The Bus Case

In May 2020, Jeet Thakur Sahai was receiving training from his Intelligence colleagues at the Delhi Police Office. Jeet found the training very interesting and was glad to collaborate with his colleagues.

Senior Intelligence Manager, Deodhar Palekar, was training Jeet and his few colleagues. The training would be for five days.

On the fourth day, Mr. Palekar, had to excuse himself for the training as he was involved in a current case. Another instructor would train the officers. Jeet requested Mr. Palekar that he would like to help in the case. Mr. Palekar agreed.

Mr. Palekar and Jeet went to the Intelligence Control Room where about 25 intelligence officers and analysts were working.

Mr. Palekar: “So, Sunil, what are we dealing with? Tell me more about the current case.”

Head Analyst Sunil Rajput: “Sir, we have been tracing emails of a young man in Indore. Madhya Pradesh Police is aware and helping us. The young man, Zakir Abbas, has emailed his friend Anup Jhaveri in Delhi several emails the past few days. We think something is very suspicious. One email we are not able to understand. It seems to be a code.”

Jeet: “Can I see the email please?”

Mr. Palekar introduced Jeet to Sunil.

Sunil showed the email to Mr. Palekar and Jeet.

The email’s message was “Cinquante et un BLHP yma 1143”

For a few hours Mr. Palekar, Jeet, Sunil and a few other officers/analysts tried to understand what the email meant.

After a lot of thinking, Jeet said, “Obviously, I am not fully sure, but I think this is referring to a bus going to Bhopal from Delhi on May 15th. Cinquante et une is 51 in French and 15 is the reverse of the digits. yma is actually May. BLHP is Bhopal. The number of the bus going to Bhopal from Delhi could be 1143 or a similar number or combination.”

Sunil checked the buses going to Bhopal from Delhi on May 15th and the numbers were 1431, 3141 and 4113 that were similar to 1143. There were 11 more buses going on that date but with other numbers.

Mr. Palekar informed Madhya Pradesh police that each bus arriving in Bhopal from Delhi must be checked especially 1431, 3141 and 4113 on May 15th.

On May 15th, every passenger was checked on all the buses arriving from Delhi in Bhopal. Anup Jahaveri disembarked from bus number 3141 and Madhya Pradesh Police arrested him based on the intelligence that Delhi Police gave them. They also noticed a man from a distance at the bus station running away as soon as Anup was arrested. That man was Zakir. He had come to Bhopal from Indore to receive Anup. The police officers at the bus station quickly apprehended him.

At the Bhopal main police station, police investigators questioned Zakir and Anup. Mr. Palekar, Jeet and Sunil joined the questioning by videoconference.

After a lot of questioning it was found out that Zakir and Anup would go to Zakir’s uncle’s house in Bhopal. Unbeknownst to Zakir’s uncle, Zakir and Anup were assembling a bomb. They were planning to detonate it at one of the big parks in the city where a lot of people would come in the evenings. Their aim was to kill at least 40 or 50 people. Zakir and Anup were in touch with a militant extremist group in Bangladesh and had been brainwashed to do this act of terrorism.

A fast track court against Zakir and Anup would start in the next three days. The government and police authorities would try their best to ensure that Zakir and Anup would be punished severely under Indian law.

Madhya Pradesh Police thanked their Delhi Police counterparts, especially Mr. Palekar, Jeet and Sunil.

Mr. Palekar and Sunil thanked Jeet for his help in this case. Jeet mentioned he was glad to help out and this was his duty. He also commended the ongoing valiant efforts of Mr. Palekar, Sunil and their colleagues on the many cases that have to deal with on a regular basis.

After completing his training Jeet went back to his official work in Delhi.