conclusion: The incident at fatasil ambari
Guwahati Central Post Office & Telephone exchange
Feb 21, 11:30PM
Living quarters for the NSG(SAG)+DAE nuclear terrorism response
detachment had been selected in the unused top floor of the big seven
story building after some careful logistical considerations. When the team
had initially flown in under the cover of a CBI investigation , the Assam
police DIG liasing with them had gone over a big map of guwahati with
the visitors. The GPO being at panbazar, the central hub of the city was
well connected by roads to the eastern, western suburbs and by ferry to
the IIT campus and township in north guwahati across the brahmaputra.
It was also around 6km from the southern areas of the city though the
roads leading there were always very crowded. Lacking in expressways
or light rail, siting the 'hide' in panbazar was decided on as the best
compromise.
Accordingly these 'CBI officials' carting large trunkloads of forensic
equipment, computers , radios and assorted 'files' had been given use of
a vacant upper floor kept for future expansion. A dormitory of sorts, a
command center and a general living area with old sofas and TVs
borrowed from the circuit house across the street had been provided, as
also mess facility in the circuit house.
So the days had passed quietly, playing cards, doing recon drives to
familiarize themselves with the city and waiting for anything to do. The
team consisted of 10 SAG troopers under the command of captain
Gurung formerly of the gorkha regt. The DAE component were two
technicians Mr. K Nagaiah and Mr.Saroja Mallick both of whom were
involved in a unknown capacity within the N-weapons program. Gurung
was told during the initial briefing that while they were certainly not weapons designers , they knew enough and had the tools to detect a real
n-weapon from a conventional one and some skills in analyzing and
defusing it. Further questions were not entertained by the brigadier
conducting the briefing session in Maneswar. They usually kept to
themselves bar the occasional trip to a movie theater (they carried cellphones and a jeep always waiting outside lest their services be
desired at an odd moment).
Two temporary unlisted phone lines had been strung up from the
exchange below and a small vsat dish on the roof gave their computers
access to the defence services data network, A couple of long range
radios in the control room completed the austere picture.
Around 10:30 when most of them were ready to turn in, bar the two
people monitoring the phone and radio inside the control room....capt
gurung finally received the call he had hoped not to receive. After
running around giving terse orders for ten minutes they finally had the
necessary work tools ready and marched down in single file thru the rear
fire escape to a couple of waiting Canter minibuses below with dark tinted
glasses. These were requisitioned from a local bus operator and
the rear section of seats had been removed to keep a clear area where
equipment could be stored, assembled and discussions help between
small groups of people. Three large PVC boxes were quickly manhandled
aboard the first bus and two boxes for the second bus.
The 25 min journey to fatasil ambari lay ahead. Gurung uttered a silent
prayer as he opened the first box and took out his trusted HK MP5/10
weapon and clipped in a translucent straight 30 round magazine with its
matching mag clipped upside down. Unlike the old curved mags, these
allowed the operator to get visual feedback on ammo status and two
mags fit together without a extra clamp. Opposite him lance naik Kenghe
opened up another box, withdrew another smaller box from the
equipment inside and finally exposed his PSG-1 rifle to the dim light
inside the lurching bus. And so it went on - tactical radios (purchased
from israel in late 2004 with small bud type earpieces and a call-center
type mouthpiece, body armour, kevlar helmets, hand held thermal
imagers for 4 people , ammo, high intensity xenon torches made of aircraft grade aluminium, 9mm pistols strapped into thigh
holsters,..not much equipment this was not a sustained operation
needing food or camping supplies.
After some thought, Gurung did not alert the assam police HQ 2 kms
away. The police had no stealth, no training for this line of work and
were easily identifiable and in uniform. In a crowded henhouse like fatasil they could not maintain any cordon, so he thought it better
to go in and take his chances alone. he had the cell number of the liaison
DIG if heavy support was needed for whatever reason - like need to
evac casualties to the medical college hospital.
The two DAE technicians rode in the first bus grasping two hard shell
suitcases and did not check anything. They did however don body armour
from the NSG boxes.
********
At midnight, Fatasil was relatively quiet...not too many people on the
streets, just the late working rickshaw pullers and auto-rickshaw drivers
straggling back home from their last trip. A few roadside tea shops here
and there supplied hot tea and biscuits to these late comers. The
homeless snuggled deep into the cracks and corners of soild structures
to try and keep themselves warm. Near the godowns the night was alive
with floodlights and trucks growled through muddy yards to loading
docks where gangs of labour sang and shouted to keep their spirits
up during the unloading-loading process. semi feral dogs slept fitfully
near the dying embers of roadside fires, waking up now and then to
bark and register their protest at each new smell or furtive activity.
The local thieves and robbers, after finishing off their dinners, loading
up on a little brewski and finally began to filter furtively out of the
warren of shanties and depart in small groups to whichever
neighbourhoods they planned to target that night. Pickings were easy
because guwahati had a lot of money. it had gone underground when
the insurgents were around, but had come out later with a vengeance.
conspicuous consumption was OK, it was OK to enjoy & to spend and this
created opportunities and materials for thieves to steal. pimps prowled
the busier corners, calling out to lonely and tired truckers marking time
in the tea shops and dhabas as their trucks were made
ready. women of easy virtue linked to these pimps stood ready in nearby
ramshackle houses to service any clients. A thick fog hung over the
area, laced with the miasmic vapour of the bharalu river flowing gently
along the periphery carrying raw sewage. kerosene fuelled hurricane
lamps lit the interior of many huts, many had a sole
electric bulb fuelled by a illegal wire tapped into the nearest street line.
inside, tired men steadily drank their blues away, life was hard but could
be made manageable with strong liquor and a sniff of glue or a puria of
charas now and then. There were also long-suffering wives to rape and
kids to lash out at if things didnt go well any given day.
Nobody but the dogs paid attention to the two canter buses with interior
lights off driving slowing across the bharalu bridge from the north. there
were many semi-legal transport operators who ran bus services in the
city and had garages here. everyone knew to keep well clear of them in
the early morning when their 'trainee' drivers little more than 16 yr old
kids were let loose to learn the trade in the relatively empty city streets.
Two big shaggy dogs with sores & mange on their rumpquarters somehow
did not like the smell of these buses and gave chase for a while , barking
their hate and agitation, foam dripping from bared fangs.
But nobody minded a few extra barks. The buses continued on,
penetrating 2 km into the shantydown to a place where the ground
started rising up steeply towards the creastline of the 300m tall
Kalapahar hill.
Lucky Engineering Works, the sign at the gate of the industrial facility said.
*******
At 6:00PM the Assam IB undercover agent detailed to locate the nest
had finally become certain of its location. It had been a painstaking
process since the co-ordination group meeting. First potential hiding
places in the city were identified - it had to be someplace where a bunch of strangers wouldnt attract much attention, with easy escape routes,
some base of local logistical support, where police presence was minimal,
near to highways...fatasil had topped the shortlist of candidates. Next
small teams of people went to work as labour, roadside food vendors,
fake renters looking for places to stay, travelling islamist literature
booksellers (seized caches of such materials had come in
use there), local police had quietly but brutally shaken down their
informers who generally were the smalltime local criminals. A "group" of
people had to be watched for, because a payload like the demonstration
near Dhaka was too valuable to be under the protection of only a couple
of people...A "group" that kept to themselves and had no visible means
of livelihood...A "group" that preferred to show themselves at night.
Three days ago, a member of the scout team while getting his cycle repaired at a local shop had heard the owner complain bitterly under his
breath that people didnt pay him too well anymore and how difficult it was
to make a living..without expecting anything he had asked in sympathy
what the matter was and it came out a bitter argument had ensued over
charges when two unknown people had come to get their motorcycle
fixed at dusk the day before. The strangers had tried to pass him
some fake money, which he caught...they had soothed him with twice the
real money and gone away into the Lucky Engineering Works compound
about 300m away...normally he wouldnt care where customers went, but
he did keep one eye on the cheats as they departed and observed them
turning off the road.
The problem was that Lucky engineering works had been closed and
locked for two years. The owner had upped and left for udaipur after
insurgent extortion threats.
The compound was overgrown with grass, rusty pieces of iron machinery
and raw materials lay in the open, the engineering shed had a few tin
sheets missing here and there from the monsoon storms. the office
annexe had broken glass windows and cobwebs 2 feet thick, the workers
dormitory was at the rear of this annex.
A careful watch was mounted from the wooded hill above day and night.
Six men were confirmed to be staying in the workers dormitory out of
sight from the road. They cooked their own food and seldom moved
during the day, preferring to shop for food at night.
Nobody came to the compound because there was no reason to. nothing
to steal or vandalize - these noble activities having run their course two
years ago. the local gamblers had more comfortable haunts and the
homeless couldnt stay without a proper roof and among the scorpions
and snakes prowling around. The 5 acre compound, backed by the
wooded hill was a dead place. Mature trees screened it from
the sides should any suicidal onlooker prefer to climb the rusting roofs of
the neighbouring godowns.
At 6:00PM , portable SIGINT gear hauled to the observation post on the
hill picked up radio transceiver activity and that had been the clincher. A
pack of itinerant car thieves or robbers wouldnt have that kind of
equipment and the lack of desire to use the local PCOs indicated a need
for deep cover.
So the spotter had used his reliance cell to call up Capt. Gurung and his
hit squad.
*******
The buses passed the engineering compound and 200 mts away around a corner turned their headlights off , turned into a unsurfaced road leading
a zig-zag path up the hill....several huts , dark with sleeping occupants
were passed initially, then a thick grove of bamboo trees, then into a
shallow ravine which screened the buses from any observers down
below. The spotter was waiting their quietly with his cellphone on and giving precise directions.
The buses stopped and the occupants came out one by one , their eyes
already adjusted to the darkness outside....in single file the eleven men
started walking up the hill - the road had finished and only a dirt track
clinging to the hillside was ahead. The bus drivers gently took a K-turn in
the confined space and moved downhill ..orders were to wait at a
location 3km away and serve as a comm relay if need be. the drivers,
both from assam police black panthers unit had been provided the same
type of radios the SAG people used.
35 mins after midnight, capt gurung got to unclip his HHTI and started
carefully going over the terrain below. His deputy Kenghe simply used
the massive nightsights of his PSG-1 to look around for a good hiding spot.
The untidy sprawl of fatasil lay out 200m below them, now mostly dark
and with occasional groves of trees. The Lucky works compound was
directly below with the 6' tall rear wall almost overgrown with jungle
weeds. it was holed in a couple of places probably by the weight of raw
materials dumped inside the wall and lack of upkeep. The factory hall
was dark, the dormitory had a couple of lamps showing
through soot blackened windows. There was some cover inside the
compound in the piles of iron rods, coal ash, girders and the shadows
and obstructions these created.
******
The squad pulled back from the observation line and after 10 mins of
discussion and planning, the creeping approach began. the spotter stayed
put, armed with a HHTI loaned to him and his cellphone and tactical radio
(again loaned) close at hand. From above the action he would be able to
monitor the assault and listen to anything on the ad-hoc short range radio
net. It took a few moments only for everyone to power up their tadiran
small radios and check that all were on same channel. Nagaiah and
Mallick remained with him, suitcases at the ready.
Gurung decided to use silencers for everyone seeing the CQB nature of
the problem and need for stealth to avoid rousing the local population into a hostile mob. They had no place to hide at the front and no way to
prevent a carload of people from escaping. The stubby black silencer
screwed into the sharp end of the MP5/10 , he led 8 men down the
hill...crawling and crouching, going slowly from bush to bush, using trees
for cover where available. The sickle moon with its feeble light helped
somewhat. Kenghe and his backup/close-in guard who was armed with a
AK47 moved separately, diagonally down the hill to a spot he had
selected atop the labourers toilet block which was RCC flat roofed and
located about 40mts from the dorm, right next to the wall at
the corner where the rear wall met the side wall. This would allow a field
of fire covering the rear and one side of the building. In a pinch they
could jump down and participate close in, though Kenghe just had his
pistol as a backup. He figured the chances of anyone visiting the toilet at
this late hour minimal, anyone wanting to pee would likely just walk out
and let fly against the rear wall and its boundary gutter...terrorists esp
pak ones had never been famous for their toilet hygiene.
Kenghe reached the rear wall first since they could just walk down using
a thick grove of bamboo to mask their movement. A quick jump and he
pulled himself his face over the wall and carefully looked around,
listening for any activity inside the toilets....1 min, the muscles of his arms
straining from the effort he decided the coast was clear and pulled up
further using his legs to lever himself atop the wall and flat onto the roof
into one fluid economical motion. His partner sharma carefully handed up
the giant sniper rifle and himself moved up to join kenghe shortly. turning on his NVG scope, he selected minimum distance given the short distance and slowly extended the bipod and chambered
one of the long sleek rounds into the firing chamber...drawing a line onto
the rear door of the dormitory but positioning his body to permit a easy
swivel towards the front of the building. Sharma was quiet, furtively
scanning all directions and listening for any noises.
Gurung's team reached the rear wall 10 mins after kenghe and paused
briefly to select the quietest ingress point. He sent off 4 men around the
side, two to cover the far side of the building and two to creep in from the
front via the factory shed. Gurung and three associates would be the
main entry force and enter from the rear.
Another ten mins of nerve wracking creeping and everyone had crossed
the boundary wall...the moon had crept behind a cloud, affording some
additional shadow and the crawl across the yard for the front and rear
teams went without incident. Inside the room Gurung spotted moving
shadows indicating people were awake. the two troopers meant to cover
the side took position behind a pile of bricks and waited. the two from
the front started a slow, cautious approach through the pile of trash,
girders and scrap iron strewn on the factory shopfloor towards the
dormitory in the rear. Another 10 mins and they had reached position at
the entrace of the dormitory.
A quiet word from gurung on the radio and the front team tried the door
and finding it unlocked, very quietly looked inside a disused dusty room
with another door leading into the other rooms...a dim glow came around
a corner where presumably the occupants were. the smell of cooking
meat and spices wafted down the corridor. one member readied two flash
grenades and both froze into the shadows tight as a piano wire, safeties
came noiselessly off their weapons and fingers crept to high intensity
torches clipped on their gun barrels.
Gurung looked at the moon, checked status quietly on the radio and led
his team to the right and left of the rear door..silent black shadows barely
perceptible to the naked eye from 20 mts away. Up on the hill, the
spotter trained his HHTI keenly and held his breath waiting for the
inevitable. He saw the troopers fold down their NVG googles from each
helmet.
"GO" - thirteen radios heard the call, two in the parked buses and their
drivers flinched with the finality of the word.
Gurung swivelled to the door and smashed it in with a single kick,
aiming for the latch area in the middle. trooper#2 threw in two stun
grenades on a 1-sec fuse aiming to the left and right of the door. Gurung
and his buddy #2 entered together a moment after the flasg , guns
drawn....he could feel the pounding of blood in his neck as everything
spooled down into a slow motion, everything was green, with splotches of
white....to the left a dazed looking shalwar clad man clutching his dinner
plate *burp burp* he pumped two shots and scanned for more, his shots
came a moment before #2 pumped in another two acting on reflexes. #3
and #4 entered and moved right....a sleeping man had risen to his feet
clutching a small weapon ...#3 who was covering that quadrant ventilated
his head in two places....quick scanning all over the room...nobody....the
man had fallen back on the bed, #3 rushed over to check him for explosives...something fell from the bed..he recoiled in horror expecting
a grenade...a magazine...its cover read "hustler"...#3 cursed viciously,
good heavens we caught this guy jacking off under the blanket....
Gurung looked around the room in a sweep...nobody...up in the front #5
and #6 came in sweeping through the empty rooms...nothing....gurung
heard the report on the radio and headed for the stairs on the double with
his three people close behind...where the f*** were the other four..they
must be having some secret bedroom on the 2nd floor that none of the
spotters had managed to identify ......twenty stairs, a darkened hallway
ahead with seven doors leading off left and right.
A head bobbed around a doorway follwed by a body....gurung snapped
off two hasty shots, one hit the shoulder and one missed, #2 following
one step behind finished the job with a double shot into the head...fingers
contracted as the dead body collapsed on floor...loosing off six shots
that felt like bombs going off in the confined space..
#4 and #3 peeled off to explore the rooms on the right, gurung and #2
continued on the left rooms.....a burst of wild gunfire from entrance of the
last room indicated someones presence and #2 unleashed another flash
grenade around the corner ... both entered together guns up and ready.
Shots rang out, gurung left #2 collapse into him as two figures hiding
behind a bunch of boxes appeared to his NVG..the buggers must have
held clothes over their eyes as they heard the grenade land, the
situation was bad...gurung dived to the right on the floor
and flipped his MP5 into full auto, landing in a roll he aimed a burst in the
general direction of the boxes and let rip...a gurgle indicated someone
was hit but then sounds of rapidly departing footsteps....gurung flipped up
his NVG and ran around the stacked boxes, a bleeding body lay on the
floor, no sign of the second figure.
There was another corridor leading to short flight of steps ..some sort of
attic space....he kept moving carefully listening for signs of activity..
...noises up above....one by one the steps up to the attack....he again felt
the pulsing in his neck as he gently poked his weapon up into the attic..
..expecting a burst of gunfire in greeting...nothing..but more noises..
..not good...nothing to do but move on...he heard the footfalls of #3 and
#4 rushing up behind him and went in , diving in a roll immediately and
trying to scan for the missing guy at the same time. A battery powered
table lamp seemed to be on, a work table of some kind, lots of wires and
things on the table.
Up near the end of the attic, 30 feet way stood Hakim clad in only a
banian and shorts. Around him near the table stood the arsenal of his
cell..around 300 lbs of high explosives carefully smuggled in small lots
over the last one year. On the table lay the long special box sent by the
Ababeel for which a life had already been taken.
Gurung took a couple of seconds to size up the situation, hakim was
unarmed in terms of a handgun and looked a little terrified...so chances
were he would surrender , there was no escape...#3 had already
appeared to back him up and shooting could ignite something..he could
almost smell the explosives.
He turned his torch into Hakims eyes and moved in a crouch...demanding
that Hakim raise his hands and lie on the floor.
Too late he spotted the belt around hakims waist and the green pocket
hanging off it....Hakim almost smiled as he thought of Anisa and pulled
the cord already in his hands.....Anisa whom the indian shells had killed in
her village near the LOC...he felt satisfied....he couldnt do everything but
he had done his part...everyone had to contribute and unite behind the
Cause....he hoped his brothers would complete the job..for him the time
given was over...and there was Anisa to meet.....
Gurung in the last split second of his life did bring his gun to bear and
launch a hail of bullets at Hakim..but there was no more time.
Kenghe recoiled in shock as the entire attic and roof of the building
exploded showering dust, cement, broken bricks and vicious slivers of
wood all over... ...he rolled off the toilet roof..landing awkwardly 6 feet
below still clutching the rifle..sharma rolled off another side and landed
badly, spraining his ankle. "oh shit". pain throbbed in his head and he got
to his feet and started moving cautiously towards his side of the building
, reflexes took over as he saw a lean looking figure open a second floor
window, climb on the parapet, jump to the ground 10 feet below and
start running across the yard....the giant rifle moved to his
shoulder...round already ready....swiveled his body to line up...
....too close for the scope....the lean figure looked to have hit
a brick wall at 100mph as the heavy slug carved a path through his chest
cavity and continued on..penetrating the side of the building also to hit
girders inside.
A dazed looking #5 emerged from the rear door dragging a wounded #6
after him.
************************
Eyes Only CCS.
From: NSG Secretariat
Time: 6 AM - Feb22
First information report from NSG_DAE team in guwahati confirm
* a live low-yield nuclear device was in place at the fatasil site
* said device has its explosive trigger destroyed by a conventional
blast and is non-functional
* said device has been id'ed by DAE members and is held secure in
borjhar airport now
* AN32 enroute to pickup and bring to BARC, fighter escort is arranged
* four SAG operatives confirmed lost, including leader Capt Gurung,
one operative injured
* Local police instructed to pass on news of gas cylinder(s) explosion
to the media from illegal welding shop.
* site is secured with army platoon now, forensic people are enroute
* six unknown terrorists confirmed dead, no survivors to question
* Police has picked up two maulvis for incendiary speeches in the area,
heavy police presence has been arranged to prevent untoward incidents
* SAG team is flying back with wounded member, replacement team
is leaving today morning. DAE members will remain onsite.
* The trail to other Cell members has turned cold with the destruction
of the site. Further progress will depend on forensics.
**************************
From: NSG secretariat
To: NSG SAG team
Feb22, evening
Yesterday we lost four of our finest in a incident at guwahati. We mourn
the loss of our friends and comrades in arms, victims of the unrelenting
fight against our nations enemies. We hope to keep alive their memory in
our dedication to our nations defence, something they laid their lives
down for. The nation will never know of their real sacrifice but let us hope
it is worthy of its great patriots - men like captain Prem gurung, havildar
Mitra thapa, havildar raj vasisht and havildar rajesh rao.
May their souls rest in eternal peace. A prayer service will be held at
dawn tomorrow.