HEAD HUNTERS

"Agar Firdaws ba roy-i zamin ast, hamin ast-u hamin ast-u hamin ast,” 

“If there is Paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this."

 – Mughal Emperor Jahangir on Kashmir

 

HEAD HUNTERS

 

 

Kashmir. It was the start of spring. The landscape was spectacular. The melting snow revealed grassy slopes, wildflower meadows and picturesque valleys connected by high mountain passes. There was a rich diversity of flora and fauna throughout the region. The beautiful mountain peaks, the massive glaciers, the blue lakes and the thick hill forests gave the land a tranquil, gentle majesty.

But Kashmir was also at the heart of a fierce rivalry between India and Pakistan. It was a complex and tragic conflict that had endangered peace and stability in the region. The Line of Control divided Kashmir between the two nuclear armed neighbours. Captain Somnath Sharma was the commander of an elite MARCOS naval commando unit operating in Kashmir. Somnath was unemotional, cold and clinical. His unit was used for anti-infiltration missions, counter-terrorism operations and maritime activities in the Wular Lake.  

Somnath sat uneasily in a glitzy suburban Mumbai mall, sizing up the people around him. He watched protectively as his two young daughters played in the food court of the mall. They were excitedly riding the small children’s train that chugged slowly in a small circle, bright lights and noise all around them. Somnath’s wife, who was sitting next to him, complained about his thick, unruly beard. But the beard was part of his unit’s disguise in the civil areas of Kashmir. Somnath was uneasy in the mall. Although a devoted father, the civilian world seems unfamiliar and distant to him.  

His time off from duty was abruptly cut short when the army recalled him back to Kashmir. After he disembarked from a Chetak fast transport helicopter in the army base camp in Northern Kashmir, the camp Commandant informed him about a recent spurt of hostile activities along the Line of Control. There had been no contact with a small forward operating base at Aganpathri for over six hours. The base was located 12,800 feet above sea level and Somnath’s twelve member assault squad was tasked with reconnaissance and making contact with the base. The squad was an integrated unit with team members that included demolition, medical, communication and navigation specialists. They could operate deep in enemy territory. Somnath’s squad was made up of battle-hardened older men, with years of experience fighting together. The unit had been involved in various hazardous operations. They were a quiet, disciplined, dangerous group.

Unseasonal bad weather made the job of getting to the forward base hard. The assault team used snowmobiles. After a tough journey, battling a snow storm, they made it to the base. Somnath moved slowly and deliberately, watching and listening, always aware of the environment around him. His team first scouted around the base carefully, looking for any tracks in the snow. The base comprised of two small buildings, re-enforced with stacks of sacks and concrete slabs. The Indian flag still flew above it. There was no movement anywhere. The team slowly and carefully moved into the base. The storm still continued. The wind howled and visibility was down to just a few feet.

As Somnath approached the main building of the base, he saw tracks of several men on the snow near the building. He pointed the tracks to his team members, motioning them to stay clear of it. Even without a close examination he could tell that the boot prints were not of Indian soldiers. The door of the building was wide open. Their Tavor rifles pointed, led by Somnath, the team moved inside the building. Somnath stopped short at the scene in front of him. He saw the dead bodies of the four Indian soldiers who had been guarding the base. The bodies bore marks of brutal torture and the men had been beheaded, with the heads missing. Next to the bodies crawled on the floor in blood was SSG. The SSG, the Special Services Group, was the Pakistani commando unit that operated in Kashmir. It was a shocking sight that disturbed even the battle-hardened assault team. They vowed to make the enemy pay.  

Somnath followed the tracks he had seen on the base. It was hard job. The storm had obliterated any foot prints. Somnath decided that the infiltrators would have continued onto the Indian side. A pine forest started at a small distance from the base. His team moved towards it. Under a steep ridge, Somnath saw the tracks again. He was pleased that he was going in the right direction. He knew that the boot marks belonged to at least a dozen men who had crossed over into the Indian side of the LOC. He assumed it must be a group of terrorists who had been shepherded into India by the SSG.

The squad pursued the infiltrators. Because of the storm, the terrorists had taken sanctuary in the pine forest. Somnath heard them before he saw them. There were fourteen terrorists. They had not taken any precautions. There was no one on guard, they talked loudly and most of them were sleeping. Somnath realized that they weren’t very experienced. He could even see a few teenagers through his high powered binoculars. The recent modus operandi of the ISI, the Pakistani Intelligence, was to flush into India young men from impoverished villages. These were men who would be willing to die in exchange for a small amount of money that would be paid to their families.

Somnath split his team into three groups. The groups carefully fanned out in a large circle around the target. At his signal, they moved in. The battle was short and bloody. Half a dozen terrorists were killed while the others managed to flee through the pine forest towards Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Somnath’s team pursued the fleeing terrorists. At the LOC, Somnath had to make a decision. Should he continue into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir? He knew this part of Kashmir like the back of his hand. His squad had conducted various operations in the vicinity of the base over the last few years. He knew the terrorists would have to leave the forest cover and move across a glacier about three kilometers inside Pakistani territory. The storm was almost over. The visibility was improving. The team moved swiftly. Fifteen minutes later, they found a high ground that overlooked the glacier. Somnath stationed the squad snipers, waiting anxiously. If the terrorists waited for the dark or bad weather, he would not be able to get his shot. The steep ground that led to the glacier was harsh, dotted with boulders and large pieces of rocks. It would be impossible to find the terrorists if they hid themselves behind one of the big rocks. But a few minutes later he saw eight figures hurrying onto the glacier. He waited until they got to the middle of the glacier, then he ordered the snipers to fire. The terrorists were like sitting ducks. The snipers easily killed them one by one. For a fleeting moment, Somnath felt pity for the men he was killing who had probably been farmers and shepherds just a few months back.  

The storm had now completely passed. The squad found a crevice in the mountain to rest and eat before they made their way back to the Indian side. The squad members were furious at the beheading of the soldiers. They wanted to hit back immediately at Pakistani posts but Somnath stayed calm, controlling his emotions.

The team started the trek back to the Indian side. They moved carefully. A squad member suddenly spotted something at a distance. They realised that it is a small child wandering along the valley in the freezing cold. There were no villages in the area. Surprised, Somnath’s team left their designated safe route and approached the child to investigate. But the child was a decoy set up by the SSG commander. It was a carefully planned set-up. Somnath realised that he was trapped in the valley. A large contingent of the SSG and Pakistani army regulars suddenly surrounded them. There was a fierce gunfight. Somnath had a hard time breaking through the circle. But luckily darkness was approaching and the squad managed to escape back into Indian Territory. The team lost two members of their squad, a sniper and the squad-leader, the second in command, during the ambush.

Back in the army base, as the Indian army rushed re-enforcements to the Aganpathri sector, Somnath was furious at himself for being outfoxed and almost getting his whole squad killed. The beheadings caused a stir in the camp. Headquarters was informed and the local commanders were put on high alert.

A young officer was appointed as the new squad leader of the unit. The new second-in-command, Rohan Kaushal, came highly recommended by Headquarters. Somnath coaxed the Commandant of the base to allow him to make a cross-border raid. An eye for an eye. He wanted to bring back heads as trophies in return for what the SSG did to the Indian soldiers. Although hesitant at first, the Commandant finally gave in. Army Intelligence reported that the sudden spurt in violence was because of a newly appointed SSG Commander. Somnath’s fight with the SSG Commander had become deeply personal. He was not used to being out-maneuvered.   

In the room where Somnath stayed, there were marks on the wall. He kept a record of his squad’s kills with lines drawn on the wall. Next to these lines, he has pasted photos of his family. He carried a photo of his wife and daughters with him whenever he was out on a mission. He believed it kept him safe. On the small table in the room, there were small wooden cobras carved painstakingly out of pinewood by Somnath.

Rohan, the new squad leader, had big shoes to fill in and the senior team members of the squad were not too happy with a young leader. On a moonless night, in the pitch dark, the squad slipped out of the base. They first trekked south for two hours, through Indian held territory. Aside from a routine army patrol, they didn’t meet anyone. The path was through rugged hilltops and they walked carefully in the dark.

Somnath led them down a steep mountain slope to a swift flowing hill river. The team got into black inflatable boats and in the dark they crossed over to the Pakistani side. On alert now, they quietly moved up the riverbank to find a narrow, broken path. The navigation specialist in the squad now guided them along the path, stopping every once in a while to consult his GPS and maps.

It was dawn when they snuck past the heavily guarded Pakistani front lines. The landscape was beautiful. The snow-capped mountains glittered in the morning sun. The squad walked along a goat track with bright flowers and clusters of pine trees bordering the track. They were deep inside Pakistani territory now. Although they kept a careful lookout around them, they knew that there should be no patrols or bunkers in the area. They planned to carry out their outpost raid from the Pakistani side to minimize chances of direct contact with the enemy. They kept a lookout for shepherds or villagers in the area. The team members talked about family problems, their children, Bollywood movies they had just watched and new jokes that they had heard at the army camp. They talked about everything except the mission. Rohan was the only one quiet. 

The spotters in the squad suddenly signaled for them to stop. At a distance, by a narrow stream, a man, presumably a villager was sitting washing clothes. Somnath decided to interrogate the local for information on enemy movement. They moved, keeping to the cover till the last possible moment. They surrounded the man, guns raised. The man was a young solider, just out of his teens, washing his uniform. He raised his hands, shocked at seeing the Indian soldiers. Somnath interrogated the man. There was very little valuable information that the man could give. Somnath ordered Rohan to kill the soldier. Rohan was stunned. He flatly refused. He said that the man was unarmed and of no threat to them, that they should tie him up and move on. Somnath was furious at being disobeyed during a mission. They argued but Rohan was obstinate. The team members looked on, uncomfortable. Somnath suddenly shot the pleading man. The man collapsed, dead. Rohan looked at the dead soldier’s body with unconcealed horror. Somnath turned to Rohan and told him that he would be out of the squad and court-martialled for his disobedience.

By midday the squad had started navigating their way back towards the Pakistani front lines. On finding a large cave in a hill, Somnath decided to wait inside for the night. The tension in the group had become palpable. Somnath and Rohan, the two head officers, the squad commander and the squad leader, didn’t talk to each other and were both angry. Somnath unsheathed his hunting knife and proceeded to carve a cobra from a piece of wood. The team members took turns keeping a look-out at the cave entrance.

After it was dark, the squad moved towards their destination. The bunker they targeted was one that was a little distant from the Line of Control. There was no special security at the bunker. They carefully planned out their operation. The squad was divided into two groups. One group under Somnath and the other under Rohan. The commandos stormed the post. The guards at the bunker were completely taken unaware. They had not anticipated an attack from the Pakistani side of the LOC. Three guards were immediately killed in the shootout while three were taken prisoner. Somnath now got ready to do the grisly task. The three men, who had been taken prisoner, begged to be spared. But Somnath was unemotional and brutal. Rohan stepped out of the bunker, refusing to witness what was to follow. He lit a cigarette and puffed away. Screams pierced the night. Somnath placed the small cobra he has carved next to the bodies. On the floor he wrote in blood, “Blood for Blood”.

When the squad came out of the bunker they were carrying a bloody sack. The team members reminded each other that the Pakistanis had started the head hunting. But Rohan was disgusted. The team carefully made its way in the dark to the Indian Army base camp.

Back in the camp, Rohan immediately went to meet the Commandant. Rohan refused to work in the squad and asked for a transfer to a different squad. The Commandant was placating but reminded Rohan that there could be no compassion or softness in war.

Somnath was back in his tiny make-shift camp room. He lay down on his bed, feeling perturbed. He put seven new lines on the wall. He was looking at the photos of his family when a solider knocked on the door saying he was being called for by the Commandant. Somnath realized that it must be the issue with Rohan that the Commandant wanted to discuss with him. But the Commandant had something else to say. Somnath was informed that his family has been in a fatal car accident. His wife and daughters had died. Somnath couldn’t comprehend it as first. When the realization sank in, he was completely devastated. Somnath left on a leave of absence to cremate his family, a broken man.

Somnath’s shock turned to grief and the grief to guilt. Somnath began to ask himself if the death of his family was some kind of divine retribution for his sins. The lines on the wall marking his kills began to haunt him. Meanwhile Rohan was given temporary charge of the unit. The team members were very unhappy about this and openly make derogatory comments about their new commander to each other. But Rohan was a daring and authoritative figure. Rohan was committed to ending the brutality of the unit. He called together his team in the camp mess and gave them all a dire warning. As their leader, he expected absolute obedience. He threatened that he would shoot any squad member who didn’t work according to the combat rules he was about to set. Rohan kept the unit in arduous training, with long patrols and treks and constant combat readiness tests. The hugely experienced team members grumbled but kept their opinions to themselves. Rohan proved to be a gifted leader and they gradually came to respect him.

Somnath returned to the unit. The squad members and the Commandant were glad at his return. But he was a changed man. The tragedy had affected him deeply. Even during routine patrols he was sometimes absent-minded and unsure of himself. Rohan though only the second in command started increasingly to take charge. A bond started to form between the two men.

Before the end of summer, in a bid to push through infiltrators, the Pakistani side started shelling Indian positions. There was a heavy exchange of artillery fire. The SSG was active in guiding terrorists across the Line of Control. When the causalities on the Indian side began to mount because of the artillery barrage, the Commandant sanctioned a secret cross-border raid. But the Commandant did not know that Somnath intended to carry out the raid not on regular Pakistani soldiers but on the SSG.

Somnath took Rohan to his contact in the Army Intelligence. After pestering and cajoling the reluctant contact, they finally learnt about an Indian spy, who was living as a shepherd in a village in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Somnath planned the mission.

The squad set out in the dark. They crossed over to the Pakistani side and made their way towards a village deep in Pakistani territory. After the break of dawn, they kept to cover to avoid being spotted. They reached the small village. Somnath had to now make contact with the spy. They scouted around the village, keeping a careful distance and spotted four shepherds tending to their sheep. Based on a drawing given to them by their contact in Army Intelligence, they identified the spy as one of the shepherds. The team found cover in a thick forest near the village while two squad members kept an eye on the shepherd. They tracked his movements and when he sat in a secluded spot for his midday meal, near a patch of dense foliage, the team made contact.

The spy was disturbed at seeing so many Indian commandos so far inside Pakistani Kashmir. He informed them of recent developments. He talked about new routes being used by terrorists, the new Pakistani posts near the border and the changes in their weapon systems. But Somnath wanted to know where the SSG barracks were. The spy said he had heard of regular visits by a SSG team to a neighbouring village. He promised to visit this village where he had a few friends and bring back news. The man sets off immediately and promised to come back before dark. The squad kept to the cover, waiting.

Night fell. Rohan listened to the owls and the jackals. But the man did not return. Somnath did not think it was wise to remain in the same place for too long. The squad moved out. Somnath decided to move towards the village mentioned by the shepherd. He started to feel uneasy. He made sure that they didn’t leave the cover of the thick pine forests. Long before they got to the village, they could hear the village dogs barking constantly. From a safe vantage point, Somnath scanned the village with his binoculars.

In the moonlight, they saw the shepherd’s body dangling from a tree. He was dead. He had been hung. Carved on the tree was the word, ‘Traitor’.

Somnath knew that the mission had been compromised. It was possible that the shepherd, under duress, confessed to meeting the assault squad. Now, the local Pakistani commanders would have been put on alert. The element of surprise was lost, they were at a disadvantage. Somnath was angry at being outsmarted again. He was very careful as his team moved back towards Indian Kashmir. Rohan felt that the SSG might keep a watch on their possible exit routes.

Dawn broke too soon. With the cover of darkness gone, the squad had to inch forwards slowly; every rock or patch of trees a potential threat. They were using a route they were not familiar with and the navigator was often stopping the squad to get their bearings. They reached a narrow mountain pass. Somnath knew it was a dangerous path to take, the perfect spot for an ambush. The team carefully scanned the mountainside for enemy snipers. Rohan said that they should double back and find a different way. But Somnath felt that the longer they wandered around in Pakistani territory the greater the chance of their discovery. He decided to risk the path. As they were in the higher reaches of the mountains, there were patches of snow around them. The squad changed into their white outfits for better camouflage.

As they walked along the mountain pass, warily, Rohan saw a sudden glitter of light in the distance. He signaled immediately. The squad crouched, knowing that they were sitting ducks for any sniper. Somnath studied the spot where Rohan had seen the gleam. At first he saw nothing. But soon a small movement caught his attention. He saw a weapon pointed at them. And nearby, other weapons could be seen. From the half seen uniforms he realized with a sinking heart that it was a SSG team. They were within sniper range. So why was he still alive?

The answer became apparent soon. The SSG team was fixated looking at the opposite hillside. Somnath turned his binoculars on the hillside and saw a rare snow leopard. The majestic creature was sunning itself on a cliff. The few minutes of distraction let Somnath lead the squad to the only possible cover, a group of small boulders along the pass. They hid among the rocks, lying on the ground, motionless. With a small mirror, carefully moved to avoid any flash of the sun, Somnath observed the enemy. It was a full complement SSG strike team. The snow leopard had saved their lives.

The team stayed in position, hidden. Time moved slowly. It was mid-morning, then noon, then afternoon. Towards evening after guarding the pass the whole day, the SSG team got ready to depart. Somnath suddenly had an idea. He decided to follow them and attack them when his squad got a clear shot. It’s was a dangerous game. The hunters were now the hunted. The crack SSG team kept a careful lookout and the Somnath’s squad had to keep a long distance from their quarry. He also had to be careful of not walking into another trap.

The SSG team has nine members. Eight members went up north while a lone soldier seemed to be making his way in the direction of the village where the shepherd was killed. Looking at the lone man trudging on, with his high powered binoculars, Somnath suddenly realised that he has seen the man before. At Army Headquarters, a rough sketch had been presented to him of the SSG Commander made by a spy, probably the dead shepherd. Somnath decided to follow and hopefully kill this high-value target. He felt that their personal rivalry was finally ending. The squad was now energized. There was a sense of excitement. The SSG Commander had made his way to the village and had disappeared into one of the many huts in the hill village. The squad was unable to locate the exact position of the SSG Commander without getting dangerously close to the village. They were confused about why the Commander would be in a hut for so long. That too without any protection. A lover, perhaps. They surrounded the village and kept watch, planning to move in for the kill late in the night.

That night Somnath decided to go into the village alone. He put on local clothing that the squad had “collected” outside sleeping villages during their trek across Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. In the disguise, armed with only a silenced revolver, he planned to sneak inside the village. Rohan volunteered to accompany Somnath. But Somnath overruled the idea. The squad was put on alert with a shoot-on-sight order if the SSG commander managed to slip out of the village.

Somnath cautiously went into the village. Everything was silent around him. Most of the inhabitants were asleep. He entered the village against the wind so that the village dogs didn’t catch his scent. Just a few huts had their lamps still lit. Somnath went to one such hut and softly called from outside. An elderly man peeped out. Somnath explained in fluent Koshur that he lived in a neighbouring village and that he had an urgent message for the SSG Commander. Somnath’s disguise, confidence and his command of the language got him the desired response. The man pointed to him the hut where the commander was.

Somnath walked to the hut. He carefully moved to an opening in the wall that served as a window. A light cloth draped across the window served as a curtain. Somnath looked inside. He saw the Commander sitting on the floor, his uniform off, his gun well away from him, teaching two young girls alphabets on black slates. The mother of the girls sat respectfully in a corner with her burkha on. Somnath was surprised.

Somnath quietly walked to the thin plank of wood that serves as a makeshift door. It was unfastened. Silenced gun pointed, he stepped into the house. The girls look at him curiously, the woman was confused seeing a villager with a gun but the SSG Commander knew instantly that it’s was an Indian commando. Somnath motioned them to be silent. The Commander was unarmed and raised his hands. He stepped away from the children. He asked Somnath not to kill the innocent family. 

The SSG Commander muttered a prayer. He then closed his eyes, ready to die. Looking at the scared woman and the two girls, who were now crying, Somnath was reminded of the loss of his own family. Somnath couldn’t bring himself to shoot. Shaking, he left the house. He collapsed on a hut parapet a few meters from the house, suddenly struck with tremendous grief and a huge sense of failure.       

The squad was waiting anxiously. Rohan scanned for any sign of Somnath. There was nothing. The village was quiet. Somnath had given them strict orders to not make a move till dawn.

As dawn broke, Rohan got ready to storm the village with the squad and search for Somnath. Somnath still sat lost on the parapet, unseeing, defeated. The SSG Commander came out of the hut, with his uniform on, armed again. He saw Somnath and froze. The two men looked at each other. No one raised their gun. At that moment there was an unexplainable connection and understanding between them. The SSG Commander touched his cap in a salute and slightly nodded at Somnath. He walked away along the village path.

Suddenly a bullet hit Somnath in the throat. It was a Pakistani sniper from the hilltop. The SSG Commander rushed back to Somnath, trying to control the bleeding, screaming into his COMM lines to hold fire. Rohan saw that the opposite hillside was filling up with Pakistani soldiers. He gave the order to attack. A fierce gunfight erupted around the village. The SSG Commander held Somnath’s head in his lap, trying to use his first aid kit to save his life.

Rohan led the squad into the village. They found Somnath dead. Amidst the gunfire, they carried the body away from the village. They moved hastily keeping to the dense tree cover, retreating while firing at their pursuers.

After a tough journey, they manage to slip across the Pakistani lines at the LOC. The squad was devastated by their Commander’s loss. For Rohan the loss was personal. He moved into Somnath’s room. Sitting on the bed, he would spend hours staring at the wooden cobras and the lines on the wall, anger and hate slowly possessing him.

Three months went by. Winter came early that year. Heavy snowfall closed most of the passes. The Line of Control was quiet.

The SSG Commander walked up the path going through the village. He was followed by three commandos. They asked the villagers if there has been any Indian activity close to the village. But none of the villagers had noticed anything except SSG movement near the village. The commandos distributed food grains and textbooks. The Commander and his men made their way to the house where the woman and the two girls lived. The men talked about the MARCOS raid that had happened three months back. The men were still not able to understand why Somnath had not shot their Commander that night. The SSG Commander was quiet.

Reaching the hut, the Commander went inside. His men saw a SSG commando, in the black outfit, causally smoking a cigarette near the hut. They didn’t recognize the man. He grinned at them and told them that his unit had just been send from Sindh for extra protection in the area. He offered them cigarette. Dressed in SSG gear, the man was Rohan. As the three commandos accepted the cigarettes and were lighting it, he casually moved behind their backs and found the perfect opportunity to pull out his silenced weapon and shoot the three men.

Inside the hut, the Commander waited patiently. He didn’t want to go inside the smaller room that served as a bedroom for the family. But when his calls went unanswered, he got up uneasily and went near the smaller room. He slowly pushed the door open and saw that it was empty. Puzzled, he was about to walk out when he noticed a slight splatter of blood near the small storeroom in a corner of the hut. A terrible fear seized him. He slowly walked to the storeroom, his hands shaking. He opened the door. Inside were the dead bodies of the woman and the girls. The Commander stepped back in horror. Rohan moved into the house silently. He shot the SSG Commander in the back of the head. The Commander collapsed, dead.

Rohan took a cobra carved out of pinewood from his pocket and dropped it on the blood-soaked floor. “Blood for Blood,” he crawled on the red surface. Then he threw down a sack and unsheathed his knife.

Rohan walked out of the village carrying the heavy grisly sack, drops of blood falling on the pure white snow.

Rohan had become the new Somnath.

The cycle of violence continued.

THE END