Yakub Syed

This article covers characters and concepts from the Indian adaptation of 24.

Yakub Syed was the leader of a group of mercenaries hired by Raja Talapathi and Bala Ravindran to frame Jai Singh Rathod for the assassination of Aditya Singhania during Day 1.

The night before Day 1, Yakub called Gajavathanan, who was in Thailand and told him to get to the airport on time. He also warned him that if he failed, the people they worked for would cut his throat. Gajavathanan made his way to India and met up with Yakub. ("12:00am-1:00am")

Just before 1am, Yakub's associate Mehr blew up a passenger plane containing the photographer Max Ferraro. Yakub watched the news of the plane crash, and around half an hour later Mehr arrived at Yakub's shack. She confirmed she had got Ferraro's ID card, but informed Yakub that she changed their plans to involve her sister, Shaina. Shaina demanded double the money that was previously agreed, which Yakub refused, threatening to kill her, but Mehr talked him down. Just before 2am, Yakub received a call from Dev Sharma, who confirmed that he had kidnapped Jai Singh Rathod's daughter Kiran. ("1:00am-2:00am")

Yakub meets with Dev and Rohit

Yakub gave the women until 2.10am to produce the card before he killed them, however after Mehr started backing up her sister, he relented and transferred the money. He accompanied them both to the location of the card, but once he had it in his possession he ordered Gajavathanan to shoot Shaina dead. He offered Mehr the chance to stay alive and continue working for him, which she accepted. Yakub then made his way into Mumbai, meeting Dev and Rohit at 3:45am. He asked them what happened to Jhanvi, Kiran's friend, and Dev told him she was dead. ("2:00am-3:00am", "3:00am-4:00am")

Yakub shoots Dev

He made some calls, and learned that Jhanvi was still alive. He took Kiran, bundling her into his car, and asked Dev and Rohit to follow him to his compound to get their money. On the way, Kiran attempted to signal to a driver of another car, so he transferred her to his trunk. He also called Parvez, one of his men, instructing him to get rid of the body of Abhay Gupta. Just before 5am, he confronted Dev, explaining that he had confirmed that Jhanvi was alive. He shot Dev dead and warned Rohit never to lie to him. ("4:00am-5:00am")

A short while later he instructed Rohit to bury Dev's body. At 5:30am, Yakub took Kiran into his building, and soon after that made contact with Jai Singh Rathod. He informed Jai that if he did not follow instructions, his daughter would be killed. He directed Jai to the parking lot of the hospital he was in and into a car he had prepared. He allowed Jai to briefly speak to Kiran, before ordering him to throw away his phone and make his way to the ATU. ("5:00am-6:00am")

Yakub gives orders to Jai

Just after 6am, Gajavathanan left the compound, while Yakub instructed Jai to switch the SD card that ATU was working on with a fake he provided. As Yakub entered ATU, Yakub overhead Nikita Rai telling Jai they had identified Abhay Gupta's corpse. He called Kartik Chandrashekhar, who was undercover as Abhay, to warn him that Trisha Rathod knew Abhay was dead. Rohit came and asked if he could leave the compound, but Yakub told him he had to stay longer before he could get paid. Yakub noticed Jai attempting to warn Nikita of his compromise, so stopped him and made him switch the card that Mihir was working on.

He also had Jai call Farukhi and ask for security clearance to the labour meeting of Aditya Singhania. After that, Nikita returned to Jai's office and accused him of switching Mihir's card. Yakub ordered Jai to take her out of the building as she knew too much. Jai left with Nikita and Yakub directed him to the middle of a forested area. He then instructed him to shoot Nikita dead. Jai ostensibly did so, and one of Yakub's men called to confirm her death. However, unbeknownst to Yakub she actually survived. ("6:00am-7:00am")

Yakub orders the death of Jai's family

Yakub got a call from Gajavathanan at 7am to confirm he had passed security at the Steel Corporation of India. At this point, Trisha Rathod was brought to him and he allowed her to speak to Jai, before drawing his attention to a briefcase in his car for him to take into the Labour Union meeting. Yakub then called Jiah Pastakhia, his mole at ATU, to inform her of Nikita's death and ask her to cover the situation. He then made Jai clear security with the briefcase, using one of his men to stop another attempt by Jai to warn someone, and directed him to the packaging department to meet the assassin. However, Jai managed to subvert the assassination attempt, so Yakub ordered Qureshi to shoot the women, before the Gajavathanan called and told him that the failure was not due to Jai. ("7:00am-8:00am")

Raja threatens Yakub's life

At 8am, Yakub called Qureshi back and told him to keep the women alive for a little longer. He received another call from Gajavathanan, and instructed him not to return to the compound. His surveillance feed of ATU then cut out, and Jiah told him that she had to remove the tap. Just before 9, Yakub got a call from Raja Talapathi asking why Aditya is still alive. Yakub promises to fix the situation, and Raja threatens to kill him if he does not. ("8:00am-9:00am")

Yakub spent the next hour trying to call Jiah but not getting through, as she had committed suicide in ATU custody. At 10:30am, Raja arrived at the compound, and accused Yakub of being over-confident and failing to find Jai. Raja then gave him half an hour before he cancelled Yakub's contract. ("9:00am-10:00am", "10:00am-11:00am")

Yakub fires on Jai and his family

By 11am, Yakub had still not found Jai, so he ordered Qureshi to kill the women and start evacuating the compound. Half an hour later, he received another call from Raja, so sent Rohit to find out where Qureshi was. A short while later, he caught Rohit taking one of the vans, but received an urgent radio call from Nepali who had found an unconscious Kartik on the compound property. They drove over and found Kartik, who revealed that Jai was on site, and at that moment Rohit stole the van and drove away. Yakub and his men gave chase, cornering Jai with his family and Rohit. They approached their van, but Jai detonated it, stopping Yakub's men. ("11:00am-12:00pm")

Yakub and Kartik track the Rathods

He then organised his men to scout through the woods in pursuit. He got another call from Raja, who agreed that if Jai was found Yakub could continue to work for him. Later, Yakub heard shots in the woods and asked which of his men was firing. Tyagi answered him, but not Nepali, so he and Kartik headed to Nepali's last known position, the fort. They found his body there with a missing radio and realised Jai had been listening to them.

Yakub is killed

Yakub and Kartik managed to pin the Rathods down near a lake, but Jai drew them away. Yakub explained his situation to Jai over the radio, but Jai managed to circle behind him and held him at gunpoint. Yakub refused to surrender, wishing Jai luck before spinning around, only to be shot dead. ("12:00pm-1:00pm")

Background information and notes

• Yakub is based on Ira Gaines from the original series.