A New India
Chapter 154 - 154: Hunting the Moles

The light in K.N. Rao's office flickered momentarily as he stared down at the stack of files on his desk.

Each one held the names and details of R&AW officers under suspicion, possible moles feeding information to ISI.

It had been hours since Saeed Khan had been killed in that brutal fight with Ajay, but the unease within R&AW had not subsided.

Saeed's death, while a victory, had revealed something darker lurking within R&AW itself, moles.

There had to be more than one. Saeed's ability to evade them for so long, his precise knowledge of Rao's movements, it wasn't just ISI's efficiency.

It was the result of someone on the inside leaking sensitive information.

And Rao knew this wasn't something that could be ignored any longer.

But Rao was a cautious man. He wasn't the type to rush in blindly.

Dealing with moles inside an intelligence agency required subtlety, patience, and above all, silence.

If ISI caught even the faintest hint that he was hunting for the leaks, they might use that against him, activating other agents he didn't even know about yet.

He couldn't risk it.

He'd been going over the names for days now. People he had worked with for years, some of them he'd even considered friends.

But trust was a luxury he could no longer afford.

He needed to move forward with a silent crackdown, rooting out anyone who posed a threat to R&AW's security. It had to be done.

But first, he needed to get approval from the very top.

---

Prime Minister Rohan's Office

Rao adjusted his coat as he made his way into the Prime Minister's office.

He had always had a good relationship with Rohan, a man who understood that leading India in such volatile times required not just military strength but a deep understanding of intelligence work.

Rao had briefed him on countless operations before, but this time was different.

This time, he was about to request full authority to launch a covert crackdown on R&AW itself.

As he entered the room, Rohan was already seated behind his desk, reading through a stack of documents, no doubt reports on the escalating tension between India and Pakistan.

"Rao, come in," Rohan said without looking up from the papers, his voice calm yet focused.

It was the tone of a man who carried the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders.

Rao sat down across from him, his face composed but his mind working through the complication of the conversation they were about to have.

This was not just about asking for permission, it was about ensuring that the Prime Minister understood the seriousness of what he was about to authorize.

"We've had some victories lately," Rao began, his tone measured. "Saeed Khan is dead, and ISI has taken a significant hit. But there's a deeper problem within our own agency that we need to address."

Rohan glanced up, his brow furrowing slightly. "Go on."

"Saeed had information he shouldn't have had. He knew too much about our movements, our plans. I've been reviewing the situation since his death, and I'm convinced that we have moles within R&AW, more than one."

Rohan leaned back in his chair, his expression serious. "You're certain of this?"

Rao nodded. "I am. And if we don't deal with it now, ISI will continue to exploit these weaknesses. We can't plan any major operations or take decisive action until we clean house. I'm requesting your permission to launch a silent crackdown. No one outside of a small group will know about it.

We'll begin identifying and removing anyone who's compromised."

Rohan's fingers drummed lightly on the desk as he considered Rao's words. "How deep do you think this goes?"

"That's what worries me," Rao admitted. "I'm not sure yet. But I have suspicions about several officers, people who have had access to sensitive information that's been compromised. This could take weeks, maybe months, but if we don't act now, ISI will always be two steps ahead."

The room was silent for a few moments as Rohan processed the request.

Rao knew that asking for a green light to target his own people wasn't something to be taken lightly.

But the stakes were too high.

If they didn't act, everything they had built could be undone from the inside.

Finally, Rohan spoke, his voice low but resolute. "I trust your judgment, Rao. You've proven time and again that you know what you're doing. But this... this isn't just about rooting out spies. This is about trust within the agency.

People will talk, rumors will spread. How do you plan to keep this under control?"

"We'll be surgical," Rao replied. "The people we target will disappear quietly. There will be no public dismissals, no obvious changes. We'll make it look like routine transfers or retirements. By the time anyone realizes what's happening, it will already be done."

Rohan exhaled slowly. "And you're sure this won't cause more problems than it solves?"

Rao leaned forward slightly. "Sir, if we don't do this, ISI will continue to have a foothold in R&AW. They'll continue to know our plans before we can execute them. The risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risks of this crackdown."

Rohan stared at Rao for a long moment, then nodded. "You have my approval. I'll give you whatever resources you need. Just make sure this doesn't go out of control. We can't afford a scandal right now, not with the world watching."

Rao stood up

"Thank you, Prime Minister. I'll keep you updated as we move forward."

As he left the room, Rao couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.

He needed to act fast

The war between India and Pakistan wasn't just being fought at the borders, it was being fought in the shadows, in the corridors of R&AW, where trust was a currency too easily exploited.

Back at R&AW headquarters, Rao wasted no time. Within hours of receiving the Prime Minister's approval, he convened a small team of his most trusted officers, men and women he had personally vetted over the years, people he knew would remain loyal no matter what.

Ajay Singh was, of course, at the heart of the operation.

He had been at Rao's side through thick and thin, and if there was anyone Rao trusted with the delicate task of weeding out moles, it was Ajay.

"This is going to be tricky," Ajay said, looking over the list of names Rao had handed him. "Some of these people have been with R&AW for years. They're seasoned officers."

"That's what makes it difficult," Rao replied, his tone grim. "We're not just looking for the obvious suspects. ISI has planted people who have built up spotless records, who have made themselves invaluable to us. But the pattern is there, we've lost too much information. Someone inside is feeding ISI."

Ajay frowned, scanning the names. "How do we begin?"

"Quietly," Rao said. "We'll start by monitoring their communications. We already have wiretaps in place on most of them, but we need to dig deeper. We'll look at their bank accounts, their personal lives, anything that might suggest they've been compromised. And when we find the evidence we need, we'll move them out, quietly."

Ajay nodded. "Understood."

The operation began almost immediately. Within days, teams were deployed to monitor the movements of the suspected moles, their telephone tapped, their communications analyzed.

Every interaction was scrutinized, every detail picked apart.

And slowly, the cracks began to show.

One officer, a man who had served in R&AW and achieved good results, was found to have an unexplained influx of cash in his bank account, money that couldn't be traced to any official source.

Another was caught making suspicious calls to an unregistered number, later traced back to an ISI handler.

The crackdown was ruthless, but it was necessary.

Rao's team moved in silence, removing compromised officers one by one.

Some were taken out of the country, others sent to remote postings where they could no longer do damage.

By the time the operation was in full swing, the number of suspected moles had reduced

But the work wasn't over yet.

A week later, Rao found himself back in the Prime Minister's office, this time with more concrete results.

Rohan looked up from his desk as Rao entered, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Looks like you've made some progress," Rohan said, gesturing for Rao to sit.

"We have," Rao replied, handing him a thin file. "Seven confirmed moles, all removed. ISI's been feeding off them for some time. They're out of the game now."

Rohan flipped through the file, his expression hardening as he read the details. "I'm glad you moved so quickly. But tell me, are we clean now? Or is there more?"

Rao's face remained impassive. "We've made a good start, but I won't say we're completely clean. ISI is resourceful. They've had a lot time to build these networks. There may still be more, but we're narrowing the gaps."

Rohan closed the file and leaned back. "Good. Because we need to make our next move soon. And I don't want ISI to have any idea what's coming."

Rao smiled faintly. "They won't."