Terrorist: Salaam ailekum.

Handler: Wailekum as-salaam. Aag lag rahi hai ki nahi? (Is the fire on yet?)

Terrorist: Bas kapde ikatthe kar rahe hain. (We are just collecting the cloth.)

Handler: Jaldi laga do. Aur launch ka kya kiya tha? (Light it quickly. And what did you do with the launch?)

Terrorist: Bas aise hi chhod di thi (We had just left it like that).

Handler: Kyun? Woh valve nahi kholi thi pani bharne waaste? (Why? Did you not open that valve to let the water in?)

Terrorist: Nahi, woh kholi nahi jaldi jaldi mein, kaam kharab ho gaya tha. (No, we couldn't do it in a hurry, some things went wrong.)

Handler: Kya kaam kharab ho gaya tha? (What had gone wrong?)

Terrorist: Woh jis jagah utarna tha na wahan mauje bahut zabardast lag rahi thi aur udhar ek kashti bhi aa gayi thi. Saare bole navy hai, navy hai, to jaldi jaldi doosri boat mein utre; samaan utara. Ismailbhai ka satellite bhi wahin rah gaya. (A powerful tide had risen where we were to get off and another boat had also come there. Everyone said it's the Indian Navy, so we quickly got onto another boat with the baggage. Brother Ismail's satellite phone also got left there.) [The call ends.]

The Cuffe Parade police station had taken a speedboat into possession that was found drifting near the fishermen colony at Badhwar Park a little earlier that night. It was not the large motorboat the terrorists were referring to.

Singh immediately passed on this piece of information -- the fact that the terrorists had come by sea and had abandoned a launch on the high sea, though on the phone the Taj terrorist did not mention where they had abandoned it nor did he specify what kind of a launch it was -- to senior officers. Singh and his colleagues tried to intercept as many calls made by terrorists as they could, recording all the conversations as they would soon form critical evidence.

At around 1.20 am the news broke on TV: 'ATS chief Hemant Karkare shaheed.' For a few moments it seemed time had stopped. A stunned silence enveloped the room. Frozen to their seats, they all kept staring at the TV. Singh in a late reaction picked up the phone and called up Karkare's driver. 'Saab khatam ho gaya hai,' said the driver, confirming the news. A glacial rush flowed through his veins. He was hoping Karkare's injuries were not serious. Hoping he would survive. But no. It was over. Tears started rolling down his eyes. For Singh and his colleagues in the ATS, the death of Karkare signalled the end of an era. Karkare, who was being maligned by Hindu radical organisations, and accused of appeasing Indian Muslims, was killed by a bunch of Islamist terrorists sent allegedly from across the border. When alive, Karkare had often said that terror had no religion. His death exemplified his credo.

Seconds after Singh had put the phone down, the number 00-120-1253-1824 again blipped on his computer screen. Singh picked up the headphones, though his mind was numb, his eyes bleary, his senses stunned; despair and defeat writ large on his face. The time was 1.25 am.

After exchanging some details about starting the fire in the hotel with bed-sheets and mattresses, the handler informed the terrorists about the scenario in Mumbai.

Handler: Mahaul bahut achha bana hai. Poore shahar mein tabahi machi hai. Dhai sau se zyada log zakhmi hue hain. Terah-chaudhah jagah firing ho rahi hai, to pareshan mat hona. Allah aapke saath hai. Achha ek commissioner bhi maara gaya hai, media kah rahi hai. Achha sun, ATS ka chief bhi maara gaya hai. (A conducive environment has been created. The whole city is under destruction. More than 250 people have been injured. There is firing in thirteen-fourteen places, so don't worry. Allah is with you. One commissioner has been killed, the media is reporting. And listen, the ATS chief has also been killed.)

Terrorist: Achha. Lo, Umer aur Ali aa gaye hain. (Ok, Umer and Ali have returned).

[Another handler comes on the line and inside the Taj hotel the terrorist called Umer takes over the phone.]

Handler 2: Umer, salaam ailekum.

Umer: Wailekum as-salaam.

Handler 2: Achha, ghabrane wali koi baat nahi hai. Allah ke fazal se jo Bombay mein operation karne wala chief hai na, woh mara gaya hai; abhi thodi der pehle. (Ok, there is no need to panic. By Allah's grace, the chief who ran operations in Bombay has been killed, just a little while back.)

Umer: Kaun maara gaya hai? (Who has been killed?)

Handler 2: Chief maara gaya hai Bombay ka; commissioner mara gaya Bombay ka. Bahut saare log zakhmi hain, mar rahe hai. Poore shahar mein firing ho rahi hai, aag lagi hui hai. Allah ne aapse bahut achha kaam liya hai. (The chief of Bombay and a commissioner have been killed. Many people are injured, many are dying. Firing is on throughout the city; there is fire at many places. Allah has extracted very good work from you).