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

by Rahul Pandita

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Politics, War, Terrorism, Indian Literature, Journalism

212 pages, Hardcover

First published June 23, 2021

About the author

Rahul Pandita is an Indian author and journalist. Pandita has worked as a war correspondent, and is known for his ample news reporting from the war hit countries like Iraq and Sri Lanka. However, in the recent years, his focal point has been the Maoist movement in India's red corridor. He has also reported from North-Eastern India. He has worked with The Hindu, Open Magazine among other media organizations. He is a 2015 Yale World Fellow. He was awarded the International Red Cross award for delivering news from war zones, in 2010.

He has written several books. Among them are The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance, co-authored with Neelesh Misra, Hello Bastar – The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement (2011), and Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits.

Reviews

[Prathyush Parasuraman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was clearly a book that needed more time to research. (I am fearing this is a Juggernaut Publications thing. They did something similar with their book on Raya) Its slimness is not a sign of economy but lack of things to say. A majority of the book is just a recap of the Jaish and Hizbul in Kashmir. A lot of what the book is dealing with is also still inconclusive or being investigated.

The worst part is even with its limited material the book could have made for a gripping read. Honestly that's what I was looking for, not looking for any paradigm altering narrative. Wanted a nice thriller for a Sunday. But its circuitous organization of material, along with a density of details makes it hard to really follow what the main point of the book is. There are so many investigations, and attacks and Pandita jumps between them. Unless you are reading it at one stretch the names will confuse you.

The title is a reference to the main guy being a playboy but it's such a peripheral detail that the title feels like a clickbait. The book should have been edited better. You read some sentences and wonder how the editors didn't ask for rewrites. (Especially when the same noun is referenced thrice in the same sentence, with no pronouns in sight. Small things but it makes for such clunky sentences) It's a little sad when as readers you are able to make out where the editors slacked. Especially when it reads like a first draft.

I was just frustrated by the book by the end because Pandita's sourcing is entirely the police and the military state of Kashmir and he only peripherally notes the excesses of the military apparatus. I'm not asking for a sympathetic account of the terrorists. But an attempt at painting a more comprehensive view of Kashmir would have helped.

[Chandana Kuruganty · Rating 3 out of 5]

" The relay race continues", said a senior police officer in Kashmir... But in between their coming and getting killed, sometimes attacks like Pulwama happen."

My final conclusion is with case scenarios on why I did not enjoy the book as much as I would have liked:

Scenario 1. This was a wrong title for a work on covering roots of militancy upto Pulwama
Scenario 2. This was a correct title but poorly edited work which in reality had little detail on the Pulwama case
Scenario 3. It is both 1 and 2 scenarios, maybe somewhere in between

It started on such a promising note and somehow there was just too much digression, until the last few pages where there is a brief mention of how the investigation concluded on the roots of JeM ( also, Pakistani Involvement) to Pulwama Attack.

Some parts, however, are work well done- use of field report or police force experiences on ground to take forward the narrative. Recommend it to those looking for an attempted summary on Pulwama Attack and its precedents.

Happy Reading!

[Udit Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unputdownable book. I finished this one in one sitting. It's very tightly knit book which gives away the whole story of pulwama attack. Rahul Pandita has been a great writer and he does not disappoint in this one too. The book discusses various aspects and some of them are disturbing. Not that we dont know the complexity of kashmir issue but still when faced with reality it becomes very overwhelming.

The author has skipped the political ramifications of the attack and then the counter attack. I for one appreciate it because otherwise everything gets murkier. The author has managed to keep the readers hooked till the last word. There are some diversions in middle but they are important for the larger understanding if someone is not aware about it.

[Venky · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Balraj Parmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur" is a very insightful and succinctly written book which tells us the story of how the Pulwama terrorist attack was investigated by the NIA and other investigative agencies in J&K. It also briefly details the rise of insurgency in J&K from 90s and how the counter terrorism operations have worked including the killing of Jaish terrorist Ghazi Baba who masterminded attack on Indian Parliament in 2001.

The narrative is very tightly written with information corroborated by multiple sources that Mr. Pandita has within and outside the investigative agencies, it reads like a thriller and could be finished in about an hour.
Overall a must read book for those who are interested in reading about insurgency in J&K and counter terrorism operations, I look forward to read other books by Rahul Pandita.

[AK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a much better work from Rahul Pandita considering the gut wrenching and gripping book earlier written by him - Our moon has blood clot.

The topic chosen was definitely very intriguing and I could finish the book in one sitting. The book covers more about the ways of operation of Jaish in Kashmir. The start of the book is very good where Rahul is building the plot of the attack. Somewhere in the middle of the book, he starts talking about other terror acts in Kashmir and then in the later half comes back to Pulwama attack. I feel somehow due to this the link is lost when someone is reading the book. The book could have been more detailed and Rahul may have covered more on response of Indian army to the Pulwama attack. Not sure if that is still a coveted operation or can be talked about.

[Bishal Banerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of hard work that is put in by our forces and the investigating agencies , the behind the scenes that goes on, we are all oblivious to it. This book, takes the reader on a trip through the painful memory of Pulwama but uncovers in the midst detailed way possible about the investigation behind it to find its masterminds. The gruesome stories that the investigation engulfs and the hideous, reality behind the creation of the plethora of brainwashed terror outfits in India, have been so wonderfully put forward by the author.
It's a book, which you can't leave in between, a story to tell and know. Reporting in the form of book has done the book the best form of justice for the reader.

[S.Ach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest book by Rahul Pandita.
The narrative is lazy and dull.
Full of names and events that have loose connection to the main topic.
I felt lost and disinterested in what could have been gripping tale, had the author put more effort as he had done so in his previous books.
Avoidable.

[E.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was shallow and I expected much better from Rahul Pandita whom I respect a lot. Infact I consider Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits the most important book on Indian history post-independence.
Can read but dont expect another Black Friday: The True Story Of The Bombay Bomb Blasts level book.

[Amit Bagaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the book is about "How the Pulwama Case Was Cracked", it could have been written in less than 50 pages instead of the 182.

There's a lot of totally unnecessary information/content that seems to have been added by the Author just to make it long enough to be published as a book.

[Shashank Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you get investigative journalism right, like Rahul Pandita does here, it reads like a potboiler.

[Kumaraguru Dnv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before February 14, 2019, Pulwama was just another place on the map of India. The dastardly attack on the CRPF convoy that killed 40 jawans and left many others injured shook the nation’s conscience. These jawans had just returned from their families and headed to Jammu’s valley to rejoin their units for active duty. This attack quickly led to the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan – first with India’s airstrikes on the terrorist launch pad in Balakot, a retaliation by Pakistan air force during which Wg Cdr Varthaman was held as a PoW briefly. The two weeks between February 14 and March 1 kept was unpredictable, to say the least.

In his signature storytelling style, Rahul Pandita helps put together various pieces of the puzzle to help pinpoint the mastermind behind the Pulwama attack. It was almost as if you would visualize the characters and the plotting in real-time. I liked the way Pandita takes a break from the main thread and highlights the efforts of our paramilitary forces (BSF in this case), who serve in the valley under challenging circumstances and score a victory regularly. We don’t talk about them often, and we ought to be grateful to them as a nation.

Having read Pandita’s earlier two books, I was looking forward to this book. And, I wasn’t disappointed at all. By the way, if you haven’t read Our Moon Has Blood Clots, do read.

[Girish Querido II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serves the purpose.

[Rakesh Bhat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offers an insightful look into how terror groups operate, and the author does a commendable job of painting that broader picture. However, the narrative often loses focus. By including numerous attacks and introducing many names that do not directly contribute to the central theme, the book feels cluttered at times.

While it is undeniably a quick and accessible read, it lacks depth where it matters most. Instead of developing its core ideas more thoroughly, it spreads itself too thin across multiple events and details. As a result, the reading experience feels somewhat incomplete—leaving you with the sense that something important is missing.

Overall, despite its strong premise and readability, the book falls short of delivering a cohesive and deeply engaging exploration of its subject.

3/5

[Pooja Rannot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a page-turner and very well-crafted book. A summarised view of what goes on in the valley. Its a must read to get a glimpse of all that doesn't meet the eye. Salute to our Border Forces and Security Agencies.

[Padmaja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one about the Pulwama attack and following investigations by various law enforcement agencies is a well researched one but didn't keep me engaged throughout. I couldn't keep up with those numerous names.

Starts off well and then somewhere in between seemed to have so much information that makes it difficult to absorb and ended in a rush.

I am a fan of Rahul Pandita's well researched books having read his 'Our Moon has Blood Clots' (my favourite) and 'Hello Bastar' and this one wasn't truly in that league.

[Ashwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title of the book is a clickbait. This could have been an article. Clearly they didn't have enough material for a book or lazy research.

[Srikar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur narrates how the case of deadly Pulwama terrorist attack in February 2019 was cracked. Please note that the title has little/no relevance to the actual story. Almost a click-bait.

This book had so much potential to be a thriller. The plot is interesting, the characters are colorful, and the investigation fast paced. Yet, it ends up as a boring read. I have too many complaints: non-existent editing, too many digressions, confused target audience (Indian or global?), etc.

Kashmir is a hodge-podge of politics, religion, propaganda (all in excesses). This book barely manages to narrate this properly. What it does manage to capture though is how the terror network manages to survive. The vicious cycle of terror-> "martyrdom"-> recruitment-> terror doesn't seem to stop anytime soon.

Overall though, this was a disappointment!

[Siddhant Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur - How The Pulwama Case Was Cracked

हे पुस्तक वाचले. त्याचा सारांश आणि मनात काश्मीरबद्दल सतत चालणाऱ्या विचारांना शब्द देण्यासाठी हा छोटासा लेख.

१४ फेब्रुवारी, २०१९ रोजी पुलावामामध्ये झालेल्या आतंकवादी हल्ल्यात CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) चे ४० जवान शाहिद झालेत. सुरक्षा दल आणि केंद्रीय तपास यंत्रणा तपासादरम्यान, धागे-दोरे जोडत जोडत, हल्यात सहभागी झालेल्या काश्मिरी आतंकवाद्यांपासून त्यांच्या पाकिस्तानातील मूळ सूत्रधारापर्यंत कश्या पोहोचल्या, याचा तपशील या पुस्तकात मिळतो
पाकिस्तानी मुजाहिद्दीनने कंदहार मध्ये भारतीय विमानाचे अपहरण केले आणि त्याबदल्यात भारताला मसूद अझरची सुटका करावी लागली. पुढे याच मसूद अझहरने जैश-ए-मोहम्मद स्थापना केली. सुरुवातीला हिझबुल मुझाहिद्दीन आणि नंतर जैश-ए-मोहम्मद या समूहांच्या नेतृत्वाखाली आतंकवादी काश्मिरात पाकिस्तानच्या ISI च्या आश्रयाखाली, भारतीय सार्वभौमत्वाविरोधी कारवाया करत आले आहेत (ते याला आझादीची लढाई समजतात). पाकिस्तानने काश्मिरात तरुणांना धर्मवेडाने प्रेरित करून त्यांना भारतविरोधी कारवायांना उत्तेजन द्यायला ९० च्या दशकात सुरुवात केली.

१९९० च्या आसपास पाकिस्तानने काश्मिरात आतंकवादाची सुरुवात केली ती फक्त आणि फक्त त्यांचे १९४८ मधील उरलेले काम पूर्ण करण्यासाठी. १९४८ मध्ये पाकिस्तानी सैन्याने आफ्रिदी आदिवास्यांना हाती धरून पूर्ण काश्मीर गिळंकृत करण्यासाठी जोरदार आक्रमण केले. पण ती लोक रात्रभर बारामुल्लामध्ये स्त्रियांवर अत्याचार आणि अतिप्रसंग करण्यात मश्गूल राहिलीत आणि भारतीय वायुसेनेने तितक्या वेळात श्रीनगरमध्ये आर्मीला पोचवले. यामुळे श्रीनगर आणि बारामुल्ला भारतातच राहिले. अन्यथा आज इतिहास वेगळा असता. तरीही पाकिस्तानने काश्मीरचा बराचसा भाग occupy केला (बळकावला), ज्याला आपण आज पाकव्याप्त काश्मीर म्हणतो (पाकिस्तानच्या शाळांमध्ये भूगोल आणि इतिहासात या भागाचे नाव आझाद काश्मीर म्हणून शिकवले जाते)
पुलवामा हल्ला सर्व जगाला हेलकावून सोडणार होता. असे म्हणतात की जवानांच्या शरीराचे अवयव स्फोटाच्या जागेपासून ३ किलोमीटरच्या अंतरापर्यंत सापडले होते, स्फोटाच्या जागेवरून जमिनीवर रक्ताचा लाल थर दूरपर्यंत दिसत होता, स्फोटाचा आवाज १५-२० किलोमीटरपर्यंत ऐकल्याचे देखील वृत्त आहे. या हल्ल्याची भीषणता इतकी भयानक होती की हल्ला झाल्यावर तिथे पोहोचलेल्या NIA, RAW आणि आर्मीच्या मोठ्या मोठ्या अधिकऱ्यांनादेखील अश्रू आवरता आले नाहीत. या हल्याचा तपास NIA च्या हाती सोपवण्यात आला.

हल्ल्याच्या १५ ��िनीटानंतर पाकिस्तानातून एक विडिओ प्रसारित करण्यात आला. CRPF च्या बसवर ज्याने निळ्या रंगाच्या मारुती इको आदळली, तो या व्हिडिओत भारतविरोधी बोलत होता. त्याचे नाव होते आदिल अहमद दार . तो मूळचा पुलवामा जिल्ह्याचा रहिवासी होता. बारावीत नापास झालेल्या अदिलला जैश-ए-मोहम्मदने हेरले आणि भारतविरोधी कारवायांसाठी radicalize (कट्टरवादी) केले.
आदिल दारनंतर तपासयंत्रणांना पुढचा धागा काही केल्या मिळत नव्हता. राकेश बलवाल जुलै २०१८ पासून NIA च्या J&K विभागाचे प्रमुख होते. पुलवामा हल्ल्यानंतर अनेक सुरक्षा यंत्रणा आणि आतंकवादी यांत बऱ्याच चकमकी झाल्या आणि बरेच आतंकवादी मारले गेलेत. राकेश बलवाल यांनी या सर्व चकमकीतील पुराव्यांत पुलवामाच्या सूत्रधारांविषयी धागेदोरे मिळवण्यासाठी कसून प्रयत्न सुरु केले. त्यातच त्यांना मार्च २०१९ च्या चकमकीत ठार झालेल्या एका दहशतवाद्याचा Samsung S-9 फोन सापडला. त्यांनी हा फोन भारत सरकारच्या Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) या लॅबमध्ये माहिती मिळवण्यासाठी पाठवला. या फोन मधून १०० GB data मिळाला. पुलवामा हल्ल्याच्या तयारीचे सगळे फोटो यात होते. बॉम्ब बनवण्यासाठी लागणाऱ्या जिलेटीन कांड्यांपासून तर निळ्या रंगाची मारुती इको कार, आदिल अहमद दारपासून तर या फोनचा मालक, आणि काश्मीर मध्ये या पूर्ण हल्ल्याची आखणी करणारा - उमर फारूक यांचे सगळ्यांचे फोटो यात मिळाले. पुलवामा हमल्यानंतर हा फोन destroy कर असे उमर फारूकला त्याच्या पाकिस्तानी हस्तकांनी सांगितले होते पण त्याने त्याच्या काश्मिरी गर्लफ्रेंड सोबत बोलण्यासाठी, विडिओ कॉल करण्यासाठी स्मार्टफोन जवळ ठेवला होता. त्याची बायको, त्याचा परिवार पाकिस्तानात राहत, पण पाकिस्तानी आतंकवादी भारतात आल्यावर काश्मिरी मुलींना सुद्धा जाळ्यात ओढतात. या lover boy च्या फोनमुळे गुंतागुंतीचे जाळे सुरक्षा यंत्रणांना चटकन सोडवण्यात यश मिळाले. तो बहावलपूरचा. बहावलपूर पाकिस्तानात मसूद अझर आणि जैश-ए-मोहम्मदचे headquarter. भारतात ठार झालेले शेकडो आतंकवादी अबकड इथेच गिरवतात. म्हणून पुस्तकाचे नाव The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur.

अफगाणिस्तानात हेलमंड राज्यात संगीनच्या छावणीत अल-कायदापासून, लष्कर-ए-तय्यबा, जैश-ए-मोहम्मदच्या जिहादीना प्रशिक्षण दिले जाते. आतंकवाद्यांना सर्व प्रकारचे प्रशिक्षण दिले जाण्यात हा जगातला अव्वल कॅम्प असेल. इंग्लडच्या The Guardian या जगप्रसिद्ध वर्तमानपत्राने या भागाचा ' अफगाणिस्तानचा सर्वात प्राणघातक भाग ' असे वर्णन केले आहे. मसूद अझरचा पुतण्या उमर फारूक अफगाणिस्तानात संगीनमध्ये बॉम्ब बनवण्याचे प्रशिक्षण घेऊन पाकिस्तानमार्गे भारतात आला. पुलवामा हल्ल्यात वापरले गेलेले २०० किलो इतके IED (Improvised Explosive Device) म्हणजे थोडक्यात बॉम्ब त्यानेच तयार केले.

या संपूर्ण हल्ल्याचे नियोजन पाकिस्तानातून जैश-ए-मोहम्मद ज्या रौफ असगरने केले, तो मसूद अझरचा लहान भाऊ. या तिघांव्यतिरिक्त जैश-ए-मोहम्मदचे अजून अनेक जण पुलवामा हल्ल्यात सहभागी झालेले. Their list is endless.

आजही काश्मीर धुमसत आहे. दोघी देशातील राजकारण्यांसाठी काश्मीर हा एक महत्वाचा राजनैतिक मुद्दा आहे. परंतु पुलवामाच्या ४० शहीदांसारखे हजारो शहिदांचे मृत्यू unjustifiable आहेत. स्वित्झर्लंडचा आल्प्स पर्वत बघायला सगळे बिनधास्त जातात, तसे आपण सर्व गुलमर्गचा हिमालय बघायला बिनधास्तपणे कधी जाऊ? काश्मिरी युवक स्वतःला हसतहसत भारतीय कधी म्हणवतील? या दोन प्रश्नांची उत्तरे आपल्याला मिळतील का?

सिद्धांत जोशी
३१-०७-२०२१

[Karan Shevale · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Seema Dubey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Investigative journalism at its finest! Well researched, matter of fact, no embellishments, no dressing the facts to add cheap common place thrills, as has journalism become lately!

Finished the book in one sitting, almost. It’s a riveting read, fast paced, as if one is on a very smooth slide, gliding on effortlessly. Effortlessly, the gaps and doubts in my mind got plugged. I’ve a 360 view of the ‘terror sponsorship’ in India.

This book could only have been written by a journalist who has dived deep into the subject. Clarity and conciseness are two strong points. If the book were to be a string of pearls, each pearls would be significant and shiny.

Pulwama remains a deep wound on the psyche of india. This book delves into the history, beginning with the 80s, the various Pak sponsored terror attacks. Ends after Pulwama. Abrogation of Article 370, never made more sense than now. Why did we wait this long? Letting a heinous situation keep festering, decades after decades…

The formation and annihilation of various terror outfits- all claiming to be Mujahid/ jihadis (religious fighters), this being the easiest way to brain wash the poverty stricken youth coming to Madarsas (schools teaching Kuran) to study. Given arms, sneaked into India. Killed by the para military forces, before/ after terror attacks on the innocent Indians. "It's a relay. They keep coming. We keep killing.”

Role of the Kashmir political leaders in the blood bath, and how they were ‘in bed’ with the terrorists… How the then Govt and the Indian intelligence agencies messed up. How the locals were assured of ‘merger with Pakistan’ by 2030-2040, hence the terrorists were in no hurry. How locals were terrorised into meek submission.

And, then there are white knights too. The true heroes of the nation. Mr Narendra Dhar Dubey. The brave BSF officer who killed Afzal Guru. And, himself got shred to pieces, having braved a hail of bullets detaching his arm, piercing practically his entire body. And, who not only valiantly fought the terrorists, as a reward he fought for his life for years, in the ICU, barely managing to become functional. Let’s not forget them… My respect. 🇮🇳🙏🏻

[Malvika Bhanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: The loverboy of Bhawalpur
Author: Rahul Pandita

" The relay race continues , they come, we kill"

This book traces the aftermath- investigations and encounters of Jaish terrorists who were responsible for the Pulwama attack on 14th feb 2019 which took lives of 40 CRPF personnel.
This suicide attack was carried by Adil Ahmed Dar who rammed his maruti eco in a bus ferrying the CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar. The author gives an account of several people who were either returning after meeting their kids, one of them talking to his pregnant wife , some other person talking to his mother. Its heart wrenching to even imagine your phone going dead not knowing that your son/husband/brother/uncle may have died in a terrorist attack and the fact the Indian army had to collect what was left off the bodies so that they can send it back with full honour.
It is also commendable how they flushed out the terrorists and joined the dots to the Jaish-e-Mohammad mastermind Masood Azhar. Our NIA, J&K police RAW and other security agencies did a deep investigation and retaliated by attacking Balakot camp. There is also a short narrative on how the youth of kashmir who come from poor families and are often forced to leave schools at a young age and sometimes mishandeled by police become a fodder in a complex war where there are no clear winners.It is such a tragedy that the same human pool is used to radicalise the likes of Adil Dar , Sajjad Bhat and Mudasir khan and also used as secret sources by the army or police. It can always prove to be a two edged sword.
The author states that at every stage the book was corroborated at multiple levels with other agencies involved in counter insurgency operations in and around Kashmir. It seemed to be a well investigated and evidence based reporting and thus it came out to be a very informative read.

[Asha Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Poonam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is story of investigation of Pulwama attack in February 2019 that led to the loss of lives of 40 CRPF personnel. A convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, at Lethapora in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

It's good effort to cover the investigation. Prime sources seem to be Rakesh Balwal, head of NIA, and Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey, a BSF officer who was key to getting notorious terrorist Ghazi Baba.

The book also offers a brief history of insurgency in J & K leading upto the point. It does a good job on indicating Pakistan's role in terrorism in India via reportage. However, one thing that impacts the credibility of the Book is the political opinion of author that's largely of the erstwhile regime and seems to be mocking legitimate criticism of intelligence failure (Chapter 2). It happily invokes JNU incident with a partisan view couched as factual reporting without appropriate context as well as seems quite at ease to undermine the democratic opposition in J & K as well is silent on undemocratic practices of the state in J & K. This could have been a great reportage and commentary of terrorism in J&K but alas remains very one sided. A book you quickly scan and throw away right after reading it. It doesn't belong on your book shelf like the author's previous books.

[Dixit · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives an account of the investigation under leadership of IPS Rakesh Balwal, into the Pulwama Terrorist Attack on CRPF convoy. It gives an overview of Islamist insurgency in Kashmir and role of Pakistan based Jaish-E-Muhammad.

JeM founded by Masood Azhar, run as a big family enterprise was behind the Pulwama attack. Azhar's brother Rouf Asgar (based out of Bahawalpur) and Azhar's nephew Umar Farooq (crossed over to Kashmir from Pakistan) were the masterminds. It also brings to light the sense of camaraderie shared among the terror outfits like Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Jaish, LeT and others. Umar Farooq was trained in arms & explosives at Taliban's Sangin Camp, Helmand, Afghanistan

The book presents sad picture of the radicalization of Kashmiris especially the youth who largely serve as cannon fodder in hands of their Pakistani handlers. It also puts light on a vast network of OGWs overground workers who facilitate the acts of terrorism - acting as eyes and ears on ground, providing logistical support, stone pelting on forces while they have surrounded the terrorists and much more. At the centre of all this are the dedicated security forces often working under hostile conditions.

[Harshil · Rating 5 out of 5]

On 14th February 2019, a terrific event took place in Kashmir which would shook the nation for upcoming days. A suicide bomber name Adil Ahmad Dhar killed more than 40 CRPF jawans.

The event was not ordinary because of its ferocity as well as the location. That terrorist, before the attack, made a video where he claimed of going to kill the cow-piss drinkers. Thanks to this book, I knew that the video was doctored and voice of one Hanjila Jihadi was added later.

The Pulwama attack was a well-planned attack to break the morale of the Indian forces down. The terrorists of the Jaish planned a series of such attacks but the Indian intelligence, the Indian army, and Jammu and Kashmir police failed those attacks by the Balakot air strike and the followed crackdown where many terrorists, including the nephews of Masood Azhar, were neutralised.

Written in a good flow, the book is a page-turner and a very good read which can be finished within a day (I did so).

[Bharat · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Delson Roche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got my hands on a signed copy and thus got to reading the book. The story is decently weaved- the difficulties and challenges of the locals, security agencies are well laid. The poor state of intelligence and apathy by the political elite is tangentially hinted at. Overall a fascinating read and like many crime genres, difficult to keep down till it is completed.
What I liked was the ground stories and ground reporting that paints and vivid picture of the crime scene.
The things I didn't like was- Absolutely no reference to how political apathy contributed to the crime.
Terrible title of the book- much like a clickbait link
Lots of unnecessary digressions. Many of them barely contribute to the story, but more like had to be put to make the story long.
Finally, a very hasty ending as if the author was in a hurry to publish.

[Mihir Parekh · Rating 4 out of 5]

One seating captive read on Pulwama suicide attack case and glimpse of world of terrorists organizations Jaish-e-Mohammed of Masood Azhar. Book is well written and very informative. But whether call this a piece investigative journalism is matter of debate because author told this story because investigative agencies wanted him to tell this story. Author Rahul Pandita in his interview with Karan Thapar has almost acknowledged this. However author ensures to maintain impeccable authenticity to narrative. Kashmir is cluttered place and this type of book certainly increases readers understanding of this complex riddle.

And on infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan one senior police officer in Kashmir said:

‘The relay race continues, they come, We kill’

[Siddharth kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was an easy over the weekend read. the book gave a decent insight into the Pulwama investigations, but could have been a masterpiece if the following aspects were covered in detail, namely- the history of terror in Kashmir with more emphasis on JeM, the functioning of the various security agencies (with detailed deliberation on NIA), the state and non state actors involved, the Balakot air strikes and lastly something on the psychology of the militants and the terror organisation in Kashmir. All the above binded to the main storyline could have created a very comprehensive and educative book.