Afghan border was peaceful by comparison. Once they reached Peshawar they would have to cross through Pakistanâs Northwest Frontier Province to reach the border, and that was a notoriously lawless place. But they were sure they could count on a warm reception in Afghanistan. The Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan was on good terms with India. Seven years later, civil war would break out between the Afghan government and the US-backed mujahideen (which would go on to form the Taliban). But in 1972 Afghanistan was at peace. In 1970 Grewal had flown to Kabul and then on to Tehran and Athens.
All these factors were weighed by the members of the Indian tea club, as they sat on charpoys indoors or played volleyball at sunset. At first Dilip and Grewal favoured Poonch but eventually they were persuaded to go west to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass. As for Harish Sinhji, he was a slight fellow and he didnât know how to swim, so they were reluctant to take him.
Scrounging
When Grewal made his decision to team up with Dilip, he used some excuse (now forgotten) to ask for a shift to Cell 5. By this time some of the POWs liked to linger there longer than others each evening, playing cards or chess. Why not accommodate the players by letting them bunk together? It seems likely that MWO Rizviâs suspicions about the window had evaporated. It is even possible that he had not informed Wahid-ud-din about them in the first place. Or perhaps both men thought that with the Simla talks a month away, and a prisoner exchange likely to follow, they could relax.
So by June there were three men in Cell 5, and though Chati was there somewhat by chance, his presence proved to be useful. Because of his injuries, he could request visits to the dental clinic or the hospital and, along the way, scout the lay of the land. Dilip and Grewal, who were known for their fitness, did not have an excuse to leave the camp, and they needed all the information they could get.
They figured there was no need to start on the wall until a week or ten days before the escape, but in the meantime they needed to scout the premises and plan the route out. They quickly agreed that the back wall of Cell 5 was the best place for the breakout. Since that wall faced the same direction as the back wall of the bathroom, and since the bathroom had a ventilator, they were able to observe the PAF recruiting station and petrol pump behind their compound. The two compounds were separated by a barbed wire fence, about a foot from the back wall of the prison compound. Although the fence was high, it was not much of a barrier. They had observed airmen step through it to reach the recruiting compound.
By watching through the ventilator in the bathroom, they discovered that after five in the evening only a single watchman stood guard in the recruiting station compound. He sometimes sat on a charpoy, not far from the barbed wire fence, but when he did, he usually faced the other way, towards the gate on Mall Road. If they were quiet and quick, they could escape his notice. If he turned around they would be finished. It would be up to each man to check the watchmanâs position before making a dash across the alleyway and along the back wall of the other prison cells. As they neared the outer wall, the one they would have to climb over, the guardâs view would be blocked by a hut on the recruiting compound. It was really the first twenty feet that were risky.
Once over the wall they would be on a side road, close to its intersection with Mall Road, which they knew was also the Grand Trunk Highway. If they turned right at Mall Road, they would be on the way to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass, but they couldnât risk travelling such an obvious route, even at night. They would have to go overland, avoiding the main roads, the big towns. They would need a compass, some food to keep them going, and at least a small supply of water. A ground sheet of some sort for sleeping
All these factors were weighed by the members of the Indian tea club, as they sat on charpoys indoors or played volleyball at sunset. At first Dilip and Grewal favoured Poonch but eventually they were persuaded to go west to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass. As for Harish Sinhji, he was a slight fellow and he didnât know how to swim, so they were reluctant to take him.
Scrounging
When Grewal made his decision to team up with Dilip, he used some excuse (now forgotten) to ask for a shift to Cell 5. By this time some of the POWs liked to linger there longer than others each evening, playing cards or chess. Why not accommodate the players by letting them bunk together? It seems likely that MWO Rizviâs suspicions about the window had evaporated. It is even possible that he had not informed Wahid-ud-din about them in the first place. Or perhaps both men thought that with the Simla talks a month away, and a prisoner exchange likely to follow, they could relax.
So by June there were three men in Cell 5, and though Chati was there somewhat by chance, his presence proved to be useful. Because of his injuries, he could request visits to the dental clinic or the hospital and, along the way, scout the lay of the land. Dilip and Grewal, who were known for their fitness, did not have an excuse to leave the camp, and they needed all the information they could get.
They figured there was no need to start on the wall until a week or ten days before the escape, but in the meantime they needed to scout the premises and plan the route out. They quickly agreed that the back wall of Cell 5 was the best place for the breakout. Since that wall faced the same direction as the back wall of the bathroom, and since the bathroom had a ventilator, they were able to observe the PAF recruiting station and petrol pump behind their compound. The two compounds were separated by a barbed wire fence, about a foot from the back wall of the prison compound. Although the fence was high, it was not much of a barrier. They had observed airmen step through it to reach the recruiting compound.
By watching through the ventilator in the bathroom, they discovered that after five in the evening only a single watchman stood guard in the recruiting station compound. He sometimes sat on a charpoy, not far from the barbed wire fence, but when he did, he usually faced the other way, towards the gate on Mall Road. If they were quiet and quick, they could escape his notice. If he turned around they would be finished. It would be up to each man to check the watchmanâs position before making a dash across the alleyway and along the back wall of the other prison cells. As they neared the outer wall, the one they would have to climb over, the guardâs view would be blocked by a hut on the recruiting compound. It was really the first twenty feet that were risky.
Once over the wall they would be on a side road, close to its intersection with Mall Road, which they knew was also the Grand Trunk Highway. If they turned right at Mall Road, they would be on the way to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass, but they couldnât risk travelling such an obvious route, even at night. They would have to go overland, avoiding the main roads, the big towns. They would need a compass, some food to keep them going, and at least a small supply of water. A ground sheet of some sort for sleeping
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