The Honeybee Conspiracy

Part 64

Chapter 62

When JK arrived back in Delhi, the toll had mounted to 342 dead and 657 injured. Investigations were still underway, but preliminary investigations at the site by the Bomb Disposal Squad revealed traces of RDX and plastic explosives. The head of the bomb disposal squad was briefing JK with a detailed summary. The train left Chennai at 09.05 am. At 20.18 pm, it arrived at Vijayawada, halted for 20 minutes and left at 20.38 pm. A lot of luggage was loaded onto the cargo hold at Vijayawada. After it left Vijayawada, it stopped for 2 minutes at eight other stations before the blast which occurred at 01.26 am, almost 5 hours after it left Vijayawada. The cargo hold was never opened at these stations. The cargo hold had borne the brunt of the explosion which was further ignited by the fuel tanks nearby, general compartments and passenger bogies up to S 6 were severely affected. The remaining bogies were damaged but not as extensive as the rest, which implies that the bombs were placed most probably in the cargo hold adjoining the engine room and the general compartments followed by the reserved coaches up to S 6. Thereafter the impact had tapered off." He said.

"What if a number of suicide bombers had blasted themselves together?" asked JK.

"That's highly unlikely. The quantity of explosives which a human can carry is limited. From the scene of the crime, C 4 explosives were used in conjunction with RDX. The bomb was probably triggered by a time device. If it was a human bomb, they would not be able to do this kind of damage. The cargo section was totally destroyed which means the bombs were kept there to bring about maximum damage to life since it was just next to the engine and fuel tanks. The timing, 01.26 am is very crucial since they knew the passengers would be asleep and they would not have had any chance to react. Most would have been burnt alive before they even opened their eyes." explained Lt. Col. Sukhwinder Singh.

"In your opinion, where do you think these explosives would have been loaded.?" asked JK.

"Well JK, the train left Chennai at 09.05 am. It had stopped at three stations including Vijayawada for a maximum of 10 minutes. Now JK, you will be aware that C4 is highly combustible and can even explode when pressure is applied. C 4 can also detonate if the temperature is above 32 degrees. Considering these facts and also we are in the month of February, the temperature in the cargo hold would have been over 32 degrees during the day time, so it's pretty unlikely that they were loaded at Chennai or any other station before Vijayawada. I would say Vijayawada. Exactly 5 hours later, it went off at 01.26." replied Singh.

"When can we get a detailed report as to what make of explosive, I mean the country of origin, make, etc ?" asked JK.

"Within 24 hours of JK. We are working on it.

"Thanks, Sukhdev."

As Sukhdev left, JK was proceeding to the waiting car as Julius who was behind him was talking to the Commissioner,the next call was to Somnath. "I want the entire Andhra Pradesh borders shut down. Seal all exit and entry points. All passengers record at Airports and railway stations to be verified and detain, if any doubt. CCTV footage in the last 72 hours at Vijayawada station, especially the cargo section and the bus stands. Next, sleeper cells active or dormant in and around Vijayawada. Past 72 hours call records of all cellular networks both incoming and outgoing, hotel check-ins and checkouts. All vehicular movement into Vijayawada station 48 hours before Navjeevan arrived. And Somnath, I'm waiting." he said as he sat inside and shut the door. Julius jumped in as the SUV sped away to the airport with sirens blowing away.

Somnath summoned his team and got to work. Every minute was precious. JK's next meeting was with the President.

He briefed him in detail starting with the plane crash of Roger, the interrogation of the two LeT suspects, the suspicion and theory regarding the killings of the opposition leader's wife, Surekha Jagmohan, the nexus between the ISI, Politicians, Kaiser and Kaiser pharmaceuticals, supply of infected and spurious insulin and antibiotic injections, the laundering of money through these channels leading to the solid and credible intel on Honeybee who is supposed to be the overall mastermind of this whole cobweb. He, however, didn't tell him of the interrogation of Shukla for obvious reasons. The President was taken aback by all these developments. "Well JK, what is your gut feeling about all this?" he asked.

"Your excellency, I'm of the firm view that ISI is behind all these major unrest and bomb blasts and they have honeybee to execute all these through their wide network of sleeper cells. We are working round the clock and monitoring the situation. Once we have honeybee removed, their system will suffer a huge crippling effect and at the same time, we will ensure the sleeper cells are eliminated.

However, we need to deliver a death blow to their system. I mean, we have to cripple their funds. Without the funds, their whole system would come to a halt." said JK.

"What do you suggest?" asked the President.

"Our intel reports have confirmed that large amounts of black currency are being smuggled through Nepal, Bangladesh, and Srilanka into the country. I suggest we demonetize the 100, 500 and 1000 rupee notes. We issue a ban on cash transactions and allow only bank transfers." replied JK.

"JK, that would cripple the economy. There will be a state of panic." said the President.

"Your Excellency, you must understand that as time goes by, the entire economy will be run by fake currency and we will be playing into the hands of terror organizations. We need to act and we need to do it now," said JK.

"Well, let me speak to the Prime Minister," he replied.

"Whether he agrees or not, it is inevitable. " said JK staring at the Commander in Chief.

"As regards Navjeevan blast, initial investigations lead us to believe that it's a terror attack. We will have more details within 72 hours." The President nodded and the meeting was over.