OPERATION TROJAN HORSE
By D.P. Sinha and Abhishek Sharan
Paperback | Rs 399 | 372 pages

Espionage thrillers closely resembling tomorrow’s headlines are finally coming up in India too. Here is a striking new thriller inspired by true events and the real-life stories of the brave-hearts who risk their lives in enemy country for India. ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ is a thriller inspired by specific events – including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and several other LeT operations.

Though work of fiction, ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ has added authenticity thanks to the authors. D.P. Sinha is a former IPS officer who spent most of his career in the Intelligence Bureau looking after counter-terrorist operations. After rising to the level of Special Director in the IB, he also served as Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Co-author Abhishek Sharan is a senior crime journalist who has been reporting on terror attacks in India from ground zero for the past twenty years. He started his career at ‘The Indian Express’ and later went on to work for ‘Hindustan Times’, ‘The Asian Age’ and, most recently, ‘Mumbai Mirror’, where he was Senior Assistant Editor.

The novel is set in 1996. A fifteen-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen crosses over to India from Pakistan. When officer Shekhar Singh of the Counter Terrorism Cell captures and interrogates him, he makes a startling revelation. The terror group has begun sending men to settle down in India in the guise of regular civilians. On the sly, they are to serve as outposts for its missions and destroy the country from within.

Stunned but not shaken, Shekhar and his bosses decide to take the fight to the enemy camp. Five Indian intelligence agents are planted in the LeT to take on its might and sabotage its operations. And thus is born Operation Trojan Horse, a first-of-its-kind Indian counter-terror mission that will go on for years.

“Operation Trojan Horse is a remarkable, explosive book,” Siddhesh Inamdar, Executive Editor, HarperCollins India, said in a statement. “Authors D.P. Sinha, who spent his career devising counter-terrorism strategies in the Intelligence Bureau, and senior crime journalist Abhishek Sharan have written a novel that is at once an edge-of-your-seat thriller as well as a window into India’s fight against terror. Although a work of fiction, it reveals a great deal about India’s confident and proactive approach that has not been known so far.”

Sinha said, “The idea behind this novel emerged from the multiple counter-terrorist operations in which I was involved, and my professional experiences. The book is dedicated to the countless undercover agents who have sacrificed their all in the line of duty.”

Sharan added, “Operation Trojan Horse is the story of India’s fight against terror. The book follows intelligence officer Shekhar Singh as he leads the Indian response to foil the plans of terrorist organisations.”