Khaki Files is a collection of nine stories based on my experiences in different assignments—ranging from deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of south district in Delhi to director general of police (DGP) of Goa, and finally as commissioner of police (CP) of Delhi.

They cover over three decades of my career in the police. In most of these recollections, I was leading the investigations, and, in a couple of them—‘Sovereignty under Siege’ and ‘Stories of Their Assassins’—I was a close witness to the probes. Two other stories—‘Devil’s Advocate’ and ‘Goan Rhapsody’—do not strictly relate to investigations but are, I feel, interesting and readable nuggets from my memory bank. I sincerely hope the readers like these stories as much as they appreciated those in Dial D for Don.

I can’t help but question myself whether writing about cases I have been associated with serves any meaningful purpose, besides entertaining readers with true stories of crime and criminals. It is comforting to imagine that, willly-nilly, I have documented, for the benefit of posterity, accounts of police work that would otherwise be never known.

For instance, the story ‘Sovereignty under Siege’ brings into the public domain an account of the investigation into the Parliament House terror attack case . Similarly, ‘Da Lakhvi Code’ is a hitherto unknown tale of a cyber investigation that prevented a terror attack at India Gate.

Further, ‘Moon-gazer’ recounts how serial killings and robberies by members of an erstwhile criminal tribe were worked out in the early 1990s, and how the capital was saved from their depredations ever since.

To be continued....