Line of Control

THIRTY-SIX

At 4:31, Major Dev Puri's spotter, Corporal Sivagi Saigal, saw something that concerned him. He reported it to Major Puri. The officer was deeply troubled by what he heard.

Prior to leaving, he had been assured by the office of Minister of Defense John Kabir that reconnaissance flights in the region had been suspended. Neither Kabir nor Puri wanted independent witnesses or photographic evidence of what they expected to transpire in the mountains: the capture and execution of the Pakistani terrorists and their prisoner from Kargil.

The flyover of the Himalayan Eagle AN-12 transport was not only unexpected, it was unprecedented. The transport was over a dozen miles from the secure flight lanes protected by Indian artillery. As the spotter continued to watch the plane, Puri used the secure field phone to radio Minister Kabir's office. The major asked the minister's first deputy what the aircraft was doing there. Neither Kabir nor any of his aides had any idea. The minister himself got on the line. He suspected that the flyover was an independent air force action designed to locate and then help capture the Pakistani cell. He could not, however, explain why that mission would be undertaken by a transport. Kabir told Puri to keep the channel open while he accessed the transport's flight plan.

As he waited, Puri did not believe that the presence of a recon flight would complicate matters. Even if the cell were spotted, his unit would probably reach them first. Puri and his men would explain how the cell resisted capture and had to be neutralized. No one would dispute their story.

Kabir came back on in less than a minute. The minister was not happy. The AN-12 had gone to Ankara and had been scheduled to fly directly to Chushul. Obviously the aircraft had been diverted. The transport's manifest had also been changed to include parachutes in its gear.

A few moments later, Puri understood why.

"Jumpers!" he said into the radio.

"Where?" Kabir demanded.

"They're about one mile distant," the spotter told Puri.

"They're using Eagle chutes," he said when the shrouds began to open, "but they are not in uniform."

Puri reported the information to Kabir.

"The Eagles must have spotted the cell," the minister said.

"Very possibly," Major Puri replied. "But they're not wearing Eagle mountain gear."

"They might have picked up an outside team in Ankara," Kabir replied. "We may have been compromised."

"What do we do?" Puri asked.

"Protect the mission," Kabir replied.

"Understood," Puri replied.

The major signed off and told his unit commanders to move their personnel forward. They were all to converge on the site where the parachutists were descending. Puri's orders were direct and simple.

The troops were to fire at will.