The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur : How the Pulwama Case was Cracked

The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur : How the Pulwama Case was Cracked

  • Downloads：3557
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-06-27 06:51:13
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Rahul Pandita
  • ISBN：9391165109
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

Inside the world of the jaish-e-mohammed – from the Parliament attack to the Pulwama bombing in February 2019 One of the worst terror attacks on India takes place in Pulwama in Kashmir。 Forty Indian soldiers are dead。 But when the NIA probes the bombing they hit one dead end after another。 Who were the actual masterminds of this audacious strike？ It seemed impossible to find out。 In this thrilling and deeply reported book， The award-winning author and journalist Rahul Pandita tells the story of how a team of extraordinary NIA sleuths cracks the case one jigsaw piece at a time。 Against all odds， they manage to connect the dots between a seemingly routine troublemaker put in preventive detention at the time of the abrogation of article 370， a mobile phone full of lustful messages recovered after an encounter that killed a terrorist and the pulwama attack itself。 The sinister roots of the strike， they would discover， are several decades deep and can be traced to one man – Masood Azhar – and the empire of terror he created in Kashmir。 In this book we enter the terrifying world of radical Islamists and secret militant operations， of intelligence agencies and elite counterterrorism units。 With never-before-published details about the Pulwama case， the resultant Balakot strike and the arcane world of terror groups， this is one of the most significant works on Kashmir and terrorism in recent times。

Download

Reviews

Kumar Utsav ，

A wow read indeed ！！An amazing gripping read。。。totally worthwill。。。 its really a relay race ！！ The writer has put in a lot of hard work before writing a thriller novel type account ！！

Venky ，

On the 14th of February 2019 in Pulwama， a notified area council approximately 30 kilometers south of Srinagar， a radical and fundamentalist youth by the name of Adil Ahmed Dar rammed a blue coloured car laden with close to 200 kilograms of explosives into a bus that was part of a serpentine convoy ferrying 2，547 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force from Jammu to Srinagar。 The gargantuan explosion claimed the lives of 44 police personnel and marked the zenith of terrorism that had befal On the 14th of February 2019 in Pulwama， a notified area council approximately 30 kilometers south of Srinagar， a radical and fundamentalist youth by the name of Adil Ahmed Dar rammed a blue coloured car laden with close to 200 kilograms of explosives into a bus that was part of a serpentine convoy ferrying 2，547 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force from Jammu to Srinagar。 The gargantuan explosion claimed the lives of 44 police personnel and marked the zenith of terrorism that had befallen and besmirched Jammu & Kashmir。 The Indian Government led by Narendra Modi swiftly retaliated by launching telling air strikes at terrorist camps operating within the region of Balakot across the India border。 Pulwama， however continues to remain a tragedy of monumental and incalculable proportions。Best selling author and journalist Rahul Pandita， in a short albeit absorbing book， “The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur”， traces the investigations launched in the aftermath of the Pulwama disaster and the ingenious and out of the box thinking employed by the Indian Intelligence forces in nailing down many nefarious elements who directly or indirectly aided and abetted such a gruesome act。 While the strings were being tactfully manipulated from the bowels of Pakistan， the puppets were dunderheads and naivetes brainwashed into thinking that only had mindless violence written all over。Rakesh Balwal， an officer from the Manipur cadre of the Indian Police Service and the Jammu & Kashmir head of National Investigation Agency （NIA）， struck gold when the entire investigation seemed to have reached a dead end with forensics revealing nothing of significance。 Based on a pure hunch， Balwal expanded the territory of the search operations and by a stroke of sheer luck stumbled upon a shiny object that was half buried in mud slush。 The find turned out to be a key with the number ‘1026’ engraved on it。 Ahead of the key was found a piece of bone。 The key turned out to be that of the Maruti Eeco car that had rammed into the convoy。 A DNA profiling report on the tissue material around the bone found it to be a match with the DNA extracted from Dar’s blood sample。Pandita also traces in brief the genesis and evolution of terror in the region of Jammu & Kashmir。 Pakistan first tried to foment restlessness in the valley many decades ago。 Under an incursion codenamed “Operation Gibraltar”， Pakistan sent some Afghan rebels/mercenaries supported by Pakistani Army regulars into Kashmir to stir up violence。 These men asked Mohammed Din Jagir， a resident of Tangmarg， to assist them get into the town and arrange Kashmiri clothing donning which would make them inconspicuous。 But Jagir， instead informed the police， who ultimately managed to foil the insidious operation。 Jagir was bestowed with the Padmashri。 He also requested for a transistor as well as ‘intervention’ in getting married to the woman of his choice， both of which were facilitated by the Indian Government。 However two decades hence， Jagir was gunned down by terrorists for having adopted this “pro-India” stance。Rahul Pandita also brings to the fore a conundrum faced by the law enforcement authorities as well as intelligence agencies operating in the terror prone region。 The same human pool is tapped into by both the militants as well as police officers for different purposes。 While the terrorists actively look for ‘recruitment’， the intelligence agencies look for seeking credible information that would put paid to the hopes of fundamentalists。 This dilemma at times poses a perfect opportunity for the more intrepid and daring to play mercenary。 A classic example being that of the dwarfish ‘Merchant of Death’， Noor Mohammed Tantray from Tral， also known as Noor Trali。 Before being gunned down during the course of a showdown with the cops， Tantray led the police forces down many a rabbit hole feeding wrong and inauthentic information on ‘terror activities’ while at the same time aiding the deadly Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit to wreak havoc。The most riveting story in the book however deals with an ingenious carpenter。 In the early 2000s， a senior Jaish commander and a most wanted terrorist Rana Tahir Nadeem， also known as Ghazi Baba （incidentally it was Rana who masterminded the Parliament attacks） was causing wanton mayhem in Kashmir。 All attempts by security forces to smoke the nefarious element out were being repeatedly thwarted。 In July 2003 however， the police received a dollop of good luck。 Coinciding with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Srinagar， the police arrested a suspicious looking young man wandering about。 The cops were dumbstruck to find explosives strapped all over the man’s body。 Further interrogation led the police to a carpenter， who specialised in constructing ‘safe houses’ and ‘hideouts’ for the terrorists。 BSF Office Narendranath Dhar Dubey， C。P。Trivedi， Himanshu Gaur and Binuchandran along with five other policemen cordoned off a potential hideout。 In the third floor of the house， there was a dressing table along with a mirror。 Dubey remembered a word the carpenter had uttered earlier， “Sheesha” （glass）。 Instinctively， Dubey smashed the mirror with his rifle only to be greeted by a hail of bullets and a grenade from the other side。 There was a room behind the mirror in which a few terrorists were hiding。 In the encounter that ensured， Dubey was severely injured， But his troops were successful in neutralizing the terrorists one of whom happened to be Ghazi Baba。The book also exposes the lethargy and inefficiency of various political parties in dealing effectively with terror。 As Pandita illustrates， “in 2015， after the PDP came back to power with the BJP， Mufti Mohammed Sayeed lost no time to reward his Jamaat friends。 The first thing he did was to ask the police to halt anti-militant operations。 He also ordered the release of Massarat Alam， a radical Islamist who had been in jail since 2010。 He also had plans to release Qasim Faktoo， the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and husband of separatist leader Asiya Andrabi。 On 16 April 2015， soon after his release， Alam organized a big reception for his mentor， Syed Ali Shah Geelani， who was returning from Delhi where he had shifted for the winter。”“The Lover boy of Bahawalpur” is a compelling work that provides the reader a valuable insight into the events leading up to one of the most tragic events to have befallen India in contemporary times。 。。。more

Ruchik ，

I finished the book in one sitting ;what a gripping read; amazing journalism ; bringing so many untold facts into the public domain;giving us such a better understanding of how things work on the ground in kashmir。Kudos！

Bharat ，

The Pulwama attacks galvanized the attention of India in 2019。 This book tells the story of investigation to connect it to the masterminds behind the attack。 There is also a dash of history of insurgency in Kashmir along with neatly articulated details of painful paths that had to be followed by Indian agencies that set forward to unravel the dots connecting the attacks to the masterminds。 Rahul Pandita's earlier book on Naxals had made me aware of how well he can write。 As such。 when this came The Pulwama attacks galvanized the attention of India in 2019。 This book tells the story of investigation to connect it to the masterminds behind the attack。 There is also a dash of history of insurgency in Kashmir along with neatly articulated details of painful paths that had to be followed by Indian agencies that set forward to unravel the dots connecting the attacks to the masterminds。 Rahul Pandita's earlier book on Naxals had made me aware of how well he can write。 As such。 when this came out on Juggernaut（ formerly Airtel Books）， I immediately grabbed this one via their Free Readers Club membership， and boy I wasn't disappointed。 This book is another ace up his sleeve， as he once again keeps the readers hooked right from the start with his crisp writing showcasing his acumen in geopolitical awareness of the Kashmir region。 。。。more

Karan Shevale ，

If the red slayer think he slays， Or if the slain think he is slain， They know not well the subtle ways I keep， and pass， and turn again。 - Brahma， Ralph Waldo Emerson The Lover Boy Of Bahawalpur is a deeply researched and thrilling account of the events that transpired before and after the terror attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in February 2019。 Pandita traces the investigation by NIA， aided by other agencies， to get to the root source （i。e。 Masood Azhar） of one of the deadliest terror attac If the red slayer think he slays， Or if the slain think he is slain， They know not well the subtle ways I keep， and pass， and turn again。 - Brahma， Ralph Waldo Emerson The Lover Boy Of Bahawalpur is a deeply researched and thrilling account of the events that transpired before and after the terror attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in February 2019。 Pandita traces the investigation by NIA， aided by other agencies， to get to the root source （i。e。 Masood Azhar） of one of the deadliest terror attacks India has even seen。 The reportage is multi-level， streamlined and detailed。 It helps paint a cohesive picture of the whole saga through stories of the terrorists involved in the attack。 The Indian response， how and why a certain location for the air strikes was chosen is mentioned in a short chapter named 'Balakot'。 Sandwiched between the parts of the investigation， 3 chapters briefly explain the history of the insurgency， Jaish-e-Mohammed and its widespread network in Kashmir， it's workings， training， routes of infiltration， sources of funding， terrorist hideouts and their interplay with civilians。 We are exposed to the larger picture through intricate details of how operations take place in the dark alleys of terrorism and counterterrorism。 The book also makes us appreciate the work done by the Army， NIA， BSF， R&AW， J&K Police and other security agencies involved。 The operation and killing of Ghazi Baba is the most thrilling part of this book which one cannot afford to miss。 This book could easily be turned into thriller movie and maybe it will be， in part or as a whole， who knows。 Pandita's brilliance was never in question but the fact that he has interviewed former militants and visited many critical places mentioned in the story shoots up the credibility of this book。 My only complaint， which may sound irrational， is that the book could have explored India's response with the political and public aspect around the attack a bit more。 I presume it was excluded on purpose because of lack of primary information or simply because it oversteps the premise of this book。 Hats off！ Extremely well written and unputdownable。 A must read。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur : How the Pulwama Case was Cracked

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur : How the Pulwama Case was Cracked&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur : How the Pulwama Case was Cracked&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0