On 11 March 1993, Tiger's brother Yaqub flew to Dubai with his wife, Rahin, and brothers Essa and Yusuf. His parents, Abdul Razzaq and Hanifa, had left Mumbai earlier, on 10 March, for the same destination. Tiger's two other brothers, Ayub and Suleiman, both resident visa holders of the UAE, were already in Dubai with their families. Tiger reached Dubai on the morning of 12 March, after instructing his men to strike in the afternoon of the same day.

The serial blasts in Mumbai drew worldwide attention.

Amidst the outrage in the international community, the Pakistani establishment, particularly the ISI, realised it was no longer safe for the Memons to stay on in Dubai. Tiger left for Karachi on 14 March 1993. Yaqub followed, along with other family members.

In April 1993, they were given passports issued at Islamabad under completely new Pakistani identities.

According to Yaqub's account, their life was becoming increasingly complicated and unacceptable to them. The experience of calling each other by new names, living the life of captives, ridden with guilt and insecurity, hiding from the world in an enemy country, had together begun to take its toll. Most of the Memons, including Tiger's wife, Shabana, were inclined to return to India. Yaqub was at the head of this plan.

Yaqub contacted his trusted Mumbai-based cousin, codenamed 'Suresh' by us, who was most sceptical of the plan but reluctantly agreed to meet him on account of his Chacha jaan's (Abdul Razzaq Memon) persistent pleas.

Yaqub and Suresh met twice for consultations. During both meetings, Suresh advised him to exercise self-restraint till he (Suresh) had obtained firm legal opinion supporting Yaqub's intended move. He required more time to consult trusted lawyers in Mumbai before Yaqub took the plunge. But Yaqub was adamant.

I am not privy to what transpired between his second meeting with his cousin and 5 August when Yaqub was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) in Delhi. His arrest, a major breakthrough in the investigation of the 1993 serial blasts of Mumbai, made screaming headlines in the media and was hailed as a major achievement.

Yaqub disclosed that his family members, in the interim, would have fled Karachi and reached Dubai. When I asked him whether they would return to India if contacted, his reply was in the affirmative. However, they would have to be first traced in Dubai, persuaded and convinced that they would be given a fair trial. Yaqub said this difficult and risk-ridden task could only be performed by his cousin, whom he had met twice for consultations before his arrest.

Yaqub succeeded in convincing him to undertake the mission, though Suresh had serious reservations initially. After all, he had his wife and children to look after. What if he were detained at any stage? But after extensive consultations with Yaqub, whom he loved dearly, he relented. Suresh left for Dubai on 11 August after convincing his wife that all would be fine. He went straight to Al-Wasl Hotel, where the Memons stayed when in Dubai. To his utter disappointment, they were not there. Meanwhile, he got the eerie feeling that he was being trailed.

He was now scouring Dubai frantically, checking mosques, hospitals, shopping areas and so on, only to draw a blank. Meanwhile, with every passing day, our bosses in Delhi were getting impatient. Suresh was continuously reporting that he was being followed and he kept changing his hotels.

But there was one smart thing he did. Knowing that the Memons were fond of food from Delhi Darbar, a restaurant serving traditional Mughlai food at Al Khamara in Dubai, he would park himself there every evening. His patience and presence of mind were to pay dividends. On 21 August, he saw two of his cousins, Suleiman and Essa, come to Delhi Darbar to order a takeaway - called 'parcel' in Mumbai's colloquial lingo - for the rest of the family.

When he met them, his cousins were ecstatic. Overwhelmed with emotion, they clung to him and wept.

As the day of 22 August broke, Suresh informed me of his success in finding his family members and also convincing them to travel with him to Delhi.

***

Things went as per plan, or so I thought. Now Suresh was all set to leave for Delhi with his family members. He had been staying at the Claridges in Deira since 23 August. After packing up, he went to check out on the afternoon of 24 August, only to be told by the receptionist that his passport could not be returned to him. The hotel had received instructions from the Dubai government which had ordered that he stay put in Dubai.

Suresh called me up from his room in a state of utter panic, almost howling, accusing me of putting him in dire straits. He gave me the whole picture and for a moment I thought that the operation had fallen apart.

I called Consul General Prabhu Dayal and told him that Suresh was not being allowed to check out from the Claridges. Prabhu was by then at the end of his tether. Hitherto having met all my difficult demands, not once questioning what they were for, he asked me rather hotly, 'Neeraj, what is this all about?' I told him the whole story.

It must be acknowledged that Prabhu Dayal played his role brilliantly and saved the day for us. He drove to the hotel's porch in his official car, the tricolour fluttering in the breeze. Along with a number of the consulate staffers in tow, he stormed into the hotel lobby and walked straight to the reception. He disclosed his identity and demanded of the receptionist that Suresh's passport be released immediately and Suresh be allowed to check out.

Prabhu then proceeded, with his entire entourage and Suresh, to the place where the Memons were waiting, all packed up. They were all bundled into an SUV of the consulate.

***

It was well past midnight when I got a call from Prabhu that the flight had taken off and the Memons started screaming with joy.

When the flight landed, the first to emerge from the air bridge were the Memons, as they had been upgraded by the Indian Airlines staff at Sharjah. They were led by Suresh who rushed and hugged me, howling like a child.

***

The Memons were formally arrested as they emerged from the air terminal.News of the arrest of the Memons had broken and the media went into overdrive. Various theories were doing the rounds, including one that a deal had been struck between the CBI and the Memons. The CBI director had to angrily tell the press that there had been no such deal. The fact that details of the operation were kept under wraps only added to the wild speculations.

Truth be told, there was no deal whatsoever with either Yaqub or the other Memons. No assurances were given to any of them at any stage. All claims of the Memons having been lured to return with promises of a lenient view being taken are bogus. I say this with all the sincerity at my command.

Excerpted from Neeraj Kumar's 'Dial D for Don' with permission from Penguin Books India