Free Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller by Himanshu Rasam

ambitiously planned for a second tower of victory almost double in height and thickness of the Qutub Minar. The construction was however abandoned after the completion of the 24.5 meter high first-storey core soon after Khilji's death in 1316 AD, and was never taken up by the successors. That was the Alai Minar.''
    ''And how come you know so much about this place?'' David's vigilant eyes searched nook and corner for any lurking danger. His finger rested lightly on the trigger of his rifle ready to act at the first sign of trouble, his speeding steps firm as that of a panther.
    ''Studied a little bit during my medieval history course. The history of Delhi is quite fascinating and dates from the end of the 10th century...''
    That very moment, David saw an unmistakable bright red dot on Shonali's shoulder and the immediate next second three things happened almost simultaneously. David cried out to his team to lie down as he dived and shoved away Shonali behind a stone wall just as a bullet whizzed past Shonali's right ear missing her by inches, making a hard impact on the ground a few metres away.
    ''Where the hell did it come from?'' Cpl Mahesh asked.
    ''Must be a sniper somewhere out there. That same bastard must have taken out our soldiers with a silenced rifle,'' deduced David. He checked on Shonali. She was alright, but her face was white with horror. The whizzing of a bullet going just past her was still ringing in her ears. Never in her life had she seen death so closely. David spoke into his radio, ''Everyone be advised, there's a sniper somewhere out here. Better stay in cover until we take down that bastard.''
    Bullets started tearing through the wall that had them covered. The wall itself looked like the remains of an ancient Khilji Dynasty mosque and wasn't able to resist much.
    ''This wall's going to come down fast. We will try to move inside that building over to my left. Shonali- stay with me. On my mark just sprint with all your energy and be right ahead of me. Mahesh and Avinash, lay down some covering fire while we cross over.''
    David waited for the next shot from the sniper. Calculating on the earlier shot, he had noted that it took around three seconds for the next bullet to be loaded, fired and go through the wall.
    ''Three, two, one,'' David counted down.
    Bang! Another bullet tore through the wall.
    ''Go! Go! Go!''
    Shonali had never run so furiously in her life. A moment ago, a bullet had barely missed her and now she was trying to outrun a bullet. Mahesh and Avinash kept returning fire while David, Shonali, Sgt. Mohan and Capt. Ashish made a dash for an extension of the mosque to their left. David then provided covering fire until Avinash and Mahesh sprinted inside the mosque. By the time the sniper could realise what had happened, David and his team were already in safe cover.
    From the eastern side the second team, which David had left to secure the perimeter, moved in towards the Alai Minar. Cpl. Ramesh was leading the troop, scanning the terrain in front of them. The night made it difficult for them to trace the movements of the attacker. Another group of soldiers after securing the extreme southwest corner and the tomb of Allau-ud-din Khilji, took their positions near the Alai Darwaza.
    ''Sir, we now have the perimeter covered. Whoever the sniper is, he is boxed in. No visual confirmation yet,'' Cpl Ramesh reported.
    David thoroughly checked the area in his sight. It was quite difficult to locate the sniper using a silencer. Raghav also came up with nothing. ''I have no idea where he took the shot from. Although I am pretty sure that the bullets came from the southern part.''
    Suddenly David turned to Shonali. ''Any places you know which would be ideal for shooting with a sniper rifle?''
    Shonali was taken aback by the question. This wasn't something they were taught about the Mughal structures in their medieval history course. But to her surprise, a second later her brain was scanning the entire