"Operation Desert Safari" continues...

I was informed that it was 73, Begumpur, Malviya Nagar, an urbanized village of south Delhi. I shared the information with ACP Rajbir Singh and asked him where the two of us could meet to follow up on the lead. He asked me to stay at home while he took up the preliminary fieldwork.

Shortly after midnight, Rajbir called up. He sounded terribly excited as he had located not only the shop but also a house close by which matched the description given by Thekkat to his brother Moya. We decided to meet at Essex Farm, a commercial banquet place, near the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. I informed Ramnish, the Investigating 0fficer and Hitesh Awasthy, my Deputy Inspector General of Police in the CBI and asked them to reach the rendezvous point immediately.

My wife saw me taking my .22 Walther PPK pistol out of my cupboard and knew something big and dangerous was on. It was perhaps the first time during my tenure in the CBI that she had seen me leaving home armed, and that too past midnight. Ordinarily, if I was serving in the Delhi Police in the same rank, I would have over a thousand men to fall back upon. But in my current assignment things were different. The CBI is a perpetually under-staffed and lean organization. Most things are best done yourself, hands-on. In the bargain you learn a lot but at times it can land you in situations you are not used to. So here I was leaving home past
midnight with only my pistol for company. Like any worrying spouse, my wife too was
concerned and asked me to take care. There was no time to wait for my official vehicle to arrive so I left in my private car driving myself.

When I reached Essex Farm, the rendezvous point, Rajbir was already there with about twenty of
his best team members, including Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, his right hand man in the
Special Cell.

To be continued...