The Crimson Conspiracy

by David Singh

  General turned to leave. Brigadier Taufeeq leapt behind General Majid.

  In his late thirties, his long slant bridge of the nose dropped sharply to expand into flat nostrils resting over thin black moustache which in turn spattered over the face into neatly trimmed thin beard. The overall look of innocence on the face was adored by all the members of his faction. This face of the man in khaki belonged to one of the most dreaded, elusive and desperately wanted Al Qaeda commander Nissar Malik whose eyes wore an expression that he knew where he was destined to.

  Nissar Malik whispered. 'You didn't hear phase four General that will maim IAF and will crush the Indian army from both the sides, in and out.'

  His eyes had a savage look, despite which they were a beautiful pair and the only reason was that they were emerald green. ?

  Friday February 13, 2009

  Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi

  Meeting was clandestine and highly classified. Defence Minister, in consultation with the supreme commander of armed forces – The President along with PM, had summoned Director General of Directorate of Military Intelligence Lieutenant General Sahani, Chief of Naval Intelligence Vice Admiral Jain, Director General of Directorate of Air Intelligence Air Marshall Kundra and Chiefs of RA&W.

  'So, gentlemen, you will comprise this group,' Defence Minister was saying, 'which would mentor, monitor and manage Elite Five, an extremely deadly, elusive and exceptionally trained unit of 5 warriors, to take on against any kind of threat against the nation and its people. Incredibly elusive, highly deceptive and absolutely unstoppable E Five would be fed with runtime intelligence, required for the mission, by our intelligence agencies.'

  He paused momentarily for the effect and proceeded, 'E Five would exist but remain invisible. It would be assembled covertly from the three arms of our defense forces and auxiliary defence divisions. Prime criterion of selection: incredibly remarkable act of valour against all odds. Missions to come would astonish our international friends and foes, especially foes. No one would be able to prove E Five's existence. They will operate anonymously, autonomously and yet under the control of their handler.'

  Defence Minister's words suspended in the conditioned air leaving everyone wonder if he was narrating a script of some Hollywood flick. Instantly, several questions reared up their baffled minds craving right answers. Defence Minister answered them one by one – convincingly and confidently.

  To one such question he replied, 'E Five's immediate handler is Retired Colonel Vir Bhadra Singh. His boys lovingly call him VB.'

  After three hours, Elite 5 was born. The search for 5 Elitewarriors kicked into motion.

  ?

  PART – 1

  A DAY IN A SOLDIER'S LIFE

  CHAPTER ONE

  February Friday the 13 , 2009th 121 Infantry Post, Haneef Sector, Turtuk Village, Ladakh Lt. Anand Bhadauriya, Major Parbat Singh Tirlochan and

  Captain Samarjeet Sapru entered Colonel Varun Kumar Kaushik's cozy office. They all saluted Kaushik and following his nod, took chairs opposite him. Kaushik signaled Ibrahim to wait outside. Ibrahim complied.

  Ibrahim was a local Balti (inhabitant of Baltistan of India side) and an informer setup by Indian Army to gather intelligence on Pakistani developments over LOC by intercepting Pakistani transmissions and by keeping his ears and eyes opened. He had been trained to use light weapons, transmitter and basic code language of transmission to interpret enemy's conversation intercepted on air.

  Colonel Varun Kumar Kaushik was the company commander of the troop from 121 Infantry Brigade posted in the Turtuk village. The post was situated in the Haneef Sector manned by a company of 50 soldiers and a handful officers.

  'Well…what's today's record, Sapru?' Kaushik addressed the young captain with a brief smile. 'Two point zero three seconds.' Instead of Captain Sapru, Major Tirlochan replied. 'Better than yesterday's two point one zero. Bull's eye! Thrice!'

  Captain Sapru practiced no-spin knife-throwing daily for one hour, mastering precision and speed. He always carried five knives under his belt.

  'Excellent Sapru. Keep it up. Ibrahim has brought us the news that…' Kaushik, by habit, came to the point without any preamble. '…PAF troops are planning intense shelling over Northern part across the wooden bridge at 1900 hours. We must evacuate that area. This isn't the first time. You all know the drill.'

  Captain Samarjeet Sapru asked, thoughtfully. 'Where did Ibrahim get this news from, sir?'

  Kaushik pushed-forth the creased piece of paper on the table and said, 'Ibrahim has intercepted and decoded this brief burst of message today.'

  Samarjeet picked up the paper to examine it for a brief moment before passing it on to others and said, 'this has been decoded at noon. Why do we learn about it three hours late?'

  'He told me,' Kaushik replied, 'that recently he has been extra careful of being watched. This delay was to ensure that no one had watched over him and followed him here.'

  Samarjeet nodded slowly then said. 'Pardon my interruption gentlemen, but I must ask, did you notice this piece of paper…this quality is not in our stationery and this kind of texture is impossible to find in this last village of the country.'

  Kaushik rested his cigar in the ash tray. They all examined the paper once again, closely this time.

  'Brilliant observation Cap'ain!' Bhadauriya was impressed, 'but what's your point?'

  Samarjeet cleared, 'there is a possibility that Ibrahim is keeping something from us or misinforming us about.' 'But,' Kaushik said thoughtfully, 'if enemy is planning shelling the wooden bridge then I wonder how come this misinformation would help them?'

  Everyone fell quiet for a while in search of an answer before Samarjeet said. 'If we had believed this message, how would have we reacted to it, sir?'

  'We would have rushed with half of our men across the wooden bridge to evacuate the area before the shelling began. That's exactly what we are going to do now.'

  'If this message is a fake then question is: why today? Why not earlier or later?'

  'What do you mean?'

  'Sir, in past couple of weeks, weather has been crystal clear. It began snowing only yesterday. Today, it is a heavy snow and weather has turned hostile and gloomy. A bad weather is the best camouflage.'

  Tirlochan, with his elbows on the table and chin perched over the fingers, said. 'You think enemy is up to some nasty mischief? An invasion? Haven't they learnt the lesson from Kargil?'

  'Invasion? Here?' Bhadauriya wondered, 'in this Godforsaken village?'

  'Yes sir, Godforsaken! That's why.' Samarjeet said, 'Kargil is a decade in past now? The deep wound we had inflicted back in 1999 in Operation Vijay seems to have healed now. Here, they want to divert half of our men to a shelling target and….'

  'Hold on Sapru', Kaushik interrupted, 'if there is a possible invasion then the only point of entry for them – which too is almost impossible – is the other side of the wooden bridge. Why would they make us move to that site then? That will create a barrier for them. No?'

  Samarjeet assumed a thoughtful look. Kaushik was right. Calling half of the company across the bridge was like inviting trouble for enemy themselves.

  'Sapru, you do one thing.' Kaushik was known for his quick decisions. 'Take two men and follow Ibrahim, quietly. If we interrogate him now, we run the risk of alerting the enemy and if he is a double agent then his being out of reach will alert his handlers. Call him in.'

  Samarjeet did.

  'Ibrahim' Kaushik addressed him in a grave tone, 'we need to evacuate the whole area across the wooden bridge immediately. You accompany us to spot the place. We will take care of the rest.'

  'Janab, entire one kilometer square area around the old wooden mosque is on their target. I have to go for my prayers so……'

  'Not a problem, Ibrahim. You may carry on. We really appreciate your sincere efforts in alerting us well in time.' Kaushik smiled gratefully.

  Ibrahim greeted all of them and left. Kaushik addressed B
hadauriya, 'call up Inspector Rehmatullah and ask him to meet us in the chowk in ten minutes.' Then turning towards Tirlochan, he said, 'leave 20 men here and assemble rest to accompany us.'

  After five minutes two jeeps and a truck, carrying a troop of thirty men, moved towards the central part of the village. Two empty trucks were in tow.

  ? At the bottom of Siachen, in Ladakh, nine hours motor drive away from Leh, 3000 meters above sea level, nestled on the narrow edge of Shyok River valley is the remote village Turtuk - a small paradise in itself in the form of clusters of houses, erected of loose stones and wooden planks, surrounded by abundance of trees of apricot, walnut and mulberry. For Indian Army, Turtuk bears strategic importance since the LOC is just less than three kilometers away beyond which Pakistan soil shelters many of the relatives of Turtuks. Any successful assault by Pakistan Forces would imperil Siachen route, Thois Indian Air Base and Batalik region. On December 13 1971, captured by Major Chewang Rinchen, Turtuk had been a stinging eye sore for Pakistan and raison d'être for sudden shelling from across LOC leading to rubbled-down houses and violent casualties of innocent villagers.

  The snow had fallen all night. Thick, white cushion was spread around as far as the eyes could behold. Subedar Major Shinde and Subedar Vijay Kumar, in white camouflage survival uniform, were accompanying Captain Samarjeet. They had followed Ibrahim stealthily up to the northern end near the fishery ponds. Ibrahim had disappeared into a wooden shack. Samarjeet signaled Shinde and Vijay to follow him. As if stepping on eggs, they approached the shack.

  Samarjeet fished out his hand gun. The two NCOs were carrying Heckler & Koch SD4 9 mm Sub machine guns. Slowly, Samarjeet moved towards the door of the shack and kicked it hard. Its panels collapsed and slammed into the wall inside. Samarjeet stormed inside to find a shocked Ibrahim standing with a small transmission device beside him. Half of the shack was stacked with wooden cartons used to package fish. Samarjeet stepped forward then stood still. Somebody was speaking from the other side over the transmitter.

  'What happened, Ibrahim?' A voice, blended with heavy static, echoed.

  Even minus 10 degree temperature could not keep the beads of perspiration from appearing on Ibrahim's forehead. Samarjeet quietly shook his hand gun signaling Ibrahim to reply.

  Ibrahim understood the gesture and spoke in a steady tone, 'nothing Janab, wind is too strong for the doors.'

  'Stay put for night. Tomorrow, early morning, cross LOC. You know how. Make no contact, clear?'

  'Yes Janab. This is what……'

  'Over and out.' Ibrahim's controller on the enemy's side had no time to waste.

  Ibrahim switched the device off and slowly turned towards them.

  Samarjeet hissed, 'you bloody traitor! You betraying bastard? What are you……'

  The sounds of blasts accompanied by intermittent staccato of AK-47 shots, echoing at a distance, brought a look of horror and shock to Samarjeet's face. Shinde and Vijay Kumar had no different looks. Turtuk's main chowk was in the direction where the violent sounds were coming from. Kaushik and others were in the main chowk.

  ? Kaushik, along with Bhadauriya and Tirlochan, met Inspector Rehmatullah in the main chowk. A force of about 30 men accompanied them too. Inspector Rehmatullah was the local police chief.

  Within ten minutes they had reached the central part of the village, near the main market square called chowk. Rehmatullah was present there with his team and fifty civilian youth in addition. He seemed to have already explained the situation to his lot. Kaushik climbed the cobblestoned platform in front of the mosque. Bhadauriya opened the map. Kaushik began explaining the evacuation plan. 'We shall make four groups headed by Inspector Rehmatullah, Major Tirlochan, Lieutenant Bhadauriya and me. I will…..'

  First of the several consecutive blasts disintegrated Inspector Rehmatullah into smithereens. Kaushik, hit by three bullets in his back and wounded badly by flying shrapnel, slumped to the ground. Remains of Major Tirlochan and several others were nowhere to be seen. Further consecutive blasts rendered the remaining, scrambling for their lives, among the bloody carnage. Entire chowk was now reverberating with several disjoint gun shots of world's lethal-most assault rifles AK-47.

  ? Samarjeet brought his index finger up to his lips gesturing all of them to keep quiet and before Ibrahim could understand, he pounced at him and grabbed him with left hand clasped over the traitor's mouth. Sheer terror and shock made Ibrahim's eyes swell off their sockets. Samarjeet motioned at Shinde and Vijay Kumar. They, too, strained their ears. All they could hear was the noisy stir of icy wind thrashing outside. But however faint there was another noise. Was someone moving outside? No. There seemed to be more than one.

  Samarjeet signaled with his eyes towards the huge stacks of cartons and enquired under his breath, 'how many are there?'

  Ibrahim shook his head in negative and gestured with his hands too.

  'Don't lie, you bastard.'

  Ibrahim could only manage to shake his head, vehemently this time. Samarjeet hauled him behind the stacks of cartons. Then he spoke in a muffled tone. 'They know we are here. It seems there are half a dozen out there slowly surrounding us.'

  Samarjeet was thinking swiftly. 'How many grenades do we have?' 'Six M84s and Five MK3A2s Concussion.' Vijay replied. Concussion grenades would not discriminate between them and enemy before killing. An off balance, temporarily blinded, deaf enemy is what they needed.

  'Vijay, get over the cartons through this thatched ceiling…..drop four M84s in all four……….'

  Vijay, with the agility of a cat, was already reaching the top of a stack making his way through the thatched ceiling.

  'Ibrahim!' Samarjeet addressed an exasperated Ibrahim, 'I am taking my hand off. If you wish you can alert your brothers before dying.' He slowly released his grip.

  'Janab!' Ibrahim gasped. 'Pardon me. Save me. They will kill me too.'

  Samarjeet had no concern with the traitor's tantrums. 'Shinde, use him as cover and shoot anything that threatens.'

  Shinde grabbed Ibrahim. Even before they could hit the ground completely face-flat, four almost simultaneous explosions propelled away the wooden planks in the walls of shack like plastic bill boards. Torrent of sleet blended with splinters forced them flat on the ground. Their survival suits, goggles and shelter, however poor, behind wooden cartons saved them from the impact of explosions. The thatched roof came down crashing in parts, knocking Vijay Kumar off balance to the ground. He was not moving after hitting the ground.

  Their eyes were shielded from the blinding light but resonating ears felt as if trapped inside a massive resonating monastery bell. With great deal of resolve they managed to keep their balance. There was no time to check upon the bodies of shell shocked Pakistani soldiers and notice the screams laced with agony.

  'Take position!' Samarjeet sprang up, 'fire!' Shinde was already busy on the trigger. His SMG, in rapid succession, was coughing the fusillade. Like a trapped mouse, Ibrahim was lying on the open air floor, scared to death, witnessing the slaughter. Samarjeet, lying askew on his shoulders on the freezing floor of the shack, picked up the targets one by one from among the moving white shadows scrambling desperately for cover. He was trying to crawl his way towards Vijay to grab his SMG but the flying bullets pinned him down to his position.

  Shinde was keeping balance on his knees against the rapid recoil of the SMG roaring like a beast. Suddenly, his body spun with a jolt sideways before he fell down on his back; losing the grip on his gun. His morale boosting battle-cry turned into a painful shriek. A few bullets had struck him. Samarjeet knocked the last of the two targets down.

  Suddenly all went quiet. All was over in a few seconds. Under the slowly settling white, exactly seven corpses were scattered around, having no qualms with the violent stir raised by the mocking wind. The blood all over was turning into ruddy curd quickly over the soft white cushion. The deafening blasts and gun shots had left their ears still ringing. Freezing temperature, gusty wind, familiar wh
iff of dynamite and hearts pounding in the chests kept their belief that they were still alive.

  Samarjeet covered Ibrahim with his gun and diverted his attention towards Shinde who was coughing heavily and trying to get up, taking support with his SMG. Vijay Kumar, too, was rising slowly.

  'We did it Sir…..' Shinde tried to bring up a smile on his pain stricken face.

  'Show me the wounds.' Samarjeet said. Vijay Kumar hobbled towards them. Sudden fall from that height had sprained one of his ankles. His entire right side of camouflage white suit was jagged by debris and shrapnel. Samarjeet's and Shinde's suits were no different. They removed Shinde's jacket to examine his wounds. Three bullets had incised through his right upper arm leaving clear holes. There was severe hemorrhage. Quickly opening his FAK (First Aid Kit), Vijay said. 'Bleeding is there but coagulation will set in quickly.'

  Within three minutes, Shinde's wounds were carefully bandaged and covered. Vijay asked him to use the SMG's strap as a temporary crutch. Finally, Ibrahim and Vijay Kumar helped the wounded soldier on his toes when violent reports of a heavy mortar and dynamite followed by AK-47's staccato gunshots from far west shook them with horror once again. Far west side was Haneef Sector, their command post!

  ?

  CHAPTER TWO

  'So you are Varun Kaushik?' The man in khaki stepped forward and bent down to stare straight into Kaushik's eyes as Kaushik noticed the emerald green colour of his adversary's eyes. 'July 1999, Kaushik, you killed my father in the name of operation Vijay. You remember Hamid Malik? I am his son Nissar Malik standing on the bosom of your motherland to avenge my father.'