Marking the 3rd year of the Pulwama Attack, HarperCollins India releases As Far as the Saffron Fields

Srishti.Katiyar@harpercollins.co.in | 9 February 2022

Based upon personal interviews with the protagonists, police chargesheets and other evidence. As Far as the Saffron Fields is by far the most definitive book on the Pulwama attack, going where no book on the Kashmir conflict has gone before.

Commenting on the publication of his new book, IPS officer Danesh Rana Quoted, “Here is an account that would negate many narratives build around the deadly Pulwama attack. The book also highlights the involvement of proscribed outfits sponsored by Pakistan and their role in creating an eco-system for terrorism to flourish.”

Speaking about publishing this book marking the 3^rd year to Pulwama Attack, Executive Editor, Swati Chopra, said, “This is the definitive book on the Pulwama conspiracy, the one that gives the full story – from how the conspiracy was hatched and carried out, to its investigation, the cracking of the case and the filing of the chargesheet. Through it all, the book provides rare insights into the current reality of militancy in Kashmir. The fact that it has been written by a serving IPS officer lends further credibility to the narrative.”

About the book

In March 2019, two militants were killed during a siege at a house in Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar. One of them was known simply as ‘Idrees Bhai’. The encounter was forgotten for the most part, until investigators came upon a mangled phone that had been destroyed by Idrees Bhai. When the Samsung smartphone began to reveal its secrets, investigators realized they had hit upon a motherlode. For, Idrees Bhai was none other than Umar Farooq Alvi, the mastermind of the Pulwama suicide attack of February 2019 which had killed forty CRPF personnel, the deadliest terror attack on Indian security forces since 1989.

Now, for the first time, serving IPS officer Danesh Rana meticulously pieces together the conspiracy behind the attack. Based upon personal interviews with the protagonists, police chargesheets and other evidence, Rana breaks down the modern face of militancy in Kashmir, fuelled by highly radicalised young Kashmiris who are playing in the hands of terrorist organisations and often falling victims to the cycle of violence and bloodshed. 

Piecing together the stories of several actors – from Umar the dreaded terrorist to Insha, the love of his life; from Adil Dar, the man who rammed a van full of explosives into the CRPF bus to Head Constable Jaimal Singh, the driver of that ill-fated bus – As Far as the Saffron Fields is by far the definitive book on the Pulwama attack.

About the Author

Danesh Rana is a serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He is currently ADGP in Jammu and Kashmir. He is the author of Red Maize (2015), which was awarded the Tata Literature Live First Book Award, Fiction.

For more information, please get in touch at Srishti.katiyar@harpercollins.co.in

or call at +919891918753.