Books | Shadow Games

A policeman’s story of covert operations and overt politics. An extract

A.M. Watali

I am tempted to share the story of Captain Rashid, an important ISI asset. Although not an army officer, he was nicknamed ‘Captain’ by his handlers. Hailing from a border village in north Kashmir on the Indian side, Captain Rashid permanently migrated to PoK after he allegedly double-crossed some Indian agency. In early 1988, the ISI used his services as a guide for the Kashmiri youth crossing the LoC for arms and training; he was also tasked with sabotage, subversion and assassination within the Valley. Rashid was, therefore, a frequent visitor to the Valley. In this process, he established a hideout with a family in the hinterlands of north Kashmir; not very far from the LoC. The local police had acquired highly sensitive information that Rashid had allegedly established an intimate relationship with a female member of the family. Our officers in the concerned police station managed to take the female into confidence, and she promised to cooperate. Rashid’s next visit to meet his love proved to be his last. He was trapped by our officers and arrested, despite being armed.

As soon as I got the information, I immediately passed it on to CM Farooq Abdullah, who was touring Sopore. With a view to project the meritorious job done by my junior colleagues, I asked them to bring Rashid to the Sopore dak bungalow and also requested the CM and the Director General of Police (DGP) to drop by. Everything happened in such a hurry that the police could not even question him in detail about his activities.

Captain Rashid was a young man in his thirties. Before I could even talk to him, Dr Farooq arrived and was face to face with the prize catch. On my request, he announced a one-rank promotion for each member of the team involved in Rashid’s arrest, which my boss, the DGP, resisted as he was a stickler for rules. I overcame his objections by arranging for a press note from the state information department about the CM’s orders thus closing all options for the DGP to block the process. Within a day or so, he issued the promotion orders. Caption Rashid was relaxed while sitting in front of the CM, whom he could not identify. As soon as we told him about the CM’s identity, he was very happy and narrated a bone-chilling story.

Rashid stated that he had been a regular visitor to the Valley for the last few years, first as an ISI agent and later as a guide for militants. Continuing his statement, he said that in 1988, the ISI assigned him the task of assassinating Dr Farooq Abdullah. To execute the plan, he had selected a spot in Srinagar-Gulmarg Road to target Farooq when he was informed about his scheduled visit to Gulmarg. He had taken his position in a strategically suitable spot on the roadside well before the arrival of the CM’s motorcade. While waiting there, his local collabora