The Zero-Cost Mission/The Wily Agent

by Amar Bhushan

  Seemingly satisfied with Sujal’s assurances, Mazhar nodded. ‘Very well. I’ll revert to you once I get Sahib’s response.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Sujal was relieved that Mazhar had not shut the plan down before even taking it to Sahib. He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s late,’ he said as he stood up.

  Mazhar walked him out to the gate and the two men shook hands warmly before Sujal hailed a taxi and left. When he reached home it was 1.10 a.m. and still raining heavily.

  The next two weeks were quiet. Reddy did not call Sujal again to ask when he was going to submit the revised proposal. None of his assets in Dhaka contacted him, either to update him on any new developments, or to ask why they had not received the go-ahead from him yet. There was also no news from Mazhar on Sahib’s reaction to his proposal. Sujal remained unfazed, however. He knew that such lulls were an inevitable part of intelligence operations. Indeed patience, rather than action, was often the key to success.

  The silence was eventually broken by Reddy. Although he was not the one whom Sujal was most anxious to hear from, he knew he could no longer avoid the conversation.

  Reddy sounded unusually upbeat and relaxed.

  ‘Sujal, I know the mission is keeping you busy, but please send me your revised plan soon. In fact, maybe you can come to Delhi to finalize the modalities of transferring funds.’

  ‘Sir, I have been struggling to tailor the project to fit it within the amount that you had indicated,’ Sujal said. ‘I have even temporarily halted all mission-related activities till the issue of funding is sorted out. But my field operatives are becoming increasingly restive because of the delay. A few of them have developed cold feet and have dropped out. I am, however, trying to bring them back.’

  ‘Why don’t you attempt at least a cosmetic pruning to please Aulakh?’ Reddy asked.

  ‘Sir, I will give it one last shot over the coming weekend. And if I fail to come up with a viable alternative, I will come to Delhi to obtain your approval to bury the mission,’ Sujal said.

  Reddy sensed that Sujal was deliberately dragging his feet and would not accept a cut in either the scope of the mission or in its financial outlay. However, he chose not to push the matter further for the moment and to wait till the following week to see what Sujal finally delivered.

  The next day dawned clear and sunny. Sujal left for the office early as Dayal had scheduled a meeting to discuss various operational and departmental issues. Soon after he took his seat, however, his cell phone vibrated. It was Mazhar. Sujal felt a shiver of anticipation as he excused himself to answer the call. Mazhar invited him to have lunch at his place. Sujal readily agreed and told him he would be there by noon.

  This time, it was Mazhar who opened the door when he rang the bell.

  ‘I received a message from Sahib only a few hours ago,’ he said as they stepped into the living room.

  ‘And?’

  ‘His response is positive,’ Mazhar said, smiling. After seating Sujal in the living room, he called for refreshments before continuing with the conversation.

  ‘Sahib had many questions,’ Mazhar began. ‘He was keen to meet you, or at least speak to you on the phone so that you could clarify his doubts in person, but I told him that your visit would risk his safety and thus expose him to even more trouble. So we communicated via a messenger, who travelled back and forth with his questions and my clarifications.’

  ‘Did he read my brief?’ Sujal asked.

  ‘Yes, but he isn’t convinced that the plan will work. He finds your proposal fanciful and impractical. He thinks your fond hope that destroying a few Jamaat facilities would lead to widespread violence, forcing the Nationalist government to fall and be replaced by a friendly regime is an idea conceived in a moment of madness.’

  Sujal smiled. ‘Perhaps it is. What made him finally agree to my proposal?’

  ‘I don’t know. Perhaps he feels that implausible as it is, your plan at least offers a glimmer of hope. In his most recent communication to me he wrote that he was willing to trust you one last time. He also called me this morning to say that he was actually taking a blind chance.’

  ‘Didn’t you tell him that more than ensuring his release, my objective is to teach Jamaat a lesson for betraying their godfather?’ Sujal enquired.

  ‘I did, but he did not find this line of argument believable. He knows you well enough to understand that you are planning something big and that the operation against Jamaat is just a smokescreen. Your real purpose, he believes, is to use the violence to put the League back in power.’

  Sujal laughed. ‘Sahib is crediting me for feats that I am not capable of achieving,’ he said.

  ‘Perhaps.’ Mazhar smiled. ‘Only time will tell. Meanwhile, he has asked me to extend all possible assistance to you in executing your task. Frankly, I was surprised at his complete change in attitude after initially dismissing your idea,’ Mazhar said.

  ‘How much has he agreed to send?’

  ‘As much as you require. The funds will be made available whenever and wherever you need,’ Mazhar assured him.

  Sujal felt a surge of gratitude and enormous relief. ‘I cannot tell you how much this means,’ Sujal said softly, choked with emotion. ‘I will let you know soon how much I require.’

  ‘Sahib has one condition, however. If you fail to secure his release, you will have to pay back every taka,’ Mazhar said, darting Sujal a mischievous smile.

  ‘He has my word. If I have to, I will sell off all my property to repay his debt,’ Sujal assured him as he got up to leave.

  Mazhar looked at him seriously for a moment before responding. ‘I believe you will,’ he said softly. ‘Come, join me for lunch. I insist.’

  ‘No, I have to get back to the office for a meeting. But I will be in touch again soon,’ Sujal said in parting.

  The truth was that he was so excited at the turn of events that he wanted to rush home to share the news with Arpita over lunch. As he waited for a taxi, he invited Mazhar to have lunch with him the next day at the Taj Bengal to celebrate the faith that Sahib had reposed in him.

  ‘Let your mission be over. Who knows, in the end, we may not have anything to cheer about,’ Mazhar remarked sombrely.

  ‘With Sahib on our side, I don’t see how I can fail,’ Sujal said.

  On his way home, Sujal decided that he would tell the Chief that he had reached out to Sahib for funds. Once the Chief knew of Sahib’s critical role in ensuring that the mission continued, he would have reason to use his resources to help Sahib’s return from political wilderness.

  Over lunch, he gave Arpita a full account of his conversation with Mazhar.

  ‘Look at the irony of the situation. I am going to run an operation using funds from someone who had once threatened me with dire consequences for collaborating with the League to ensure his defeat in the parliamentary election,’ Sujal remarked.

  ‘It does not surprise me. You never had permanent enemies or friends. They were all your pawns,’ Arpita said, smiling.

  The Chief and Reddy looked at each other in disbelief after Sujal finished briefing them on his unusual funding arrangements. They didn’t know whether to order him to stop this madness, or to go along with his dangerous, albeit innovative, plan of raising money from a shifty and opportunistic leader. The Chief wondered whether it was really possible to motivate a national leader to finance operations against his own people. Also, as far as he knew, the Agency had never conducted operations using money obtained from private sources. Every Agency officer would first submit a request for service money for a planned operation, often even before the operational plan was fully detailed and assets to execute the operation had been identified. As the number of sources recruited and cultivated for intelligence operations grew, the demand for service money also grew exponentially, but not always for honest reasons. Despite the Agency’s rigorous audit regime, the line between the reimbursement claims submitted by officers for legitimate operational expenses and money spent on t
heir personal use was becoming blurred. As such, given the craving for service money and potential for its misuse, it wasn’t surprising that the Chief viewed Sujal’s proposal to procure funds from unauthorized sources with a certain degree of scepticism.

  ‘I don’t believe that Sahib will give you the money for this operation, but I am hesitant to brush aside your claim. It is incredible that you even thought of this,’ the Chief remarked. ‘It is an audacious and risky plan, and I will keenly watch to see how you will make it possible. I have a feeling you will not disappoint me. You have my blessings.’

  Sujal could hardly believe his ears and couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out across his face.

  ‘Sir, apart from the money, your main worry has always been whether the execution of the operation could be kept secret. I assure you that the moment I sense that the mission is getting out of hand or there is any danger of our involvement being exposed, I will abort it. I won’t let the Agency get a beating because of my foolhardiness. Also, not one person involved in this mission is either an Indian national or has ever been our source,’ Sujal explained in an effort to address any concerns that the Chief might have over his plan of action.

  ‘I am confident you won’t embarrass us. You can run the operation on your terms. But how are you going to keep your part of the bargain to ensure that Sahib is politically rehabilitated?’

  ‘Sir, I am working on a plan to make it happen. I may need your help at a later stage.’

  ‘Keep Reddy updated. I may have a surprise for you when this is all over,’ he said.

  As they walked back to Reddy’s office, he enquired if Sujal had ever undertaken an operation with money raised from such unorthodox sources.

  ‘No, sir. Actually, funding has rarely been an issue in conducting my operations,’ he said. ‘However, there were occasions when headquarters would not sanction the service money or sanction less than required. I still went ahead by manipulating payments internally.’

  ‘It is a dangerous streak in you. Unless you want to ruin your career, you should follow the advice of your seniors, work within the guidelines and avoid arguing if they disapprove of a particular course of action,’ Reddy counselled.

  ‘Sir, I generally obey orders, but when I find that there are extraneous reasons for not approving an operation or there is unwarranted hesitation in taking a decision, I push. I have indeed suffered a lot, but that’s the way I work,’ Sujal explained.

  ‘Why do you have this death wish?’ asked Reddy.

  ‘Maybe the wrong officers trained me.’ Sujal smiled. ‘Mr Jeevnathan was one of them. He would always encourage me and push me to go boldly after targets without worrying about the consequences.’

  ‘Well, I must say that I was quite surprised by Aulakh’s reaction. I didn’t think he would approve of involving Sahib in the operation, but you managed to convince him,’ Reddy remarked, as he opened the door to his office. ‘Wait for me. I have things to attend to, but I insist on taking you out for lunch today. We have a lot to celebrate.’

  Events moved smoothly thereafter. A day after his return from Delhi, Sujal met Mazhar and requested twenty-four lakhs and twenty thousand taka. Within hours, Mazhar informed him that the money had been arranged. Soon after, Nurul came to his house to give him the particulars and address of the carrier.

  ‘I hope the man you send to collect the money can be trusted? I must warn you that I have had terrible experiences working with middlemen; they don’t hesitate to siphon off money in such covert transactions,’ Nurul said.

  ‘Don’t worry. My man can be trusted. I’ve worked with him before and he has never cheated me or let me down,’ Sujal assured him.

  Later that evening, Sujal called Anisur, one of his most reliable couriers from his Dhaka days. He was surprised to hear from Sujal after so many years.

  ‘I moved to Calcutta recently and I need your help once again. Call me on this number from a PCO in an hour. It’s urgent,’ Sujal said and disconnects the line.

  Five minutes before the scheduled time, Anisur called.

  ‘Please note down a number. BG7—’

  ‘Sir, please wait. Let me get a pen and paper,’ Anisur said. There was silence for a few seconds and then he asked Sujal to repeat the number.

  ‘BG70154. This will be your identity code. Make a call to 28467853. Introduce yourself as BG70154 to the man who answers. Ask for his identification. If he says it is wxq54y, set up a meeting with him. He will give you twenty-four lakhs and twenty thousand taka,’ Sujal instructed him.

  ‘What will I do with this huge amount? I don’t like the idea of keeping so much in the house.’

  ‘Within two to four hours of your confirming its receipt to me, two persons will call you separately on your residence number to set up meetings with you. They will identify themselves as Emon and Jafrin. You will give four lakhs to Emon and twenty to Jafrin. The remaining twenty thousand is for you to buy fish and daily provisions for your family.’

  ‘How do I contact you if the arrangements run into problems?’

  ‘This is not the first time you are disbursing funds to my friends,’ Sujal reminded him. ‘I’m sure you will be able to handle any situation that arises. Now, repeat the instructions.’

  Anisur went over the details without making any mistakes.

  The following evening at nine, Nurul contacted Sujal to confirm that the money had been handed over to his man. Soon after, he received word from Anisur that the money was indeed in his possession. After dinner, Sujal walked across the road to the public booth and called Aziz.

  ‘You are to call this number and identify yourself as Emon,’ he instructed him, giving him Anisur’s number. ‘The man who answers will tell you when and where to meet him. He will give you four lakh taka. Pay three lakhs to those who provided the information on the locations of the Jamaat camps and keep a lakh for yourself.’ Sujal told him before hanging up.

  Next, he called Mansoor and explained the drill to him as well. ‘He will pay you twenty lakhs, which you should distribute equally among your nine volunteers,’ Sujal said. ‘I will send more money in due course.’

  By the following evening, both Aziz and Mansoor reported that they had received the money.

  Things were moving ahead again and Sujal was excited at the prospect of the impending action. But there was one more thing he had to do before he could tell Mansoor to move his volunteers to the locations to launch the assault.

  Sujal summoned Israr, who took a week to reach Calcutta through clandestine routes. Both spent hours finalizing the targets from among the list of facilities and camps provided by Aziz. Israr sought some changes in the original plan.

  ‘If we target only Jamaat’s facilities along the border, they will immediately assume that the Agency has orchestrated the attacks. This will give Jamaat an excuse to call upon its cadre to retaliate. They will no doubt burn down Hindu settlements in Bangladesh, forcing Hindus to flee to India as refugees.’

  Sujal listened intently, nodding. ‘What do you suggest?’

  ‘You will achieve nothing by fighting Jamaat alone. You have to create conditions in which Jamaat suspects the League’s involvement in the violence and subsequently attacks them. If that happens, the League is bound to retaliate with equal ferocity, making your task easier.’

  ‘And how do we achieve that?’

  ‘It would be better if the assaults were directed at camps and offices located deep inside Bangladesh, so that the League activists are blamed,’ Israr advised.

  ‘What you say makes sense,’ Sujal agreed.

  ‘Since you have only nine volunteers to carry out the attacks, you shouldn’t waste your resources targeting insignificant madrases and staging posts,’ Israr elaborated. ‘Their critical units are located far away from the border and those are the camps where armed training is imparted, propaganda material against India is prepared and contact with ISI’s India-bound terrorists routinely takes place. Hit those.’

  ‘But
I want the Jamaat to get a clear message that we are punishing them for their hostile activities,’ Sujal pointed out.

  ‘They will suspect you in any case. But attacking a few madrasas and launching posts is tactically not a good idea. You must strike where it hurts most.’

  ‘What precisely is your suggestion?’ Sujal asked.

  ‘Ideally, we should recruit more volunteers so that more targets are hit for a decisive impact,’ Israr said.

  Sujal went over the list of targets once again, discussing with Israr the importance and feasibility of hitting each of them. Eventually, fourteen targets were shortlisted, nine along the border and five deeper inside Bangladeshi territory.

  The targets selected, Sujal told Israr that a man going by the name of Jafrin would soon meet him in Dhaka to receive the final list of targets. ‘Don’t ask him too many questions,’ he warned. ‘He is a very private person and does not like to make conversation with those he doesn’t know. Just pass on the list and forget you ever met him.’

  The following day, Sujal called Mansoor, aka Jafrin, and instructed him to meet Israr to obtain a list of fourteen targets. ‘Call him on 29151872 and introduce yourself as Jafrin,’ he said.

  ‘Is this man reliable?’ Mansoor enquired.

  ‘He is, but a bit talkative, unlike you. He may ask you about your boys and probe you for information on your relationship with me. Parry his queries by giving misleading information,’ Sujal advised.

  ‘Why did you select a man who is so indiscreet?’ asked Mansoor.

  ‘He is very resourceful and has never failed me. Call me on the number that I gave you between 8.00 and 9.00 p.m. after you get the list,’ Sujal said and hung up.

  Two days later, Mansoor reported back to Sujal from Khulna. ‘The meeting went well. He didn’t ask any questions, just handed over the list of targets. He only told me that the number of targets had been increased to fourteen.’

  ‘Will it be possible for you to recruit additional volunteers at this stage?’ Sujal asked.

  ‘When I read through the list, I realized that several of the targets are located close to each other. Some of the hit teams should be able to cover more than one target. So we need to recruit only three more men, which should be easy.’