“Gifts from the Gulf” continues…

It was then that the Ambassador informed me that Aftab Ansari a.k.a. Farhan Malik had been arrested at the Dubai International Airport on Feb. 23, 2002, the day after the Kolkata attack. He was attempting to leave for Islamabad by an Emirates flight and was travelling on a Pakistani Passport J 872142, in the name of Safeer Mahmood Rana issued at Lahore. The details of the passport were the same as had been shared by me with Ambassador Singh and Ambassador Blackwill. We would never know how much the Americans contributed in getting Dubai to locate and arrest Aftab but my own sense is that involving the Americans, in all probability, did help in getting Dubai to react fast. The news of Aftab’s arrest was kept close to their chest by the Dubai authorities between Feb 23 – the date of his interception and my anxious wait continued for the remaining part of February 6 & 7 during which I was deluged with phone calls from Delhi.

My bosses wanted to know the progress almost every half an hour as the Government of India was getting impatient. Finally, on February 8, I was given the good news by our Ambassador that I could take Aftab Ansari back to India as his deportation had been cleared by the Dubai government. I conveyed the decision to my Director with the request that a government aircraft be sent to bring the captive back to Delhi.

To be continued…