are you tracking her?"
"Absolutely not. Why should we? It was just a chance happening. In fact, we were tracking your call for your safety. Juhi called you up on your cell phone and had an interesting conversation with Hafiz Saeed's men,"Siddhartha said, and pressed the button of the recorder.
"That son of a bitch has not only abandoned you, but also ditched us."
"The damn terrorist dares to call me a son of a bitch,"whispered Aban angrily. "I'll find out whatever you all have planned, Mr. Hafiz Saeed."Aban then turned to Siddhartha, "Where do I need to go to see Juhi?"
Siddhartha smiled, "You don't need to go anywhere. She is waiting for you in the adjacent room."
Hindu Mythology
Ten hardcore Jihadists, ever willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause of ideology, assembled daily at Jamia al-Qadsia mosque to observe certain rituals. This had been happening for the last fortnight. Each evening, they offered Namaz and then whipped themselves in repentance till blood oozed out from their bodies. They repeated before the Qazi the same lines every day, "I, in the name of Muhammad, who will show us the way to carry out Jihad and in that of Allah, who will open the doors of heaven, will carry out the duty assigned to me. Forgive me for the crimes that I have committed, Oh Allah! by learning the Kafir's mythology and by learning to praise the gods of the infidels, the Hindus."
After this catharsis, they assembled in a room full of pictures of Hindu mythological gods and goddesses. Tales of Rama, Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva and Ganesha and every other god or goddess that they could think of was narrated to them.
The teacher was strict since he knew that he could not take any chances. He had to prove his worth to Hafiz Saeed. So, his disciples had not only to pass the test, but also show that they had a much better understanding of Hindu culture than the average Hindustāni. Time was short as he had to produce results within three months.
His students needed to learn by heart: many Sanskrit verses, the methods of offering prayers to Hindu gods and goddess, bhajans, kirtans, other rituals, and most importantly, the Hindu way of life.
How to tie the dhoti and wear the angavastram were clearly the easiest and each one of them learnt it on the first day of training. Learning Hindi was not tough either since these Punjabi youths could all speak good Urdu and had grown up watching Bollywood movies.
The tougher parts were yet to come. Pronouncing Hindi words with the same nuance as that of the Hindu radicals was not easy. The toughest bit was, however, to speak the language of hatred that the Hindu radicals speak.
Dam Security
Aban went to Siddhartha's office the following day. Siddhartha took possession of Aban's credit and debit cards, his club membership card, the identity card of Cornell, and everything that could prove Aban's identity. He placed them in an envelope, sealed it and then locked it inside the vault.
He asked Aban to sign a few documents that gave Aban a new identity. Protecting Aban was of primary importance to Siddhartha. He signed on an identity protection document, which would enable Aban to get out of legal hassles, in case he got exposed. Two witnesses signed on the paper and it was placed alongside the sealed envelope. Later in the day, it was submitted to the office of the Additional Solicitor General.
Aban told Siddhartha everything that had happened in his meeting with Hafiz Saeed and his Chacha Jaan.
Siddhartha tried to solve the riddle. "So, Hafiz Saeed knows you are a civil engineer and have submitted a paper on the environmental impact of big dams and he wanted you to make some calculations."
Aban nodded.
"Hafiz Saeed is the last person to be interested in environmental protection. His interest is clearly big dams and something to do with that. Your Chacha Jaan said something about a watch, which your father claimed had codes that could move mountains, make waves in lakes and change the course of a river."Siddhartha was immersed in deep thought, "We know that Hafiz Saeed and Imran Shah Malik worked closely. If we combine what Hafiz Saeed asked you to do and what your Abba's watch can do, it only points to one thing'some big dam is under threat. If so, then we are headed for a catastrophe!"
Siddhartha booted his laptop and searched for big dams in India. He found a listing of more than two hundred and fifty medium to big dams. The Central Water Power Commission monitored more than eighty-two dams. He turned to Aban, "After 9/11, dams are the most vulnerable targets for terrorist attacks. Classified intelligence information is being exchanged between countries, which point out that terrorists are planning to blow up dams. Unfortunately, most information is not specific. However, in the month of March, we intercepted calls amongst LeT operatives, discussing the possibility of breaching the Bhakra-Nangal Dam. It seems that they are training their Jihadists to swim in fast current, climb hills, handle underwater explosives and other expertise that would help to blow up the dam. We passed on the information to the State Government of Punjab to tighten security around the lake and dam. In fact, after the Mumbai attacks, not only Bhakra-Nangal, but the security of all important installations: nuclear power plants, dams, missile sites, offshore oil platforms have been elevated to a much higher level than normal and adequate measures for their safety are being taken up on priority.
Unfortunately our security at the dam is not up to the mark. We have old equipment, which is incapable of detecting any underwater terror attack. What we needed were automatic sensors, modern sonars, sophisticated underwater cameras and monitoring software to be installed to thwart these threats. Since we were concerned with these inputs, we brought this issue to the notice of highest level of government. The government acted fast and ordered the concerned department to procure and import the equipment as well as deploy more security personnel at the dams. However, we still have a long way to go. "
Aban introspected for some time. He turned to Siddhartha, "I shudder to think that I could be one of the reasons for an unprecedented catastrophe."
Semtex
The Gaza strip where Israel and Palestine are engaged in constant battle for a small chunk of land is one of the most volatile regions of the world. The southern part of this hot zone borders the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Though the area was previously controlled by Israel, it decided to demilitarize it and handover the important Rafah border to Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
When the terrorist group, Hamas of Palestine, assumed power in the Gaza strip, they destroyed several parts of the wall bordering the town of Rafah. They took control of a vital route of the Philadelphi corridor and dug many underground tunnels to ship arms from the Egyptian side to their fiefdom.
Poverty forced thousands of Gazans to cross over to the Egyptian side in search of livelihood. A large number of them were porters, who carried weapons and drugs for a living. Some were such pitiable victims of abject poverty that they were willing to do anything to earn a few shekels, the Israeli currency, and risked their lives for a few dimes.
Many of these Gazans, who have lived for centuries on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, are the world's finest sailors, capable of maneuvering even a small dinghy in the most turbulent waters for thousands of miles without being detected.
Shalim Amār Khan approached some of these boatmen to transship two thousand kilogrammes of brown color plastic brick of semtex to a small apartment opposite Helnan Hotel of Port Said in Egypt.
When the poor sailors delivered the product at the pre-determined destination, two artists separated the malleable plastic into three parts. Two parts were moulded into the cast model of Pyramids of Giza, figurines and small statues of Tutankhamen, Nefertiti and Cleopatra. They were placed inside glass showcases and packed properly. The rest of it was left as received.
Two days later, Shalim Amār Khan completed the export related paperwork. He dispatched the first part to a gift shop located in Millennium Mall in Karachi, the second to a handicraft
shop located in Sunder Nagar in New Delhi. The third packet was meant for a shop in the small town of Garudeshwar, Gujarat, barely seven miles from the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
The third largest in the world with its spillway discharging capacity, the Sardar Sarovar Dam is also the second largest in the world in terms of volume of concrete used in its construction. The largest is the Grand Coulee Dam in USA.
The first two packets containing semtex were cleared by the customs of Karachi and New Delhi after charging a flat rate duty for the gift items.
The last packet arrived at Mumbai CST International Airport and x-rayed. The Custom Appraiser was bewildered. He did not know how to ascertain customs duty on a brick coloured product, described as 'Plastic material for manufacturing undergarments'. Such an item was not listed in his custom-duty booklets.
Catastrophe?
Siddhartha wondered how Aban could be the reason for a catastrophe and gave him a quizzical look.
"During my undergraduate program in Cornell, our professor assigned us a special project to analyze the impact of a dam-break and prepare a computer based simulation model of it. We were four students in the group. We visited the Grand Canyon and studied all fifty dams constructed on the Colorado River. The two biggest dams caught our attention. The first was Glenn Canyon in the upstream and the second was Hoover Dam. These two dams are the biggest reservoirs in the United States. Lake Powell behind the Glenn Canyon is the second largest, while Lake Mead on Hoover, holding a colossal amount of water, is Numero Uno.
We prepared a case scenario wherein the upstream Glenn Canyon Dam collapsed. All small dams in the downstream gave way there and then. Huge walls of water reached the Hoover Dam in four hours, downstream of Colorado River. Even this iconic dam was not able to resist the force of the water, rising to the towering height of one hundred and fifty metres when it hammered against the dam walls for ten consecutive days. An unimaginable cataclysm hit the area after the Hoover failed and the wrath of both the lakes combined. It was a hundred times more devastating than Hurricane Katrina, which inundated New Orleans and the Mississippi Area. Katrina was termed the costliest natural disaster, resulting in property damage worth eighty billion dollars and still counting.