"Operation Desert Safari" continues...

March 12th, 2001 was a Monday and a hectic week lay ahead for me. The thrill of an enjoyable round of golf the previous day was still fresh in my mind. But the week ahead had thrills of a different variety waiting for me that not even golf could offer,. Soon after I reached office, I received a call from Abu Dhabi. It was Ambassador Singh on the line who gave me the details of the incident reported to him. He informed me that he had directed two close relatives of Siddhique, one of whom was a retired police officer of Kerala, to reach New Delhi and meet me.

Ambassador KC Singh, was known to me for nearly a decade. In mid-nineties, he was
Joint Secretary, Consular, Passport & Visa (CPV) Section in the Ministry of External Affairs in
New Delhi when I was handling the Bombay Bomb Blast cases. We met frequently then in
connection with official work. I always found him very responsive and positive to our requirements and, I guess, he too liked me.

The two relatives of T Siddhique met me on March 15 and narrated the kidnap story. The enormity of the crime dawned on me with all its trans-national dimensions. It was a live kidnap situation with a NRI’s life hanging tenuously by a slender threat. The ransom calls were being received overseas while the hostage was somewhere in India and not necessarily in Delhi. A satellite phone was being used to call Thekkat’s family members and, therefore, the possibility of Thekkat having been taken out of Delhi could not be ruled out.

I was not too sure how to respond. My organization, namely the CBI, its sterling
reputation notwithstanding, was not equipped to handle such cases. Adept in dealing with cases
of corruption and economic crimes, its capabilities in tackling a live kidnap situation had never been tested. It was a job cut out for the local police or its specialized units like the Crime Branch of the Special Cell .

To be continued...