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 obje