He lay awake looking at the racing clouds, which seemed to tell him –“C’mon lad get a move on’. The problem, with which his mind was grappling, seemed to encircle his brain like a huge serpent, choking it. He was listless and enervated.
It has been three weeks from that dreadful day when powerful explosions shattered the peace of the city and he had been assigned to the case with a mission: find a permanent practical solution to the menace of terror. He accepted the challenge and went about the usual investigation methods to find the people behind the heinous act. At each stage he ended up in a cul-de-sac. Numerous questions, doubts and false beliefs began to haunt him. To get a fresh perspective of the whole thing he decided to move away from the center of action.
A dispassionate and critical examination of all facts, findings and conjectures relating to the blasts, led him to believe that the solution primarily lay in not identifying and cornering the perpetrators but on a more abstract level in formulating a strategy which would strike at the ideological root of the terrorists and make them rethink about the mindless violence and mayhem unleashed by them.

When he indicated his proposal to the authorities, many eyebrows were raised. People who believed in the ideology of “An Eye for an Eye” scoffed at his idea. Action immediate action was what they expected. “Thorn should be removed by a thorn only” everyone echoed. No one understood his approach which emphasized more on attacking the ideological root of the problem and on the mental strategies to curb the menace rather than retribution.
The ringing of his mobile brought him back from the reverie.
Hesitatingly he answered ‘Sir…’
“They have done it again! This is more severe than the previous. I want you in my office immediately”.

The office was buzzing with people. On everyone’s face tension, fear & helplessness loomed large. They were desperately looking for a clue, a solution and possibly an end to the menace. Arguments further heated the atmosphere as the blame game reached a crescendo. The boss on sighting him signaled and led him aside to a corner.
“For heaven’s sake give me an answer…I don’t want this to happen again”. The boss’s desperation was understandable.
“Sir, I am sorry for what has happened but believe me it will not happen again…” he said in a cool, composed voice which stunned the listener, he continued,
“Sir, Thank you for reposing faith in me .I am confident of a solution.” before he could finish, Mr. Action his bete noire confronted the Boss.
“Sir the intelligence reports were not accurate. Going by the report, the incidence should have happened five days from now”.
The Boss wanted to end the conversation at the earliest so he mumbled some monosyllables, but Mr. Action was in no mood to end, he continued
“Sir also the report indicated all wrong targets. Our informers have taken us for a ride”
“Mmm, I see”
“Sir now we have got definite clues about the people involved based on the modus operandi. We are likely to hole them within 48 hrs”
“Mmm, good”
“Sir red alert has been issued to prevent their escape. We have issued orders to the other cities also to enhance their vigil”
“Mmm, OK”
“Sir we need a new set of reliable informers. More surveillance cameras. More teeth for our commandos ”
The vociferous announcement by Mr. Action attracted the crowd’s attention, which seemed to be happy and relieved to hear every word that he uttered.
“Shall we discuss about this later in the day?” so saying the Boss walked towards the corner much to the dismay of Mr. Action and is supporters.
“Sir once again I will assure you, this shall not happen again. Please permit me to leave now” he pleaded. Reluctantly the Boss nodded.
On his way to the nest, he collected all the reports about the second terror strike. The three weeks he had spent in isolation thinking all the time about the problem gave him the clear picture about the psyche behind these acts of barbarism. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that the issue cannot be solved by the conventional methods which relied more on trying to isolate and punish the propaganda driven perpetrators rather attacking the root.
There were a lot of unanswered questions,
What is driving them to do this?
What do they gain by doing these acts in which innocents suffer?
How are young and intelligent kids motivated to become part of this bloodbath, risking their lives?
The long proclamations by some outlawed groups always ended up declaring it as a war for justice belying the fact that wars are fought head to head and eye to eye and not with clandestine & cowardly tactics employed to kill the unarmed, harmless and innocent human beings. He studied all the written material available about the origin, the spread and the crimes perpetrated from the day these outfits took birth. The intelligence reports indicated the existence of these outfits in various cities with the details about the possible sources of funding, arms supply etc. It also clearly emphasized the involvement of foreign agencies in nurturing these poisonous weeds. He took out the dossier he had prepared about the activities involving these outfits and studied it in detail, formulating the strategies to eliminate the head before the tentacles realized that they were being immobilized.

The group met after two weeks. They mourned the death of their brethren in the recent suicide attacks and prayed for their well being in the ether world. Mr. Bomb the leader appreciated the efforts of the group and asked them to continue in the same spirit. The right hand man outlined the plan for the next four weeks which proposed three simultaneous attacks in three cities around the world. The leader assigned the responsibilities to the key members of the group. He then instructed the right hand man to arrange all the equipment required for the attack. Once all formal talks were completed and decisions taken, the group switched to a meaningless banter over dinner.

The governments of about dozen powerful countries spent millions in trying to track the elusive leader but with no result. The power of technology, weaponry and money could not score over the human intelligence, which unfortunately the outlawed group had, in abundance. Mr. Bomb was always one step ahead, thwarting any attempt to capture him. The law enforcing agencies were always caught on the wrong foot, reducing them to hapless onlookers when the slaughter took place. The more they went after them, the stronger and surreptitious was the retaliation. The cancer seemed grow with each passing day to new areas. The pattern, timing and the power of attacks indicated utmost proficiency on the part of the perpetrators.
Mr. Bomb was a well-educated, tech savvy glib talker. His power lay in the powerful words he chose to mesmerize and motivate the audience. Words were his life and the most powerful weapon in his possession. The mood swings he suffered everyday could be attributed directly to the words, which attracted his attention at that point in time. Words were his strength and also his weakness .As he watched the large video screen, which showed their most secure web site he heaved a sigh of relief. The activities of the group in the entire world could be monitored minute by minute through the screen. The progress he saw on screen seemed to satisfy him.
Though his men were capable of breaking into any web site, his was impregnable.

‘The leader is after all a human being. He too has emotions and reasoning. There has to be some way to break into his brain and drain all the filth that has collected there which is making him unleash a reign of terror’ he thought himself.
His plan to contain the terrorists began to take shape. The laptop sprang to life. He started typing vigorously. All the knowledge he had gained about computer hacking took the form of a series of commands. Each response he got after a command made his heart miss a beat. He was unrelenting. The tussle continued for almost an hour. Suddenly the screen displayed the impregnable website. He was aghast by its contents. The signal he got was loud and clear. Today they will attack again. He was stunned by what he saw. At exactly six p m it will be mayhem on a scale never before witnessed. The impact would send shock waves around the world! He was sweating profusely. Hands were trembling.
“It is bigger than all the previous attacks. The set time is six p.m. I must act NOW!” he muttered to himself and looked at his watch, it showed four p.m. He closed his eyes took a deep breath to regain the composure.

Everything was going as per plan. Explosive filled covers were handed over to the boys with clear instructions. They were given two hours to plant them at places decided by the leader. In case of any problem, they should inform the key member and safely bring the cover back. Any change in plan will be informed fifteen minutes before time. The places chosen were the most populous and popular destinations in the city.

He pulled out a note book which contained passages from religious texts which when read with devotion would, in his opinion, result in wielding a powerful influence on the reader. He studied carefully each of the passages noting the words, the pattern, the emotion and the intent behind each word .As he read and re-read the passages, he started formulating a powerful message and read it repeatedly while studying the reactions of the brain. He was convinced. This is it. This will be the weapon to destroy the brain of the octopus. With brain dead, the tentacles will become powerless and fall off as dead wood.

The message had about thirty carefully chosen words arranged in a particular pattern to have maximum instant impact on the reader. The watch showed 4.45 p.m. With great trepidation he started typing the message….

Mr. Bomb sprang from his chair on reading the first word. The message appeared in bold and very big letters. It started devouring the entire large video screen. The leader could not take his eyes of the screen. He read and repeatedly read each word of the message…it began to have a profound impact. His legs lost all the energy and he collapsed on the chair. Tears began to swell in his eyes. With trembling hands he lifted the telephone and called them.
“STOP EVERYTHING AND SURRENDER. THIS IS GOD’S WISH”.

Time was five p.m.