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

It is only when faced with such situations that we turn to God and his Grace. I caught a few winks of sleep with a prayer on my
lips.

Satish Jha, with three of his trusted officers namely Tyagi, Pardesi and Nair, took the 6 am flight from Mumbai and drove straight to my residence from the Delhi airport. It was about 9 in the morning when they reached me. I shared the information with him and the other officers. Enthused and excited with the precision of the tip-off, they assured me that we together could pull it off. They felt that if the man was spotted and identified, they could overpower him before he reacted with his weapon.

But Satish and his boys could, at best, cover one of the two places where our quarry was likely to be found. I decided they would be deployed at the Gurudwara. I gave them a vehicle and asked them to reach Adhchini where I would meet them with one of the two informers. They left my residence quite charged and upbeat giving me considerable reassurance and positive energy. But, the fact remained; I still needed equally trusted and confident men for the other venue.

As I sat with a cup of tea on the lawn of my residence wondering how to cover the other place, Constable Dharambir Singh, originally of the Delhi Police, then on deputation to the CBI as my security-aide, arrived for duty. ‘‘‘If I point out a man and say that he is an armed terrorist, would you be able to over-power and disarm him?’’’, I enquired hesitatingly, aware I was expecting a bit too much. ‘‘‘Sure Sir. Why not? I can do it’’’, he responded confidently. He never for once asked for an armed back-up. I thought to myself I now have one more trusted hand for the mission. Surender Singh, a tall and wiry young Constable provided to me by the Delhi Police for security at my residence, reported for duty next.

To be continued....