Chessboard

Ravi Kumar, head of the Central Counterterrorism Command (C3) of the Intelligence Bureau, is haunted by the partial success of Operation Haygreeva. He and his team of young recruits-Mihir, Cyrus and Jose-exposed designs of a hitherto-unknown terrorist outfit, the Lashkar-e-Hind (LeH), responsible for the Mumbai train blasts. But the mission they had staked their lives on remains significantly unfinished.

The LeH's leader, Tabrez, had managed to escape to Pakistan. Looking to expand the scale of his operations and strike back at India in previously inconceivable ways, Tabraz becomes the lynchpin of a sinister K2 plan of the Pak ISI to leverage different socio-political anxieties and create a vast network of radicalized minds penetrating deep into Indian society, to destabilize the delicate fabric that holds the nation together. Despite having faced severe personal trauma, Ravi and his team come together to launch deft counterterror and counterintelligence maneuvers, codenamed Operation Sudarshan Chakra, putting everything, including their individual safety, at risk.

Former Intelligence Bureau Officer, Prabhakar Aloka(IPS 1986), with a three-decade stint at the premier Intelligence agency, brings Operation Sudarshan Chakra a gripping espionage thriller that shares an insider's expert view of India's counter-terror and counter-insurgency through Ravi Kumar and his team of young recruits.

'I'm afraid I have ominous news for you, ma'am. Takshak has established contact after a decade and a half.'

A look of grave worry dawns on Sarita's face at the very mention of Takshak.

'And . . .?'

'It appears that long-dormant sleeper cells of Khalsa Tigers have been reactivated in Europe.'

The tense muscles on Sarita's face visibly ease up, 'That really shouldn't be all that worrying, Ravi. They keep trying every few years, but they always fail. They have no money, no arms, and most importantly, virtually no leadership. The old guard is all mostly gone. Besides, whatever presence they have is all outside the country. This used to be a real concern in the early years, no doubt. But we've come a long way since then. We're a stronger country. We can now count on nearly every important foreign intelligence agency to extend their cooperation.'

'Indeed, ma'am. This time too, a very important foreign intelligence agency is extending its cooperation. But, not to us.'

Sarita is stunned. 'ISI?' 'I'm afraid so, ma'am.'

'What exactly is their plan?'

'At this point, we can only speculate. For now, what we know is that an ISI asset is arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport in less than ten days from now. From there he will be picked up and driven into India by Surjeet Singh Sandhu, who was formerly number three in the Khalsa Tigers chain of command. If he's risked his safety at this old age, by coming back to India, my hunch is that something very big is in the offing. We must prepare to confront a huge storm. It's not just a professional collaboration between two enemy organizations that we're dealing with here, but a marriage in the true sense.'

Sarita is befuddled, 'I'm sorry . . . I'm not sure I follow.'

'What I'm trying to say is that this isn't one of those logistical and financial partnerships that the ISI usually establishes with most anti-India terror outfits. It's not purely transactional, and certainly not just about orchestrating attacks on civilians. It's much more sinister than that. What they're hoping to do is build strong networks of solidarity between the secessionist currents in Punjab and Kashmir. Since Tabrez is also an important cog in the wheel, they'll look to then manoeuvre those synergies to mobilize wider support by tapping into minority anxieties across the country. At this point, I can only speculate on how they plan on doing it. But I'm quite certain that if we let them succeed, they will have blurred the lines between political expression and outright secession. And if that happens, the integrity of our nation will be in peril. Again, this is all still partially just conjecture. If we are to discover anything concrete, we must act smartly. Instead of capturing the ISI agent straightaway, we must allow him to enter the country and commence operations. Within closely monitored conditions, of course. But in order to pull this off, I will need to ask for your permission.'

Sarita understands Ravi well enough to know that if he is asking for permission, he surely has a wild idea up his sleeve.

'What do you have in mind?'

'I'm proposing that we re-induct Madan Singh into the bureau. On a contractual basis, of course. He will impersonate Sandhu and bring the ISI man into India.'

'You don't mean the beedi-smoking Madan Singh?' 'The very same, ma'am.'

(Excerpted with permission from 'Operation Sudarshan' by Prabhakar Aloka, Rs 272, published by Penguin Random House India)