Spy Story 1

[aditp]

Spy Story: Needle in a HayStack

Muhammad Faizal was very surprised to see someone from his own area being introduced by the guy in Dubai. But such things do happen in life. Spywork is the job where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand does. Sainuddin was, in fact a relative of Muhammad Ali, and he was brought on board first to contact the carpenters at the Usman Faruq company. A very enthusiastic fellow, Sainuddin got so excited and started taking his minor contribution seriously. When he saw something suspicious going on near his place, he immediately got in touch with Anil. Since local support is needed, Anil decided to make him contact the local team. So, the next morning, Sainuddin took the bus to Kozhikode.

A guy by name Ashraf has arrived at Beypore, apparently from Dubai. His story was that he is visiting his Aunt and family, but Sainuddin got suspicious when he was heard to charter a uru boat to go to Lakshadweep. He had come a few months ago to do background work. Nobody really cared that time. He simply said he had a load of Copra to be ferried from Agatti island to Beypore. That was pretty normal. But when he came this time, he did two mistakes. One he started spending much more money than he did last time. Secondly, he mentioned to the captain of the boat that they might be going a little beyond Agatti. The sharp Sainuddin caught on this, and did some following. Then the name "Mehnaz" was heard in a telephone call he made from a public booth.

Sainuddin paid a visit to him, pretending to be a courtesy call. During the conversation, Ashraf gave some information about his whereabouts in Dubai. That was easily disproved by Muhammad Ali. All this information meant only one thing. Ashraf is going to meet the Mehnaz in the sea beyond Lakshadweep. Obviously they want to transfer somethign or someone to the boat and take them back to mainland.

This was in fact conflicting to the information from Dubai. But no one would take extra effort to charter a boat and go to lakshadweep for nothing. So, it was decided to tag this operation. Sainuddin was instructed to find out who the crew would be, and if possible mole them.

The boat by name Haji Moosa was the one chartered by Ashraf. Early the morning they were supposed to sail, her master lasker was arrested by Beypore police in connection to a petty thievary case. In a typical bad cop-good cop situation, constable Sainuddin was very kind to get them another master laskar by name Aliyar. Captain Basheer was very much thankful to Sainuddin for this favour.

Haji Moosa sailed out of Beypore harbour on time. The man who was arrested earlier was released that afternoon with the usual threat of "You should come whenever called!" by the inspector. He had no clue what was that all about, but he was thankful that he is out of the slammer.

To be Continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: Needle in a HayStack

The spy network at Mumbai operated a little bit differently than the non metro areas. Run by a senior officer on deputaion from CBI, it resembled a more law enforcement agency than a secret service. Director Shevgaonkar seemed to still think that he is with CBI, and in many cases, so did his deputies. Rather than practicing the passive observer role, they took things into their own hands many often. Even the Mumbai police was scared of them, because they seemed to have sensitive information about most of the police officers that they wielded efficiently. Even the underworld of the city was scared of them, and it could be safely assumed that Shevgaonkar was not averse to pulling strings with them to reach his ends.

Shevgaonkar was very excited today. He seemed to have got a tip off about a plan by a terror organization. He was showing off to his deputy in charge of Panvel area. "They are bringing in something from the south." he said. "We got to stop them before they come into the city, you see". The man who was standing respectfully in front of him nodded. "Do we have anymore details sir?". "Not much. But I know that this is LeT in play. You know that my hunches never fail in these! My sources are very confident that this time they are planning something big."

"Ah, Nair", continued Shevgaonkar. "Alert our men in the area. We are not going to let those $#%^@ to come near to our city." Suresh Nair knew that the only response expeced is "Yes, sir", though he had no useful information from his boss yet. All he could do is continue his job as is, till he get more information from the boss himself.

Suresh Nair hated working here. He always felt that there is too much Shevgaonkar for him, everywhere he turn. Nothing was allowed to happen without the active involvement of the "Director" as everyone called Shevgaonkar. Even the underworld dons and bollywood figures called him that. For people like Suresh Nair, all they got to do is what the Director directs him, and applaud when he takes all the credit himself. Too bad he can't go public on Tv or other media. But Shevgaonkar knows how to play his cards and get the limelight to himself.

However, at least this megalomaniac should be thanked for one thing. Considering the magnitude of the attempts, Mumbai is comparitively problem free compared to the rest of the country.

To be Continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: Needle in a HayStack

The lakshadweep islands are situated around 220 nautical miles west of mainland. They are a series of coral islands, offering pristine beaches and beautiful lagoons. Eleven of the islands are inhabited. The original economy is based on fishing and coconut plantation. But in late 20th century, tourism became a major contributor. The airstrip at Agatti island offers air connection to Kochi. But majority of the passengers use ship service. A number of wooden boats also ply between the isles and the mainland, generally carrying freight.

For a twin diesel boat like the Haji Moosa, it will take almost 30 hours to reach Agatti. Giving some extra time for it to loiter, she should be back within three days if they have a legit voyage. Aliyar, the replacement master lasker is carrying a cell phone hidden deep in his bag, but he will not be able to use it on board. In all, it was a tense wait for the needle hunters for three days. After the three days period, two more days, and the MEhnaz was expected to reach Dubai.

Being unable to sit tight, Anil Nambiar decided to take a flight to Kozhikode. He arrived the second day morning at Karippur, and took a taxi over to the city. He didn't even bother to check into the Taj before rushing over to Muhammad Faizal's office. Faizal had a full briefing ready. All the harbours in the area are under watch just in case. The cost guard is alerted, and ready to start the patrol. Two speed boats are kept ready at Beypore and Kozhikode. Anil was glad with that, but he also asked his guys at Ponnani and Azhikkal also to have a watch out.

However, all the wait has proven futile. Even at evening of the third day, there was no indication of the Haji Moosa, or Aliyar. Anil was frustrated. If nothing turns up, he will have to go back to Dubai and pick up the trail there. He didn't like that. Whatever or whoever on board Mehnaz would not, in most probability, be going to Dubai.

A chilling thought also occured to him. Maybe they already landed at the east cost. Although the network in the east also is on the lookout, it is a vast ocean and there are limits on what you can do. Anil simply hoped someone would find something out.

The night passed uneventful, but Anil could not sleep at all. Finally, he ended up making several calls, and met a visibly irritated Muhhamad Faizal at his office at 6:00am. As of now, the ports of Mangalore, Karwar and Goa are also on watch.

Finally, past 10:00 am, the phone rang. They noted with jumping hearts Aliyar's cell number on the caller ID.

"Where are you Aliyar?" Anil didn't mask the excitement in his voice. The background drone of the boat engine indicated that they are still on board. "Sir, we are in Goa. We dropped the stuff off at the Jetty on the north bank of the river, close to the bridge." Aliyar seemed to be talking in a very hushed tone. "What exactly is the stuff Aliyar?" Asked Faizal. "Will call later" was the rushed answer, and the call went dead.

"Are you sure it is indeed your guy, Faizal?" Asked Anil. "Sure sounded like him." Said Faizal. Without loosing a moment, Anil dialed a number on his cell. "Daric? Where are you? Candolim? Good! Rush to the north end of the Mandovi bridge. Our friend have just now dropped off something at the jetty there."

"That is Daric Fernandez. Lucky he got a speed boat handy" Anil said as he punched up the standard issue sat map of Goa on screen. It provided a 1 metre resolution image from the latest available satellite pass. The general issue images are updated every few weeks, but that is good enough for most of the functions. The jetty on the north shore of river Mandovi that is close to the bridge on NH 17 was clearly visible on the map. It is heavily used by tourist boats. Anil wondered why they used that location to land. Probably, because that is closest to the highway.

Within the hour, Daic Fernandez called back. Indeed the Haji Moosa had been seen there. Some enquiry with the locals revealed that a truck was parked there, and it appeared some suff was transferred to the truck. Luckily, someone had noticed that the truck took the southbound onramp of the NH. Specifically, no personnel were transferred from the boat to the truck. The boat left the place immediately thereafter.

Anil was glad to learn that Goa police is on the lookout for the truck. He did the best he could do at that point. That is to call Go Air and buy a ticket for the 12:00pm flight to Mangalore and Goa.

It was almost 3:00pm when the flight landed at Dabolim. Before it reached the apron, he switched on his cell and called Daric. There was good news and bad news. A truck that matches the description had been located at Cuncolim, but the driver and cleaner adamantly refuses even anywhere near the Jetty that day. The Goa police have them in custody. The truck is now being guarded on the NH where it was intercepted. He asked Daric to come to the truck. After several minutes that seemedlike ages, he could get out and get a taxi to go to Cuncolim.

Anil and Daric Fernandez met up near the truck. The police had already gone over it, and found nothing. But Anil decided to take a look himself. He started meticulously inspecting the entire truck. IT was an old Tata 1210 with a dirty cabin and a dirtier platform. The wooden sideplanks were old and heavily chipped. The floor of the platform are all battered such that they wouldn't know if a nuclear bomb was carried on it.

When he moved into the cabin, he lifted up the bench seat and pushed the backrest forward. He noticed a crumpled piece of paper. He took it and stretched it flat. It was a platform ticket from Madgaon station, stamped 11:03am that day. Daric was behind him looking at the ticket.

"That would be Konkan Express, going to Mumbai" Said Daric Fernandez.

<=========>

"Konkan Express?" Asked a surprised Suresh Nair. He wondered how "the Director" gets all these tips. But he knew better not to ask. "OK Sir, do you want us to stop and search the train? It will be somewhere near Kankavali now. We can get it at Ratnagiri". "No, don't stop it. Send a team to board it at Ratnagiri and keep an eye around" Was the order by the almighty director. Suresh Nair proceeded to execute the order. That is what he did best.

It took Anil Nambiar some time to reach the Mumbai office. He had to call several times, each time being put on hold and sent to the wrong extension. Finally he reached a lady who claimed to be the Secretary to the Director. The Director appeared to be busy at the moment. Anil gave his credentials and cell number, asking the Director to call back ASAP. He could detect the trace of sarcasm in the lady's voice when she acknowledged it.

Anil and Daric took a taxi and sped on the highway northbound as fast as they can. Anil was expecting a call from the Mumbai office, but it never came. He called again, and got the same lady with the same message. Irritated but desperate, he had to give a brief to the lady. All he said was that he is following the Konkan Express with something on board. The lady said "Oh, he knows that and someone is already on the job"

Anil never had such a confusing moment in his whole life.

To be Continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: Needle in a HayStack

Anil Nambiar could not believe what is happening. How can the Director of Mumbai operations be on the job already. That could only mean someone has already tipped off them. Who could that be? Was that ISI itself? There was no indication that anyone else was working on the thread. His boss, the head of middle east ops was a man of very high integrity. He was the only guy who was briefed in detail. Of course the big guy at Washington knew from Sanjeev Gupta. Natarajan at Singapore reported directly to the ministry. a leak from that side was also not likely.

Anil didn't really know Shevgaonkar. He had heard about him alright, but he was totally unaware of how he ran his ops. Based on previous experience, he decided not to call his office. He dialled his boss at Delhi instead.

"Anil, I think you can drop it now. It is Shevgaonkar's territory anyway. He will take care of it. You should be dead tired now. Check into some hotel and get some rest. Meet me at the guest house in the morning" was the advice he got. That was surprising. So the old man would be in town tomorrow

All the excitement of the past few days has drained from him instantly, and the tiredness crept in and overcame. He directed the driver to take him to his regular staying place, laid back and drifted into sleep.

The needle in the haystack came tantalizingly close to him, but it was someone elses call to finally retrieve it. He still didn't know what exactly he was following, and what was at stake. But he knew that he will learn soon enough.

But that is another story.

Needle in a HayStack Concludes

Dileep on Wed May 24, 2006 2:46 pm

Spy Story: Epilogue

Despite the tension and excitement, Anil slept well. Probably the drinks he had the previous night with Daric helped. Still he managed to get himself ready and reach the guest house before 8:00 am.

"Mr. O. P. Malhotra IPS please" he told the receptionist. "Sure sir. Er.. He came back only at 6 o' clock sir. Not sure if he is up". With some reluctance, he called the room. He was surprised to see the man up and expecting the visitor. "Room 207, sir. Lift to the right."

Mr. Malhotra was originally a bengal cadre IPS officer who got deputed to the IB early in the career. He joined the current organization as director of West Bengal and Northeast territory and later moved to the middle east ops. It was then his path crossed with Anil Nambiar during his Delhi days. When an opening came, he recruited Anil and sent him off to Dubai. They had a very special relationship from there.

anil knocked and entered the room. Mr. Malhotra didn't show the sleepless night he spent. After the brief pleasantries, both of them sat down across the small desk in the ante room.

"Well.." began Anil.

"I would say you did a fantastic job Anil. " Malhotra began a little bit awkwardly. "Sir, tell me what happened after." Anil practically cut him off. Malhotra made an all knowing smile only a mentor can make.

"Well, the mumbai police and Shevgaonkar's team got them from a house in Panvel early this morning".

"Got whom? and what?"

"Whom? that would be four men. What? We don't know yet."

"But the stuff that came on the boat? Was that involved in this?"

"It sure was, otherwise I would have asked you to restart the trail" the smile widened.

"Did they get it? What was it?"

"Of course they got it. We don't know what exactly it is."

"Sir.."

"Well, all I can tell you is that the BARC guys took it to their lab"

Anil missed two heartbeats in a row...

"Sir, do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Your guess is as good as mine" the smile reappeared.

"Any track on the people"

"Shevgaonkar is positive they are ISI and LeT"

"I don't think they are, Sir"

"Why do you say that?"

"During our trace, we didn't find their involvement at all. If the stuff is indeed what we traced, it is NOT ISI who brought it in".

"We will have to look at it in detail. Oh, before I forget, you are flying with me to Delhi for debrief. We will know then."

And they proceeded to prepare for the ordeal of burocracy ahead. They had the faintest idea how things are going to turn in the coming few days.

Spy Story concludes

[aditp]

Bed of Thorns

The Prime Minister was alone in his office. The room was silent except the murmur of the AC and the computer. He was tired, he was angry, and he was confused. Not once in his long career as an economist, burocrat or as a politician he had so much in a day, with so much at stake.

Ever after he authorized the help package to Afghanistan, things had turned from bad to worse. It was a logical decision that time. A better Afghanistan was definitely in the good interest of India, and it was only natural for the newest member of global power to discharge her duties at ernest. But once India got the foot in, the US and Nato forces has slowly, but surely started to pull out, leaving the Indians to take the brunt. Finally, he had to authorize a full scale military deployment there, just to protect the Indian establishments.

The domestic political situation is not encouraging either. The communists are openly criticising the military deployment wherever they can. Though not in a big way, the markets are hurting. The Sensex has flattened at the 18000 range. The foreign investors are slowly pulling out of the market. The instincts of the hardcore economist started warning.

A former PM had said the worst job in the world is that of the Indian PM. Nothing could be more true. It is indeed a bed of thorns. Only that a real bed of thorns would become dull as time goes, but the position of PM would not.

On top of everything, the unthinkable has happened today. Early in the morning a bust operation at Mumbai resulted in discovery of some suspicious material. Preliminary analysis at BARC confirmed that the material was in fact nuclear. According to their initial report that came over the securenet an hour ago, the package contained a machined plutonium core and panels that looked like explosive lens parts. However, no triggering or arming mechanism was found. the BARC scientists expressed septicism on whether it was possible at all to get a nuclear explosion with the material, since the explosive lens and the core did not match each other. However, it was perfectly capable to be made into what is called a "dirty bomb".

Efforts are underway to analyse the core and the lenses in view to identify the origin. It was also suggested to seek help from IAEA in this regard.

Then there was the briefing report from the Ops Directors involved. The Mumbai group claimed that they tracked the material based on their own sources, and those pointed to ISI. However, the middle east group claimed the material was the one they were tracking from Indonesia. The reports also had notes by the National Security Advisor wo did the debrief.

According to the NSA's report, the personnel apprehended along with the package sided with the story by the Mumbai group. But the NSA has also mentioned that their ready acceptance that they are relted to ISI and LeT looked fishy. On the other hand, the story by the Dubai group had a number of disconnects as well. It is true that they were tracking something to the same train, but there are no conclusive proof either way.

But the truth remains that a nuclear device was smuggled into the country, and if not for the vigilant intelligence community, it could have been exploded. Luckily the media has not reported it yet. But when it does, it is going to be a bigger firestorm. There will be cries for blood for sure. The connection with Pakistan would be immediately assumed and call for Cold Start will be raised.

The PM shuddered himself on the word Cold Start. It is a weapon like the one given by Indra to Karna. The Shakthi could be used only on one enemy, and it is indefeatable. The Cold Start doctrine was specifically designed for Pakistan and also for this kind of situation. It is the PM's responsibility to take that decision.

The noise of the door opening woke the PM up. The private secretary came in and said "They are here Sir". The PM rose and walked to the adjoining conference room. The Home inister, External Affirs minister and the National Security Advisor were assembled there.

They would soon decide what they are going to do about it tomorrow.

To be Continued

[aditp]

The users of a reputed internet forum found a hugely popular thread the next day, and within 24 hours it filled 9 pages and the avatar II started. It went like this:

Dirty Bomb at Mumbai

#1: Author: Rudradev, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Mumbai police intercepted what looks like a "Dirty Bomb" yesterday. No information on source yet

Link
Quote:
A package was seized from an apartment at Panvel by Mumbai police based on information from the intelligence agencies. A source within Mumbai police indicated that the package was taken to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, but declined to comment whether it was a nuclear weapon or not. The home minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Shyam Joshi at a press conference at Mumbai has confirmed that there was a raid at the said location, but denied any involvement of BARC.


So it starts folks. The chinese poodle has started the dirty game. BR had been expecting something rash from dictator no 2, especially with all the troubles he is having recently.

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#2: Author: Rangudu, Location: USA Posted: 07 May 2010
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The report doesn't talk about who is responsible. Since this is a busted operation, probably no one will take credit.

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#3: Author: Laks, Posted: 07 May 2010
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http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=8045637&CatID=2

The captured pigs claimed they are with LeT. The minister says the package is being analysed. No info on involvement of BARC.

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#4: Author: Singha, Posted: 07 May 2010
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That sounds fishy. Would the pigs openly claim that?

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#5: Author: DeepakD, Location: Mumbai Posted: 07 May 2010
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This is a big story here in local media. RTV is showing interviews with the neighbours and the paanvala now.

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#6: Author: Singha, Posted: 07 May 2010
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The RTV clips came on their national channel too. It seems they took a big square box and four people.

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#7: Author: Rangudu, Location: USA Posted: 07 May 2010
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Would General Yusuf be foolish enough to do such things? Any such action would trigger a war. Does he have a death wish? Something doesn't add up with the Dirty Bomb theory.

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#8: Author: Laks, Posted: 07 May 2010
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NDTV:
A package with unknown content is captured from an apartment at Panvel, Mumbai, and four men were arrested by Mumbai police early yesterday. What appeared to be a routine raid became a concern when reports came out alleging the package beign moved to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. However, the home ministry has denied any involvement of BARC, and would only confirm that the package has some criticality associated with it, and is being analysed.

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#9: Author: Vasan, Posted: 07 May 2010
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RTV quotes an official of Mumbai police confirming the involvement of BARC. That is bad news.

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#10: Author: Ramana, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Who wants to start a war now? I don't that would be Yusuf. I think this is related to our increased involvement at Afghanistan. We are the new target.

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#11: Author: Suresh, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Ramanaji, WADR, Yusuf if Taliban had any access to any nuclear stuff, they would have used it on unkil by now.

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#12: Author: Brett, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Don't underestimate the drug lords of Afghanistan. With their network spreading all around central asia, they can easily smuggle a nuclear device from the FSU black market. And they are the people who get most benefited by a war between India and Pakistan.

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#13: Author: Raju, Location: Drinking tea at RYK Posted: 07 May 2010
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Well, what about the freedom fighters at occupied Balochistan. They too are a party of interest.

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#14: Author: Rangudu, Location: USA Posted: 07 May 2010
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If that is the case, even POTUS Chuck Hagel is an interested party. He wanted to kick yusuf's musharraf for some time.

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#15: Author: Singha, Posted: 07 May 2010
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The LeT, MMA and all other pigs are solidly behind Yusuf, who's behind is solidly under the lizard. Would the lizard want a war? Maybe. After all, we took the biggest trading partner position from then didn't we?

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#16: Author: Shiv, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Gen Yusuf, just like his predecessor, is not suicidal. Islam forbids suicide except for jihad. So, I think we can rule out Gen Yusuf from the list. My pskological analysis of Gen Yusuf, as I presented in the Islamism thread, is that he is a strong islamist, and he will not take such a drastic action.

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#17: Author: GeorgeJ, Posted: 07 May 2010
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I don't normally follow the HAF, but if this is true. I say it is time to gas up all those MKIs.

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#18: Author: rsingh, Location: Brussels Posted: 07 May 2010
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I hope they have increased security in Delhi Haydrabad and Banglore etc.

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#19: Author: Singha, Posted: 07 May 2010
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BARC has confirmed that it was indeed a nuclear device.

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#20: Author: Dileep, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Singha, at least don't pull a Singha on THIS THREAD!

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#21: Author: RajGuru, Location: South of Musi, Deccan Plateau Posted: 07 May 2010
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Source? Singha.

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#22: Author: Singha, Posted: 07 May 2010
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http://rnsindia.com/news.asp?ID=765342&Section=4
Dileep, give it a rest, after all these years!!!!

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#23: Author: Sudhir, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Well, RNS is not best known for integrity!

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#24: Author: enqyoob, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Ayyyooo! Its a dirty dirty bum onlee saar! We should keep restraint onlee saar!

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#25: Author: Alok_N Posted: 07 May 2010
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Do we have details on what exactly was in the package? One can not simply bundle some nuclear material and explosives to make a dirty bomb [Removed by admin. We don't want to give any ideas do we? Arun_S Admin Hat On.)

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#26: Author: SGupta, Posted: 07 May 2010
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What about Nawas Sharief and Benazir, and what about Musharraf? They would be the best gainers if a war breaks out between India and Pakistan.

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#27: Author: Rudradev, Posted: 07 May 2010
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SGupta, that is a far fetched theory. How can they do such a thing? And what is Musharraf got to do with it? Isn't he enjoying unkil's hospitality.

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#28: Author: SGupta, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Musharraf is trying to ally with Nawas and Benazir to get back on Yusuf.

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#29: Author: Ramana, Posted: 07 May 2010
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SGupta, that is crazy thought. We don't need conspiracy theories here. Consider yourself warned.

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#30: Author: PIyengar, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Any reason for getting rid of Yusuf would be welcome, so what are you waiting for?

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#31: Author: enqyoob, Posted: 07 May 2010
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Aiyoo Iyengar swamee, long time ago Dubya expected eye-rackees dancing in the streets of Bag-Dad. So, would you do the honour?

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#32: Author: ramana, Posted: 07 May 2010
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If there really was a nuclear device inside the country, there should be a retaliation. We should not jump into conclusions. Every effort should be employed to find out who did it and an appropriate response made.

And it went on and on..

[aditp]

Bed of Thorns

The Prime Minister looked wearily on the neatly bound dossiers stacked on his table. Each one contributed to the complexity of the issue at hand, and therefore to his misery. He had to take himself away from most of the business today to go through them. He even cancelled the meeting with the finance and commerce ministers about the HAL project to build wing sections for A350. It was a prestige project he personally hooked with president Villepin of France. But once the current mess came into being, all his attention was on that.

The top volume was the report from O. P. Malhotra about his side of the story. The middle east ops, with the help of the San Francisco and Singapore offices have neatly built up their story, theorizing that the trio of General Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto has planted the device to put blame on the Pakistani government. Their story, however, have certain holes in it. First and foremost, they have no information or track on the device itself. Their story was solid to the extent that Musharraf was involved in some clandestine operation dealing with a boatyard in Indonesia and a new boat sailed from there to Dubai. Intercepting the boat did not yield any conclusive evidence. The only bright point was that it is proven that some cargo was dropped off at Goa from that boat. It was also concluded that the said cargo was brought on board the Konkan Express. The solid reasoning ended there, with an assumption that it was the same cargo that was apprehended by the Mumbai police.

Then came the report made by the home ministry, and Mumbai ops of NSO. It detailed communication intercepts and chatter during a five day period preceding the interception. It also included tipoffs from various sources. The story looked sound, but there was no information on what was the origin of the cargo. It was not even clear how that got on the train in the first place. The finaly document in that file was the confession by the men who were apprehended. They claimed part of an LeT sleeper cell who picked it up on the train as per pre arrangement. The NSO director of Mumbai has very enthusiastically described the story, but on top of all that, there was a note of disagreement by the RAW chief. In his opinion, that story was too convincing.

The small file with the BARC emblem didn't have too much content. It basically said that the package in fact contained a weapon grade plutonium core with a partial assembly of explosive lenses. The core was machined properly, but was encased in a shielding of wrought lead that was crudely made. The explosive lenses didn't have proper triggers. They were embedded with regular fulminate primers and commercial grade shock fuses. The report discounted any possibility of making a nuclear fission explosion out of the material, even with additional parts. All it could do would be what the media calls a "dirty bomb"

Another file contained the small amount of media reports about the incident. Though all efforts were made to cover up the BARC involvement, it eventually made into the press. Speculation was rampant in special interest groups, but the general public has not yet taken it up. The PM shuddered to think of in which all directions the mass hysteria can turn once unleashed.

His team of colleagues and advisors are hopelessly divided on the issue. The NSA is convinced that it is the Islamists of Pakistan. The RAW chief strongly disagrees. He supports the Dubai theory and calls for further investigation in association with USA. The Defence Minister thinks it is a direct action by Gen Yusuf. A personal advisor cautioned him against trusting the USA on this. His opinion was that the USA is somehow involved in this. His question was, "How can Gen Musharraf do something without his handlers knowledge?". BARC on the other hand, suggested using IAEA facilities to test the plutonium to trace its origin.

All this details should not draw the attention away from the core issue. There was a nuclear device inside the country. That warrants a suitable response, both according to common sense and also according to the public policy of the country. It is imparative that the real perpertrators to be identified, and a suitable retaliation is delivered.

And of course, there is an easy way out, which is in fact very tempting. Just take all the evidence that points to Pakistan, present it to whomsoever concerned, and invoke Cold Start. There is good example for this, by none other than the USA. This will solve the long standing problem of Pakistan as well. But it is going to be very costly for the country.

The other alternative would be to downplay the nuclear issue and cover it up. If it is not Pakistan, there would be no viable target for India to attack. Consider for a moment the Dubai story is completely true. What can India do? Whom would we attack? What if USA is involved? Maybe we can blame the Taliban again, but who is going to believe that the runt Taliban could pull this off? That would be more ridiculous than Colin Powell's presentation to the UN about Iraq!

So, the PM paced back and forth. A virtual hot potato in his hands. The bed of thorns that is the prime ministership of India was more hurtful now.

Does not End...

[aditp]

NSN Page 3

It is rumoured that a voice was heard thundering from the distant hills of Chennapatna, reportedly that of the first accidentally internet enabled self actualized Ascetic.

It is believed to have gone thus: "There shall be no more violence."

When this reporter went to ascertain the facts, he met up, accidentally, with the Ascetic, who was surrounded by an environmentally unfriendly stash of frito lays and lipton tea bags and an old refrigerator.

NSN: "Guruji, namoshkar."

A: "Reporter puthar, the TSP is prone to violence. It is a well established fact. So it is but natural that when he finds a nuke, he triggers it to explode."

He added cryptically, "even when he finds it to be in his own territory."

"And that shall be the lesson to the rest of the world to finally make peace with itself."

NSN bows with respect and bids adieu to the Ascetic.

[aditp]

For Tourists

Khushab is at a drive of 45 minute from Sargodha.You reach the Khushab after crossing the river Jhelum.It is of great pleasure travelling on some height with great river Jhelum flowing below.

The name Khushab is said to be of historical importance.Once an emperor passed through Khushab on his way.he drank the water and acclaimed the quality of water and called it a "place having fine water".

Khush means "fine" and aab means "water".

An entry from the federation of american scientists website:

The 50 MWt, heavy water and natural uranium research reactor at Khushab is a central element of Pakistan's program for production of plutonium and tritium for advanced compact warheads.

Khushab, with a capacity variously reported at between 40 MWT to 50 MWT [and as high as 70 MWT], was "commissioned" in March 1996, and had been under construction with Chinese assistance since the mid-1980s.

According to a Pakistani press report ["Pakistan's Indigenous Nuclear Reactor Starts Up," Islamabad The Nation, April 13, 1998], the Khushab plutonium production reactor had gone critical and began operating in early 1998.

At The Hush of Dawn

At 4:17AM on Feb 16 2008, there was a huge explosion near the Jhelum, 3 kms from the Khushab nuclear facility, believed to be the detonation of a nuclear bomb with a signature almost immediately identified by US "seismological stations" to be from or somewhat enhanced version of an RA115/6 from Ukraine widely believed to be in the possession of the Al Qaeda.

It was found to be identical to the samples obtained by the Indian intelligence within the Indian territory and which was currently lying with the BARC.

An alert was sent from the US State Department, with UN approval, to the Pakistan Government to the effect, asking them to exercise total restraint, a corresponding one sent to the GOI almost ordering PM Arora to set into effect the cessation of hostilities, a temporary ceasefire.

A nuclear explosion at Khushab was the least expected of happenings anywhere in the international community. The chain reaction that set in, led to some surprising conclusions.

[aditp]

Spy Story: Part 2

President Chuck Hagel paced around in front of his desk, which is surprisingly simple for the most powerful man in the world. In his life as a government official, top financial executive and senator, he had seen and involved in many major screwups. He also witnessed many commited by the various leaders including Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and even George W Bush. But the current situation is different, because now HE is responsible. Even though it was the idea of his Director of Intelligence Agencies, and it was endorsed by the Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, he very well knew that the buck stopped at his table. At the present political situation, he and the country can not afford to have any egg on the face. But he very well knew that it is not egg, but some unmentionable substance is going to hit the fan soon. In the history of the United States of America, there are a number of dirty things various administrations did with other countries and governments, but much of them didn't come to light. Whatever actually came to light were silly things like the Contra revolutionary scandal. Certain things came out as conspiracy theories like the assassination attempt of Fidel Castro. But most of the actions were covered up by force, bribe or diplomacy. That history did give President Hagel some consolation, but he was not too sure about the other side in this game. In his own words, the "bloody Indians".

And to think that those bloody Indians outsmarted the best the CIA could come up with! A couple of relatively rookie operatives of the relatively new National Security Services (or so the CIA guys says its name is) of one of the third world countries very effectively distroyed the efforts of the well seasoned CIA operatives. That is unbelievable. To bring insult to injury, the CIA crypto center has warned yesterday that they suspect that the level 4 encryption used by foreign liaison group might be broken by the Indians. The biggest blunder probably was giving the system to that goshdarn Musharraf. He was fool enough to use it over his internet connection. God bless this country when a bunch of strangers can get into a vital infrastructure and install snooping devices there. The Indians got a ton of data and no wonder they are able to crack the code.

Vice president Rice was right. Hagel hated himself to admit that. She would have been here in the oval office if the hidden racist/sexist elements of the party were not be expertly manipulated. Everybody in the american populace wanted a Condi-Hilary runoff, but eventually it was the black horse Chuck Hagel of Nebraska who got the ticket by making Condi his running mate.

When the current situation was being schemed, Dr. rice, being the sharpest tool in the box, was averse to the idea from the beginning. But no one wanted another Dick Cheney around, so her position itself spoke against her opinion. Eventually the decision was piloted by Dan Kruger, the career CIA burocrat who was appointed Director of Intelligence Agencies, aka Intelligence czar. All being said and done, Chuck Hagel have a big pile of problem in front of him.

There was a knock and Condoleezza Rice entered the room. Chuck Hagel and she never had a cordial relationship. Either side knew that he took away what most americans thought was rightfully hers. But she knew her role, and considering her relatively young age, she have practically an assured ticket come 2016. She knew her boss is in trouble, and it is the best interest of her and the country to help fix the problem.

Dr Rice contributed a lot to craft the improved relationship between USA and India when she was Secretary of State during the second term of George W Bush. It was she who piloted the civil nuclear co operation deal, and also she had developed a very cordial relationship with the leaders of that country. It might come handy in the current situation. The question the President wanted answered is whether to contact the Indian PM as a pre emtive move or not. The CIA has given a detailed report on what the Indians are likely to know and what they are likely to do. There were three options, and one of them is to open up and play nice with the Indians. Dr. Rice is the best person to do that.

But chuck Hagel again underestimated Dr. Rice. She really knew what is going on, and had more ideas that he could fathom. But once again, her position seemed to play against her opinion.

The meeting of the two top officials of the country lasted slightly more than an hour. It immediately followed by a meeting with the cabinet in the west wing conference room.

And the decision was to run one of the most rigourous cover up operation the CIA has ever undertaken. Once again, the CIA had grossly underestimated the National Security Services of India. The cat and mouse game has started when a cell phone call was made from just outside Langley. This is a new kind of war and it will see new kind of warriors, weapons and tactics.

Yaajnavalkya said: The truth is covered by a Golden Bowl. Maaya tries to hide it, and wise men try to uncover it. The spy story, thus took a new turn.

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Company

The foreign intelligence operations of India was the responsibility of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW or simply RAW) of the Cabinet Secretariat. It is established in 1968, and reports to the PMO directly. Its operations and structure are not revealed to the parliament. Very little is known in public media about this organization. The domestic intelligence is handled by the Intelligence Bureau and there is also the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). As per convention, the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) under the Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for co-ordinating and analyzing intelligence activities between these agencies. However, this was often not being done efficiently. when the National Security Council was formed in 1999 the JIC was merged with it.

Initially the external threat perspective for India was Pakistan and China centric and ost of the operations of RAW was concentrated in that area. a great deal of the assets and budget are in fact concentrated in that direction. However, as the new millenium came, the position of India in the world scene has changed and RAW struggled to adapt to the new realities.

In 2004, a major setback happened. A very senior official of RAW went missing, and though no official information came forth for some time, everyone knew where he has gone. After some time, and very reluctantly, the government acknowledged the defection and declared that it will take action. When the top management of RAw changed, one of the immediate tasks the new director had at hand was to revamp the organization and make it capable to face the challenges of the new world. and he did something that nobody thought of before. He decided to exploit what we had best.

A company by name RHS Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was launched at Delhi. The only information about its ownership was lying somewhere in the registrar of companies office at New Delhi, and it mentioned the President of India as the sole shareholder of the company. Also there was a small outcry when a very bright IAS officer quit the service and joined a private startup. The official business of the company was to provide IT security services.

In a short time, a number of officers in the three intelligence agencies had meetings at the RAW headquarters at Lodhi road and they got deputation offers to a still unknown department. Later, people from different wakes of careers also started getting calls from "recruiting agencies" offering them "exciting job options".

The new organization ran in the virtual world provided by RHS Technologies. The numerous field offices and headquarters were interconnected over its secure network. Nobody really new even the name of the new organization, because each unit saw the organization differently, with different identifications. No single location, exept the Director and the NSA's office, could get a full picture of the organization. The network ran on dedicated lines leased from BSNL and VSNL, and used a proprietary encryption system. Secure hardware codecs are issued to the operatives to secure their equipment. Each system included an internet gateway that allowed the operatives to use regular Internet when away from their offices.

And the company was in full business when the crisis of 2008 hit, and today, in 2010, it plays the central role in the national security area. We have seen parts of it in action already, and to quote Paul Harvey of ABC, "Now you know..., the rrrrrest of the story.

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

Pervez Musharraf fumed sitting in his chair. The man was not used to sitting in a grossly uncomfortable chair possibly bought on sale at OfficeMax. He was alone, and he really missed his grandson, with whom he had made a strong bond. Hamza was a bright kid and brought sunshine to the exiled life of the ex dictator of Pakistan. Life at the Napa mansion was good, but like all good things, it had to end. Bilal and family had to move to a home in the Los Altos hills which didn't come anywhere near to the mansion. His business is not doing good either. Musharraf had to move into this rusty apartment in the outskirts of Richmond, VA. Let alone the apartment was below anything he lived after being made a colonel in the Pakistan Army, he couldn't take the 24 hours watch on him placed by the CIA guys. He was not allowed even take a walk in the park. He had to live on takeout food bought in by the handlers, and he suspected that they chose the cheapest lot that tasted worse than wet cardboard.

And he didn't have a computer or cell phone. His land line didn't connect to the network directly, and all calls are operator assisted. Bilal was the only person called in, and not so surprisingly, most of the outgoing calls requested never materialized. It was too much. Even his call to Crawford, Texas for his closest ally in USA didn't go through. He was not sure if Bush knew about his predicament, and even if he did, he was not sure if he can be of any help.

He was a prisoner and he knew it. It was not something he bargained for. He cursed the moment when he thought of making a plot against that darned Yusuf. To think about it, it may not have been entirely his idea. The CIA guys who worked with him those days seemed to give too many suggestions and alterations. Upon retrospect, it was all their idea and he was very craftily brought in to the plot. He was so enraged against Yusuf to realize that. He didn't know what happened to the plot. The last piece of information was some online reports about the Indians intercepting the device somewhere in Bombay. If that is true, the plan went well. He was literally yanked out of the place the next day, and he was totally in dark after that. He didn't know if the Indians attacked Pakistan yet, and he didn't know what his co conspirators are doing now.

On top of all, he didn't know what is going to happen to HIM

His alarm clock chimed. It is time for Magrib Namaaz. The only thing gave comfort to him now is the prayer, that he used to be very glad to miss earlier. He rose from the chair and walked to the bathroom to do the ritual cleanup.

He had an appointment with God.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

Sanjeev Gupta cursed himself. He was glad that his part of the game was played very successfully and the guys in Dubai and Singapore took over and played it to the end. But it is coming back at him to bite. The darned government need more evidence. What do they think? Did any of them worked in the field, fighting everything including the miserly beancounters at the consulate, the crazy FBI tags, murderous San Francisco traffic, unscrupulous field agents and everything else. He had a very difficult time pulling off what he already did, and where is he going to turn for more. He had no idea. Ever since the operations moved from the burocrats of RAW into the new outfit, life for the old RAW hands like Sanjeev became miserable. Earlier there was a system that everyone respected, and to an extent protected them. Now the environment changed from the government office to that of an IT company as far as work is concerned. But many of the old burocracy remained to make life inconvenient. Sanjeev got the worst. He had joined the government service only 2 years when the ops moved to the new outfit. So, he ended up neither here or there.

At least he had the fortune of working with two good field ops. Poor Sergio Sanchez got into a lot of trouble with his involvement in the case. He can't be used anymore at undercover though. He got out of the felony charges thanx to his Indian lawyer based on some legal loophole, and he is back working at a wineyard at Santa Rosa. They were supposed to meet at the KFC at Windsor. Sanjeev needed some help with agent Jeff Boger of FBI that Elina Perez couldn't do. Sergio is bringing a friend who might be able to help.

"Good Afternoon' Mr. Vyas". Sergio greeted Sanjeev and turned to the tall dark mexican man in his fifties who accompanied him. "This is me amigo Rafael Garcia."

"I'm Mahendra Vyas" Sanjeev said by means of introduction and shook hands with Rafael, feeling a strong warm grip that incited confidence.

And a business discussion, if we can call it so, ensued in the mostly deserted fast food joint fueled with crispy fried chicken and hot barbeque wings.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl
Ahmed Faruq shifted down on his spanking new Lexus at the intersection of Jalan Depen Jaram and Jalan Hanthumahar. He eased the car through the free right turn, yielding to a slow pickup truck in the lane. Through the corner of his eye, he saw the old rustry truck coming in from the driveway to the right. He instinctively swerved to the left, but another car blocked his way. Panicked he hit the brake hard and felt the jolt of a rear end collision. Within a fraction of a second, the brand new luxury car was practically crushed from all four sides as the pick up he yielded to moments ago braked and let the Lexus rear end it. The rusty old truck crashed into the Lexus from the right and the old ford escort on the left simply boxed it in. All cars stopped, blocking both the westbound lanes on Jalan Depen Jaram. Before anyone realized what is going on, the driver side door of the Lexus is yanked open and a stunned Faruq was yanked out from under the still deflating airbag. He was pulled into the rear seat of the escort in an instant. The Escort that was not technically a part in the accident just drove away, carrying the struggling body of the owner of Usman Faruq Industries Sdn Bhd.

The driver of the Escort flipped his cell phone open and made a very brief call. The car took a right at the next intersection.

He didn't notice the black Mitsubishi Pajero taking the same turn. Both vehicles proceeded along the road to the small marina on the bank of the river Barito.

The city police of Banjarmasin don't have a reputation of attending to accidents immediately, and when they did, they were susprised to see a federal police vehicle parked at the site. And we can't say whether the officers were angry or happy when they were advised that the feds are going to handle the case themselves. They just nodded and went on their way. The feds swarmed the scene, and they seemed to be not too much surprised to see the Lexus driverless. The vehicle was immediately identified as belonging to Mr. Ahmed Faruq and necessary paperwork was done to notify the relatives.

The next day dawned at Banjarmasin with stories of the accident and a lot of conspiracy theories about what happened to Ahmed Faruq. Only a few men knew the truth, and some of them didn't know the others knew.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

The men who manned the Haji Moosa were very much disturbed after their chartered voyage to the Lakshadweep. The story they told was that they had an engine failure and they were swept north, and had to land at Goa, before getting the engine fixed there and return to Beypore. And they lost their master laskar en route to a freak accident, where a rigging broke and swept him into the sea. Generally the story was accepted around. Not many people knew Aliyar, as he was a new guy, recently migrated from the south. Sainuddin the policeman took it on himself to inform Aliyar's family and do the necessary paperwork for the insurance etc. The issue was thus almost settled.

But the family of some of the crew became a little bit concerned about the men, because they appeared to be a little bit unbalanced psychologically. They appeared to be very scared and hiding something. Repeated questions from concerned parents and spouses yielded nothing.

For the next voyage, all except two of the crew reported for duty. The two men had joined another boat down at Ponnani. But two strange things happened in quick succession.

The Haji Moosa did not return from her short hop up to Mangalore, and a motorbike accident on NH17 killed the two crew members. Haji Moosa left no traces. No radio calls, and even though the crew had cell phones and during most part of their voyage they were in range of the coastal cells, no cell calls. The boat and her crew vanished without a trace.

So, anything that could have shed some light on the misterious journey of the Haji Moosa went under. Though the organization had no feeling and its policy didn't support actions based on feelings, Sainuddin and Muhammad Faizal was not going to let the incident go un noticed. Sainuddin took it on himself to approach his superiors in the police force and Faizal turned into his news paper reporter friends.

They wanted revenge, and they didn't care who is at the other end.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Fast Forward over the golden bowl..

Spy Story: The Dovetail
The CIA and the US administration once again "misunderestimated" and young security organization of India. President Hagel had authorized a massive cover up on the fiasco they had, where they tried to kill two birds by one stone. Predictably, the cover up also has failed miserably.

Time is a wonderful thing, the one thing on which you have absolutely no control. Humans had been on the quest to see what lies in the future from the time they developed capability of rational thinking. Every culture in the world have some form of astrology, or fortune telling that signifies this human nature.

President Hagel thought. If only he could see a few months ahead! He had no idea that someone from Pakistan will play straight into his hands and eliminate the need for the convoluted plan made by the CIA guys. On hindsight, the whole thing was bound to fail. He should have listened to Vice PResident Rice. Instead he blindly followed Dan Kruger, and ended up in this mess.

He had no clue how complex the issues when as the president elect he received briefing about the coup in Pakistan, and the reasons why then president Bush had to evacuate General Musharraf from Islamabad. He was not fully aware of the involvement of the chinese in the coup. Everyone expected Gen Yusuf to more or less follow the line of his predecesors and be a poodle to his country. But after a few months, and after his inauguration as president, he realized that Pakistan is no longer a servant to his country. The loyalties has drastically changed. This would seriously affect his campaign promise of "Bring our boys home".

From that point, he wanted a way to bring Pakistan to a manageable state. The infighting and the strong clout of Gen Yusuf with the islamists made it impossible to make another regime change. Also, it ws impossible to remove the long standing "front line ally in war on terror" status from the country. This left only one way. Use the new friend in the area, that is India, to bring Pakistan down, and thereby cut the chinese down a little bit. But that plan could not be made public, even to the British. So, it remained as a hidden agenda. Now in retrospect, the whole idea was in fact planted and nurtured by Dan. What a moron he was not to see it that time, thought Hagel. Finally, when the exiled Pakistani leadership has approached for hep with a coup, he had to give in. He didn't realize how sinister it was at that time. When he did, he was too deep into it so, he couldn't cut and run. Even if wanted to, Dan Kruger wouldn't have allowed it.

So, here he is, looking at a brief marked with the seal of highest classification from his secretary of state.

The Indians knows. They have solid proof. And they are willing to lock it up at some place deep down at New Delhi. After all, India and USA are natural allies after all. India don't want anything to happen that tarnishes the image of the sole superpower.

But of course, the friendship comes at a cost. Not a one time cost, but cost spread over a long period of time to come. To begin with a Nato force stationed at Afghanistan to secure the country while India is busy dealing with Pakistan would be nice. And an endorsement for India's right to defend itself would be nicer.

And the oldest and largest democacies of the world started a tango.

Shubhamasthu!!

Spy Story Concludes

[aditp]

The skipped over pieces of Golden Bowl follows:

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

Sergio Sanchez and Raphael Garcia drove the battered green chevy along the winding road in Napa valley that Sergio knew very well. It was a few days after the cover up started and they hoped the trail did not go too much cold. They knew that the Pakistani gentleman have already left the mansion. Their boss was not too much interested in the man himself, but more on what happened to the house stuff.

Raphael didn't know much on what is going on. But in his long career of shady work in either side of the US-Mexican border has taught him not to worry too much about the details. He is being paid for some jobs, and he was going to do it. He knew Sergio enough to trust him on a job. And of course the Indian gentleman by name Mahendra Vyas seemed to be a nice one too. Raphael was more of a rough hand. Not a cunning operator, in stark contrast to Sergio. Sure, he was hired to do a different job.

They drove past the ranch that hosted Sergio for a few months. The road was completely empty. The graped were getting almost ready for harvest. The frosty red Zinfandels clinging together formed hefty bunches that hung heavily from the frail looking branches. "Crops looks good this year" mused Sergio. He felt a bit of pride, as anyone who grew a fruit would. Luckily for the owner, the black rot didn't spread. Sergio's timely intervention had saved the crop. He made a mental note to visit the winery downhill in a few months to see if he can get a taste of the lot he helped grow.

They stopped the car below the grade leading to the mansion. They walked up the foot trail that Sergio frequented during his nightly vigils. Walking around the small hillock, they passed into the clearing that gave them a clean view of the mansion.

The mansion, as expected, was empty.

They walked back to the car, got in, and drove up the road. A sign was hanging near the driveway entrance, with a realtor's name and phone number. They turned the car around and went back. When they neared the ranch, Sergio turned into the gate, and stopped. Raphael raised an eyebrow. "un momento amigo". Sergio muttered as he got out of the car.

He came back within a minute. "It was a StoreMax van" he said. "Huh?" Raphael didn't understand. Sergio explained. "It was a StoreMax van that took the stuff away". He then dialled the familiar number and relayed the information.

StoreMax had twenty eight locations around the bay area. Out of them, eleven are around the South Bay. Sanjeev made a priority list of locations and went to work to check out them.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

The six wheeler truck did a respectable 65miles an hour over the flat straight stretch of Interstate Highway 5. I5 is the main highway that links the cities of pacific cost of the USA. It links the Canadian and Mexican boundaries and pass through the major cities at the West coast. In fact it is considered part of the pan american highway, linking Alaska to Chile.

From Stockton to Bakesrfield, the I5 runs through the flatlands of the Central valley. This part of California is sparsely populated. The highway runs among vast expanses of farmlands, with state highways branching off providing connectivity to cities like Fresno and Bakersfield. This route is heavily travelled, as the main linkage between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Edgar Robledo, the driver of the six wheeler was looking at the far away stretch of the road. There was nothing to do in the truck, with the cruise control engaged and hardly any need to steer. He was tired. He did the stretch in the opposite direction that ame morning. He had to take this run instead of the one tomorrow, because the guy who was to drive today called in sick. His eyelids felt heavy. He stretched a little and chugged on the large cup of hard latte.

The welcome sight of the Coalinga rest stop beaconed him. Instinctively, he pulled into the offramp. Reducing his speed, he saw, but did not take notice of the green chevy following him. As he parked at one of the truck slots, the chevy also parked, and two hispanic men got out. He had no reason to think of anything.

Ed came back from the restroom after 10 minutes. Gosh, the place was crowded! He held onto the backrest of one of the park benches and stretched himself. After lazing around for a few more minutes, he got into his truck and pulled out of the parking lot.

As he was taking the onramp and merged into the southbound traffic, he heard a click and a rough voice said in an almost soothign tone. "Haga lo que digo, Amigo". Ed startled and skipped a heartbeat. Glancing back, he saw the tall dark figure of Raphael straightening up behind the seat. A gleaming semi auto pointed towards him.

Ed knew the drill. He kept silent and focussed in driving.

The truck then took an offramp to a back road in the middle of nowhere. In a moment, Ed found himself abandoned at the side of the road. He had to jump to the side to save himself, as the green chevy speeded after the truck, almost running him over.

And at that instant, his phone rang.

To Be continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

"Carjacked!! What the $%^# are you talking about?" roared Titus (TJ) Rowen. The double glass windows rattled from the low booming voice of the 6-11 ft, 200 pound man. The StoreEx manager didn't get it fully. He went on something about them being fully insured etc. "You have no $%^&@ idea on what your %^&$ company has done you moron!" again came the roar. The Storex Manager had enough. He simply hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

Rowen broke a cold sweat. The deputy marshall at the US MArshall's office was the primary liaison with the federal intelligence services in the San Francisco jurisdiction. IT was his responsibility to arrange for transportation of the house stuff to Los Angeles. The CIA guys who requested it never told him how important it is. He thought it was simply being moved into a new secret lair for some ex spy or mole. The paperwork never indicated anything secret or critical. Now, hours after the conainer was on the road, the CIA guys are calling and asking him to get security for the shipment. That itself is enough to run a man crazy.

Now, when he called the TCX trucking guys, they claim the truck is stolen en route. The dumbasses are taking it lightly. After all, it is some home stuff. HOME STUFF! that is some consolation! Darned TCX is not gonna answer to the crazy CIA, and the gazillion paperwork he has to file.

The day is spoilt for Rowen for sure.

Within a couple of hours, California Highway Patrol and Fresno and Kings county sherieff's offices were combing the area. They found the TCX truck abandoned on a farm road east of Hanford. Based on report by the driver, they also looked for a green chevy with two hispanic men. They had the descriptions of one of them. But no trace of the car or the stolen stuff was ever found.

The CIA would not disclose what exactly was lost from the container. Likely that the San Francisco office decided to cover THAT as well. Rowen did not hear from them no more, and soon he forgot all about it.

<=======>

After a few days, at an undisclosed location in the south bay area, a pair of technicians entered class 10 clean room. There were four hard disks and a few flash cards for them to recover data from. There was also a crypto card that obviously had self destruct technology.

It was a windfall for the company. In the next several days, gigabytes of data flowed over most secure channels to locations at New Delhi and Hyderabad.

To Be continued

[aditp]

This is for you Rahul M
Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

The five floor nondescript building with fake brick finished walls stood in a quiet neighbourhood, not too far from the busy civic center area of San Francisco. There was no public business being conducted there, so not many knew what is going on inside. However, keen eyes could see the massive steel crashguards at the entrances, disguised as flower pot stands. that was standard equipment for the federal buildings, to thwart any attack using a vehicle. The main doors simply had the building number on it, and nothing could be seen through the tinted glass. But if you happen to walk in, you would see a small front desk and beyond that, a security station complete with X-Ray and metal detectors.

Agent Jeff Boger of FBI worked there, in a cubicle in the third floor.

The place was well secured, especially since it housed the intelligence wing of the organization, dealing with the southwestern region, including California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. The standard detail of security cameras, locks and round the clock monitoring was part of the deal.

It was late in the night. Most of the building is deserted. There was a meeting going on in the fourth floor, and maybe a couple of agents burning the midnight candle. Everything was calm and quiet.

Miguel Ernesto had just started his shift. He belonged to the Calexa Building Services company, who is the janitorial contractor for the feds. He was part of the five men crew that maintained the workplace clean while everyone else slept or partied. A pleasant mannered talkative guy whom everyone liked. The security guards gave a brief go through on his cart, taking a look at the bottles of Lysol and hand soap. The bottles and the bundles of tissues were sent through the xray machine, and pushing the cart through the metal detector, Miguel came back and walked through the loop again, this time the machine not complaining. After exchanging brief pleasantries with the lady at the x-ray console, he put the liquids and tissues on his cart and pushed it towards the elevator

He pressed No 3 on the control.

The elevator dinged and stopped at the door. While Miguel tried to maneuvre his cart through the door, he slightly hit the wall, and dropped the thick mop on the cart. He stopped, bent down and picked it up. He then released the cart, pushed it out and carefully placed the mop on top of the cart.

He took a little time to adjust the mop head. In fact if you have looked hard, you might have seen that the strands of the mop are now combed back and bunched carelessly on top of the wooden block that served as the base. The wooden block is not exposed.

He then proceeded to do his job. Pushing the cart in front of him. Moving from cubicle to cubicle, emtying the trash cans and picking up the odd piece of litter.

And when he reached Boger's cubicle, he parked the cart halfway into the cubicle, instead of leaving it in the passage. Also he was clumsy enough to let the mop fall down again, and he had to pick it up again and place it on top of the cart again.

Yes, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he was geting a handsome amount of dollars for that. After finishing the cubicles, he moved to the bathroom and for no apparent reason, imagined a spot on the floor and started mopping it with the very same mop.

No one would touch it anymore now.

to be Continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Golden Bowl

Raphael Garcia and Sanjeev gupta spent the day watching the grainy video shot by the "mop cam" over and over again. Miguel did a good job of getting the details in. The small camera, made cheaply using a standard webcam parts recorded the video on a tiny flash chip. It gave much more detail than the earlier generation spy cams. Embedded inside the sheet metal body of the mop head, no one would find it, even if it was x-rayed. The tine lens was set in a recess, covered by a rubber boot, and then pasted over by sticky dirt. Once that is removed, the camera can see outside.

They didn't have much time. They should act ASAP.

<=========>

The security detail at the FBI building was mildly surprised to see the new guy who turned up a bit late. It was customary for the Calexa guys to inform them when they have new people. Anyway, this guy had the correct photo ID issued by NSA, so they let him pass. He thanked them, walked over to the eleator and disappeared in.

If they were careful enough, they could have noticed that the laser holographic sticker on the ID was in fact the CE conformance label from a chinese made CFL lamp. However smart the fake ID businedd guys are, they have not yet invented the technology to reproduce holograms.

<=========>

Armed with the detailed knowledge gained from the mop cam, Raphael confidently walked out of the elevator on the third floor. He systematically moved from cubicle to cubicle, emptying the trash cans. When he reached Boger's cubicle, clumsiness overtook him, and the stuff on his cart came tumbling down. With a loud expletive, he started getting them back. During the process, he spent lot of time ducked into the cubicle, out of sight from the security cameras.

Finally when he finished cleaning up the mess he made, there was a hard disk and a few CDs wrapped in a trash bag extra in the huge trach can on the cart. He let a sigh out and continued the job.

After finishing the cubicles, he tied up the trash into a bundle and camly dropped it into the garbage chute near the fire exit. The bundle, with the much sought after content inside, landed with a thump three floors down, into the dumpster.

<=========>

Early next morning, there was no one to notice the American Recycling garbage truck picking up the dumpster, out of schedule. Instead of driving to the landfill in San Mateo, it drove to a blighted neighbourhood in Colma. Two men in protective suits climbed in and started sifting through the smelly lot. They finally found what they were looking for after half an hour of searching. They left the truck there, and left in a hurry.

The day brought a huge commotion not only at the FBI building, but also at the Calexa office as well as the SFPD office. Miguel Ernesto had reported that he fell asleep after he had a drink with a woman he took home. He woke up only in the morning. Nothing was missing from the house, except his work ID and some cash. FBI found that the hard disk of the PC used by agent Boger is missing, along with some CDs left in the drawer. Agents rushed to Miguel's place and recovered some evidence, including a pair of beer mugs. Blood tests on Miguel shown the influence of a sleep inducing agent.

Images of Raphael Garcia was sent for ID, and returned with a string of crimes attached. On a hunch, Boger sent the image to the StoreMax guys. Edgar Robledo, the driver who was carjacked, instantly recognized him as the guy who carjacked his truck.

Heads would Roll!

to be Continued

[aditp]

Spy Story: The Final Bow
Sanjeev Gupta pulled out of the drive thru window of the Carl's Jr restaurant. The nice smell of french fries and flame broiled burgers filled inside the car. He was wary of his surroundings. The secured e-mail he got from 'the Ascetic' had an unusual dark tone. "Be wary of your shadow" was the cryptic message from the elusive mentor. You don't need great IQ to figure out that he and his team did mess with the CIA and FBI. What he did not know was how much advanced they are in figuring out his role.

Sanjeev was a direct recruit from his college. He was born to wealthy parents from Delhi. By the time he was 20, he had achieved enough notereity, that the parents had to pack him off to Bangalore in the guise of doing MBA. His exploits included drug abuse, sex scandals, cyber crimes and street violence. The final straw came when he messed with the son of a very influential politician, where both men competed for the affection of the same girl. Having lost the girl, he took vengence by obtaining a video of them in a very intimate situation and publishing it on the internet. He did such a good job, that the nascent cybercrime cell of Delhi police could not find any evidence linking him to the crime.

He continued the same lifestyle even at Bangalore. In fact, being away from the known circle of Delhi gave him more opportunities of mischief. But everything turned upside down one day, when terrorists decided to attack his college. The burst from the AK-47 instantly killed his girlfriend and tore the flesh away from his elbow. A moment of romantic chat was instantly turned into the most horrific tragedy he ever faced. After all the women he had in his life, he really loved Suman Bopanna, the smart, fair girl from Madikeri. MAbe he was not destined to have fruitful relationships. Maybe fate had other designs for him. Anyway, that incident had profound impact on his life.

Barely discharged from the hospital, and enraged by the loss of two more students and a professor apart from his girlfriend, he went on what he knew he could. He started his own tracking down of the terrorists. The Bangalore police was absolutely no help, but Sanjeev was not a person to take no for an answer.

What got eventualy published in the media all over the country was how the IB gave the police critical leads resulting in arrest of the terrorists from a safe house in BTM Layout and also of a bunch of facilitators from around the city. Sanjeev's name or his role in tracking them down was never officially acknowledged. But he did get a visit from a grey haired gentleman from RHS Technologies Pvt. Ltd. a week later. Four months later, Sanjeev finished the last of his exams and took a flight to Hyderabad to join the company.

His father was the happiest man on earth that day. He was glad that his wayward son is not enthusiastically joining a software company.

But he never knew it was a much nobler cause his son has dedicated his life for.

After hardly a year at the Hyderabad facility, he was hired by a small bodyshop outfit as marketing executive at their Singapore office. After an year, he was transferred to the Bay Area office. Shortly, he took the job of being the eyes and ears of the country at one of the very important areas in USA. He setup home in an apartment in Richmond district and settled down. The job was pretty dull by his standards. There are some Paki businesses who financed the terror operations, and there were some drug running. Also there were some people trying to continue the Khalistan movement, but their activities didn't go much beyond demonstrations at the Indian events conducted around the Bay Area. He used to get a lot of time at hand to enjoy what San Francisco offered to men like him.

Then fate again intervened in the form of General Pervez Musharraf. He has decided to live his exiled life at Napa Valley, which falls under his jurisdiction.

Life was not the same for Sanjeev Gupta after that.

He reached home, parked the car and started walking back to his apartment.

<=======>

Agent Jeff Boger sat on the uncomfortable plastic chair, watching the re run of a San Francisco Giants. He was an ardent fan of the team once, but after Barry Bonds left the scene, the team was not the same. He still gets creeps watching the game when he hit the legendary XXXth home run. Jeff had missed that game, being on urgent work. He had tickets for the game ready for his then girlfriend and himself. He turned and looked at the dark figure slouched in front of the monitors. He kind of liked Agnes Hayes. She was very good at what she did, and very chic to boot. They had worked together on a couple of other stakeouts before, and poor Jeff couldn't even get her to share a drink with him. The faint light from the bunch of monitors projected a siluette of her curves, and Jeff sat there, taking it all in.

"He is in". The sound of her voice startled Jeff. He rose slowly and walked over to the work centre. There were a few monitors clustered around and a console of switches and keys in front. The monitors showed various views of the apartment they are staking out. The big 21 inch monitor in the middle was showing a view through the bedroom window. It was dark, and the IR enhanced image clearly shown the cold window pane against the warmer wall around it. Also, he could see the computer at the work table, which is plugged in and warm. Agnes turned on the laser beam on the window pane, and the loud speaker came alive with white noise first and then clicks and taps heard when someone moved around the house.

They heard footsteps and suddenly the monitor lit up to blank white. It took a few seconds to settle and the image clearly shown the floor lamp being switched on. The shape of a man was visible, walking around the room. "He is going to close the blinds", said Agnes. But as they watched, the man sat down and started eating something that looked like a burger. They waited more than tn minutes before he finished eating, cleaned up the place and then walked up and closed the blinds.

"Mr. Vyas is in business", said Agnes. "I think we can use his real name now Agnes." Jeff said rather dryly. Man, he even hated the words Sanjeev Gupta. He couldn't come to terms to the fact that this guy, maybe young enough to be his son, had him garndly. Even after he knew that he is going to get him down to the slammer tonight.

The loud speaker started to give out the clickety clack of someone typing on the keyboard. Then it was shaded by a loud hum. "He turned on the breaker". Let's go", said Jeff. "It's showtime".

Both of them, and the man who was silently watching the game stood up, passed their hands over the sidearm and radio, tapped the earset, nodded to each other and walked out of the room.

It was payback time for FBI.

<============>

The stakeout was the culmination of many sleepless nights for Jeff boger and his colleagues. He didn't care too much about the stuff belonged to the General, but his own hard disk, from his own goshdarn cubicle! Now that is one hit too much. He know who did it, but despite serious efforts by his colleagues and even SFPD, no evidence could be drawn. All they had was a picture of the perp who actually hit the FBI building and the truck. He did the obvious thing, that is circulating the picture all around the country.

The breakthru happened when Raphael Garcia was arrested in the suburbs of San Diego. He was apprehended by the border patrol, trying to sneak to Mexico. Faced with the photographic evidence and a plea bargain, he readily admitted working with Mahendra vyas, and specifically, pointed out the fast food joint in Santa Rosa where they met. From there, they could get the image of Sanjeev Gupta from the security tapes. It took only a day to trace Sanjeev, and set up a stakeout at his apartment. While they watched every move of him, another team collected and analysed evidence on his activities, piling up a case.

The final piece of the puzzle was, however, in Sanjeev's computer. The cyber security experts had warned that it would have a very sophisticated security protection, so it must be apprehended while in operation, and a cryptoanalyst team must immediately take over the equipment. It took a couple of days to assemble them, and they are ready to roll now.

Two more men joined Jeff's group silently. They lugged what looked like large briefcases, and walked a few feet behind. They walked over the pavement, crossed the grass patch and assembled in front of the front door. Jeff tok a step forward and rang the tiny door bell.

<========>

Sanjeev Gupta was working at his laptop. The little CardBus adapter snug in the slot did the magic of encrypting every byte of data that got transferred in the machine. It linked with the company network over a public DSL connection, but the logical link was encrypted to the highest level. Even the hard disk, including the swap file was encrypted. The laptop, made by Ansol Systems Pvt. Ltd at Noida also contained several counter intelligence options even he didn't understand.

He was startled when the door bell rang. That WAS unusual. He hit the F11 hotkey to secure the screen before moving out to see who it was.

Looking through the viewhole, he missed a heartbeat, and cold seat started tickling his brow. The 6-11 frame of agent Boger almost covered the view, with one equal sized guy and a smaller woman in the rear. All of them had their right hand behind their back.

"Open the door PLEASE". It sounded like a tiger's growl. Sanjeev had no other option than to comply.

Sanjeev opened the door. Boger gave out a smile that was almost mixed with a snicker. "FBI. You are under arrest". Boger said in a tone as neutral as he possibly could make. "Don't move, and keep your hands where I can see them". One of the other officers moved in swiftly and clicked the handcuffs.

Two more walked in with an unusual certainity and moved into his second bedroom that is being used as an office room. With methodical precision, they unplugged the power supply of the laptop and plugged it into a portable unit. Then they unplugged the network cable from the jack. Taking care not to touch any of the keys or fold the display, they proceeded to move the laptop into a padded carton box. That took almost a minute.

During that period, at some moment of time, a tiny capacitor discharged into a new of nichrome wires and burned up several square millimetres of silicon chip. Moments before, a small routine embedded in the BIOS started a loop clearing the DRAM and the HDD.

What the analysts at Langley got the next day was a burned up security processor and a cleaned out HDD.

<======>

the ordeal Sanjeev had to go through in service of the motherland was one chapter better reserved for a later time on a later media. It suffice to say that the americans, despite all the human rights activists, laws and courts, can be very cruel when they want to, even within the US.

He will have to suffer several weeks, till one day, as suddenly as he was incarcerated, he was released without any explanation, other than an advice to take the next flight home and to never come back to the USA. As of now, we do not know his whereabouts.

The golden bowl was opened, but the truth was not allowed to be seen. There will always be forces beyond the comprehension of simple mortals at play. The ultimate truth maybe that "The people can't handle the truth". At least that is what the soft spoken Prime Minister told his trusted National Security Advisor.

The End

[aditp]

DILEEP’S SPY STORY – 1 started in Possible Indian Military Scenarios – Part V ENDS HERE.


Awwww my hand aches.


Mods may kindly lock this thread and place in "Spy Story Archive"

[ramana]

Aditp, Thanks for putting Dileep's first spy story together.