"Return of the Memons- A Pyrrhic Victory" continues...

The staffer was a married man and he and his wife had a small baby. Suresh met the staffer and his wife and felt reassured that Rahin would be safe with them. He succeeded in persuading his relatives to leave Rahin behind and get out of Dubai at the earliest. He explained to them they had little option as, sooner than later, the Pakistani authorities would trace them and, with Dubai’s help, take them back to Karachi. They would then be subject to undue hardships.

Prabhu called me the same evening at about 8 pm (India Time) to inform me that the passports had been serviced and returned to Suresh. He was waiting for Rahin’s passport and had offered to look after her, in case others agreed to leave her behind with her baby.

It was not difficult to comprehend how and why Suresh was being trailed, as reported by him. When news of Yaqub’s arrest would have broken on TV and the media in July, the ISI would have come to know that some members of the Memon family had fled Karachi. Possibly, Tiger Memon, to save his own skin would have informed them. Cross-checking of immigration records at Karachi Airport would have shown they had flown to Dubai. Yaqub’s arrest in Kathmandu and his handing-over to Delhi by the Nepalese would have severely embarrassed the ISI and dented their image in the eyes of the Pakistani government. They had to make amends by prompt damage-control; somehow getting the Memons back from Dubai and thwarting any attempt by them to escape to India. Arrival of Rahin’s passport at the Pakistani Consulate was further confirmation of the news they already had. It was not difficult for them to anticipate that the Government of India would attempt to contact them and take them back, which would cause them further embarrassment and loss of face, both internally in Pakistan and internationally.

Suresh’s shadowing by suspicious looking men, presumably of the ISI, was becoming increasingly aggressive and obtrusive.

To be continued...