""Ayeessa Kya?" (Is it so?)" continues...

Investigators today, fortunately, have access to far better tools of technology for technical surveillance, but those days it was truly a novelty to have the set-up created by Raju Sinha for our operation. Day 1 passed
without any success.

The next day, arrangements were put in place by 6.30 PM, exactly the way they were the previous day. We were in position at the Exchange waiting to get lucky the second time. At about 8.30 PM, a call was made from the PCO to a number in Udaipur, as was reflected on our computer. Since we were all expecting Latif to call Ahmedabad, the conversation, initially, was not taken by us seriously. It was
only after a couple of minutes that Kuldip became suspicious that it could be Latif on the line. He gave me the headphone. Since I too had heard the recorded conversations of Latif several times over, I confirmed his suspicion. Sharma took the headphone back from me and listened in again more carefully. As the conversation was in progress, he asked Arun Kampani, ACP (Daryaganj) to send a wireless message to Inspector Raj of ATS/Gujarat to get closer to the PCO and report if anything of interest was observed. Kampani moved one of his two teams as close as possible to the PCO. Sharma, meanwhile, still listening to the ongoing conversation, heard the expression ‘Ayeessa Kya?‘ (‘‘‘Is that so?’’’), used typically by Latif, a fact known to Kuldip. Now Kuldip was absolutely sure that it was indeed Latif. Our teams were directed on wireless to move in.

When Inspector Raj of ATS/Gujarat came close to the PCO he saw Latif, face to face, sitting in its glass cabin. Raj gave an indication to the team closest to him to back him up. He charged out of the booth. Inspector Raj blocked Latif and began to grapple with him. Meanwhile, a team led by the Station House Officer, Daryaganj, grabbed Latif and overpowered him at gunpoint. He was physically dragged out of the congested area, in full public view, to a Police vehicle.

To be continued...