Baitha hai, sir, baitha hai!’(‘‘‘He is sitting there, Sir, he is there!’’’)( The Netting of Punjab CM’s assassin) continues....

It was the first time that I was sitting on watch myself, dressed in casuals, and that too in the open and in broad daylight. After an hour or so, I could feel that H.C. Singh, a career CBI officer not given to such adventures, was not quite comfortable with this onerous duty assigned to him. He requested me to allow him to leave as he had some important files to attend to! I let him go as there was no point in having someone on the surveillance team who was unwilling and whose body-language belied his discomfiture.

We waited all day, with no food or water, crouching under the low boundary wall. The harsh September sun beat down on us relentlessly and humidity sapped us of all energy. But we waited patiently, our eyes scanning the area for a tall and strapping young Sikh. The wait proceeded for several hours before people in the neighborhood began to notice us and found our presence on the empty plot highly suspicious. We could see them whispering to each other and a small group of people began to collect close by. It was already 5pm when I decided that before one of the on-lookers gave a call to 100 (the Police Emergency Number) and a scene was created with the arrival of the local police, it was better to call off the watch.

My officers were asked to wind-up and leave. As we walked to our vehicles parked at some distance, the informer appeared out of nowhere and pleaded with me that I should check out one more place. By then I was quite exasperated and furious. ‘‘‘You can keep your information to yourself. Don’t waste our time’’’, I shouted at him angrily.

To be continued…