Mousebite

by Ganesh Chaudhari

  Anees Vilayati was wearing a gray colored suit. The hand holding the note had a single gold ring in the index finger. Though close to 50, a sharply trimmed beard & a thin moustache made him look much younger. His hair was done with gel & his fair complexion was creased only at his eyes. His tall frame belied the supple movement of his body. His black eyes were boring down Kumar as if verifying him. He could have passed for a South Mumbai businessman anywhere. Even in Mumbai. Anyone looking from a distance would have thought of it as a well to do man helping the needy.

  “Salaam Allekum.” He said in his booming baritone.

  “Walekum Assalam” Kumar replied. Anees smiled to reveal his perfect set of teeth.

  “I have taken care of the Mumbai police. They won’t bother you again.” Kumar smiled back. Nobody passing by or seeing them from a distance would have realized what they were up to. Anees’s security guards were tactically standing at positions so that no one could come close to them on the narrow path. This forced Kumar to come alone to the meetings, without any backup. The bodyguards were street smart & well trained. Anees had been offered government security in the past but he never accepted. This could be one of the reasons.

  “What about Achhu’s murder?” He asked coolly without any hint of relief.

  “We are looking into it.” Kumar answered.

  “Do you have any leads? When would you nab the culprit?” Anees continued. This was the difficult part for Kumar. The NIA was not into random murder investigations. Unless it had to do with national security. That angle barely covered Achhu’s murder. Involving NIA personnel for a civilian murder investigation was not going to happen.

  “It has been hard enough to shake off the Mumbai police from this. We have just begun. I can’t give a date but we will crack it soon.” He played it cool.

  “Right. How many people do you have working on this?” Anees pressed on. Kumar realized that it was no use lying further. Anees was not going to let this roll.

  “Only me as of now. You got to understand, our priority is you.” He replied. Anees had been a priority for the intelligence fraternity since 1993. That year, one fine December morning, the Mumbai crime branch commissioner’s office had received a call from Anees. He had given up locations of 21 locations where RDX based timebombs had been planted. The cops believed the tip only after the first bomb went off. The police team successfully diffused 8 bombs but could not stop other 13. Anees had proved helpful on many occasions after that too, but nothing major recently. So he was a fading priority. The NIA shadowed him electronically and protected him. Not others around him.

  “Right again. But you have to find the murderer.” Anees was keeping it short.

  “Our initial assessment points to food poisoning. But we will get to the bottom of this. You have my word.” Kumar said. Kumar could not decipher the emotions on Anees’s face as he tried to sound earnest. He conveniently forgot to mention the Fortuner that had Anees’s license plates & had been used to drop Achhu off. He would of course admit it as a memory lapse. As soon as things got back to normal with Anees.

  “Ok. Khuda hafiz.” Anees walked away from Kumar. Kumar had expected an argument from him. All the people who had kept watch on Anees for the past 2 years had reported on Achhu being close to Anees. And Anees had a reputation of being a man who could go all out for his men as long as they were loyal to him. He had expected that Anees would demand additional resources on the case, frequent updates on the progress of the investigation and what not. But Anees had not done any of that. Which meant he could do anything.

  Kumar saw him reach the main road shortly. The white colored Fortuner picked him up with four of his security guards to speed away. Kumar decided to suffer the sea for a little longer as the evening blended into night.

  Inside the Fortuner, Anees thrust out his hand. One of the security guards gave him a Blackberry phone. This one had an encryption key that was not available to the Indian government, yet. He was given a sheet of paper with a mobile number printed on it. He dialed swiftly on the Blackberry’s keyboard. A decision had been made. Kumar & the NIA were not keen on finding who killed Achhu.

  “Hello, is this Inspector Jagtap?”

  11

  Gangster

  Well, it has been that kind of day. You go and threaten the hell out of a goon & get blasted for that. You are removed unceremoniously from a case that you just cracked open & get reassigned to it unofficially. You meet a man who treats your kind with a stratospheric superiority complex & you get a call from a man who is an enigma.

  I had seen Ulhas off an hour ago. I had one more drink to go with Malvani fish curry, a couple of chapattis & steam rice at the Ashoka. It was not bad. I managed to call Kshipra to confirm that she too had been relieved of evidence in the Achhu case. I actually wanted her to call up Bhavna & inquire but decided against it. The buggers of NIA who managed to delete a video file from my phone might still be listening so I kept the call short. The happy stupor created by the drinking (I was a Vodkesh today. It means lord of Vodka. Had a pint of Smirnoff.) helped the gentleman in me decide to meet her personally & explain it to her. If this professional meeting got me to know more about her, that was going to be a good side effect. After finishing off the dinner, I had driven my Bullet for half an hour to reach Kaala Ghoda when my phone rang. The caller id shows restricted number. It is 8 in the night & the fact that I am buzzed means I have no hesitation in answering the call.

  “Is this Inspector Jagtap?” A deep sounding voice asks.

  “Speaking.” Somehow, this reply is most pleasing to my ears.

  “Anees Vilayati here.” I slam the breaks of my bike & pull up to the side of the road to kill the bike’s engine. It is time to give back. This may be a prank but after downing 3 drinks, I am in the mood. Whosoever is at the other end may regret this.

  “Oh. I got your message. Mr.Kumar is very good at that.” I try to sound as sarcastic as possible.

  “Can you meet me?” The voice ignores my sarcasm.

  “Who do you think you are? NIA’s bhadve may be available to you round the clock. Not me.” It is very relieving to refer to the NIA guys as pimps. The possibility of them hearing this live makes me ecstatic.

  “Can you meet me? Right now?” The voice asks again. It sounds firmer but has not been raised.

  “Tuzya aaila…” I stop myself from bringing his mother into the equation at the last instance, but continue my tirade anyway. “What is that you want to meet me for? You got your gaandu friend to get me off this case just as I was about to nail your ass.” This is sheer pleasure! Getting to blow my mouth about the NIA & a gangster.

  “This is not about me.” He replies. But my booze has worn off now & I am trying to learn as much that I can.

  “Right. This is about Achhu.” I make my play.

  “If you believe so, meet me at the end of Marine drive in 15 minutes.” The connection goes dead. I don’t know who was at the other end but he did a few things right. First, he held onto what he wanted from me. Second, he didn’t get mad by whatever I dished out to him. Third & most importantly, he made me an offer that I could avail in as less as 15 minutes. I understand fully that this could well be a trap. There are lots of decisions to be made. Do I inform Khan or Ulhas? Should I go alone? Should I go at all? I don’t have any idea as to who will be there nor a hint of how many. The end of Marine drive is not exactly deserted at this time but you can kill someone silently there if you are trained. The clock is ticking. I don’t want to call Khan yet. If this turns out to be a fiasco, I am better off telling him about it later. If this goes well, he can always overlook my initial ignorance. I make sure that the GPS is turned on in my cell phone. I also check both my guns. Then I call Ulhas.

  “Ulhas, listen to me very carefully.” I don’t waste time with pleasantries. Ulhas absorbs all that I give correctly. He is supposed to logon to FriendsKatta, a location aware application like FourSquare. It shows GPS location of your friends to you. Both of us have register
ed ourselves with this service. I have already logged into it. I tell him to keep tracking my location around the end of Marine Drive. If he does not hear from me in 45 minutes, he is supposed to get the department in the loop. The GPS may help if I am on the move. Voluntarily or otherwise. I tell him about the call in short & all he does is ask me to be careful. I promise him that. It has taken me 6 minutes to come up with this. I kickstart my Bullet & start for Marine drive. I take the Maharshi Karve road from Fort, a right turn takes me to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose road. The end of this road is my destination. Here I am, traversing the roads named after two of the greatest sons of this country to meet a gangster. But I grew out of such daily dilemmas long ago.

  The end of Marine drive is an end of land. You are certain to have seen it in Hindi movies. It is the place where Circuit informs Munnabhai that he has topped the entrance exam. It is a short strip of land jutting into the sea that is covered with three headed cement spikes created to soften the wave impact. These blunt cement spikes also provide seats for those who want to enjoy the sea. The fact that these spikes are likely to be rotated uncomfortably adds a certain charm to the experience of finding the right spike to sit on. When I reach the place in just over 13 minutes after the phone call according to my watch, a few spikes are occupied. Few couples are enjoying evening bhel & vada pav. As usual, the tea stall is doing brisk business along with the guy selling tender coconuts. The artificial lighting & the resounding grayness of the sea is quite a contrast. There are people enjoying horse driven buggy rides & shouting with joy on the road. This is good for me as it means there will be witnesses if things go wrong. I am looking for a signal when a hand is waved at me from my left.

  I recognize the man from the Wheely. The one that followed me & Ulhas to our car. He is well muscled & bald. Almost as tall as me, he is wearing a Nokia t-shirt under a jacket. There is a bulge under the armpit that is similar to mine. His jeans seem too tight due to his monstrous legs. He gestures me to follow him. I go after him through the maze of the cement spikes careful not to trip over in the low light. Soon, we are close to the sea. Unfortunately, this area is totally deserted. There are 3 men who are sitting at some distance from each other, seemingly randomly. As I pass them, I realize that they are actually leading me to a fourth man who sits at a spike that is below others in height. He is dressed in a business suit. He looks at me without any emotion. It is a measuring gaze.

  “Inspector Jagtap, I am Anees Vilayati.” He says with an extended hand. I don’t offer mine. The hand retreats after a moment. I stand right next to him, not more than 2 meters of air separating us.

  “What do you want? You got me off the case already.” I fold my hands on my chest.

  “I didn’t do that. The NIA did.” He explains.

  “I don’t see any difference.” I reply.

  “Let us say that the NIA tries to protect me too much. Even from myself. But their priorities are different. ” He speaks very clearly, thoughtfully. All the while his eyes are gauging me.

  “Whatever. I don’t have much time. Why did you want to meet me?” I act cop-like.

  “It is what I said on the phone. I am doing all that I can to find Achhu’s killers. I want you to do the same.” The reply is immediate, seems heartfelt.

  “It is not about what you want. I don’t work for you & thanks to you I can’t work on this case anymore. ” I am still playing hard to get. He looks down at his feet and remains that way. The awkward silence is broken by his sigh as he looks back at me.

  “You know how I survive in this city? I read people. A foot soldier like you who shows the guts to shake the house up has to have a reason for it. From whatever I have found about you, I think it would be the right reason. I feel that you are not going to get off the case now. You might have been ordered to but you won’t. I am just hoping you won’t. The NIA says it is a case of food poisoning. ” He elaborates.

  “No comments. This meeting is over if that is all you got.” I turn around and start walking back.

  “I didn’t kill him. Achhu was like a son to me.” He calls from behind. “You have to find who murdered him. The NIA would not.” I don’t stop.

  “Sunil will be available to you round the clock. He was Achhu’s best friend.” I keep walking as Sunil, the guard from the Wheely joins me back. He hands me a bunch of A4 sized papers.

  “These are some details about Achhu. I have also put down my mobile number. Please ring me anytime if you need information about Achhu.” He turns back without waiting for my response. I keep walking to the light bathed Marine drive still bustling with activity.

  12

  Origins

  I ring up Ulhas as soon as I reach my bike. I keep it short & vague. The NIA might still be listening. He gets that too. I put the papers given to me by Sunil inside my shirt. Once at home, Anees Vilayati clouds my mind as I prepare to hit the bed. It was thoughtful of him to recognize that I would not be getting off the case. I saw some concern for Achhu there. Otherwise there was no need to meet me. He could have dished out all that he wanted over the phone. But he came looking for me. I change into my boxer shorts & crash into the bed with the sheets of paper given by Sunil.

  The papers cover lot of gaps that I had with Achhu. His native place is listed as Kozhikode in Kerala. The date of birth matches roughly with Dr.Desai’s guess. Born in Kozhikode, Achhu has been in Mumbai for over 4 years now. He has his parents in Kozhikode but it is listed as a strained relationship. No siblings. There is mention of a school till 10th standard but college details are not available. Achhu’s mastery over computers is the highlight of his job responsibilities at the Wheely. His job title is mentioned as a system administrator. But his achievements nearly cover the entire gamut of information technology. Hardware installations, software development, security & access at the Wheely all handled by him or were designed by him. No wonder he had a mousebite that was the size of a coin. There are dates mentioning his trips back home. He had returned to Mumbai a month ago after visiting his family. The next sheet gets me few very interesting names.

  These are handles by which Achhu is known around internet’s various forums. I have heard of some of them which are related to anti-virus programs & operating systems. But some of them are totally new to me. They look like the getaway to the underbelly of the internet. There are no passwords with these usernames. If I want to pursue this, I’m going to have to call Sunil or crack these passwords. But as they have not been mentioned in this trove, my guess is that nobody at the Wheely may know the passwords. But the important piece is this. According to these sheets, Achhu didn’t have a cell phone. Ever. He hated cell phones. He was available the entire day at the Wheely for work. When he went home, he was available on his home landline phone. But he never ever had a mobile phone. But Bela told me that she saw a mobile with Achhu. It could have been a music player but my guess is that it was a mobile. Sleep comes easily after this clue.

  ***

  I am up early. At 6 a.m. in the morning, I have finished my exercise, breakfast (3 hard boiled eggs & a glass of milk) & am at the office. There is something about working in the morning that puts me in the zone. The morning air refreshes me & gives me a feeling of being ahead. The drive on the empty streets has revved me up. Dressed in a deep green LaCoste T-shirt & my faded jeans, I am typing away at a computer terminal. I have photocopied the sheets given to me by Sunil & am using a copy to go through the forums that Achhu was a contributor to. He has moderator privilages on all of them.

  What this means in English is because everybody on the forum realizes his grasp on the subject; he gets the right to moderate content on the forum. This includes ability to answer queries, make answers by other members better & restrict access for pesky users. His handle(Name of appearance) on the forums is “TeenPatti”. This comes from the 3 card game that almost every hero plays in the movies & wins. The list includes 007. It is surprising to see him take up a Hindi name as a handle. Must have to do with his time & movies seen in
Mumbai. The forums range from network security, online privacy to cyberattacks. Terms like DDoS(Distributed Denial of Service), hacking & identity theft are common in many conversations. Achhu’s posts are to the point, informative & with a wit. I don’t see any hate messages directed against him. Just like Jamil said, he seems to be revered by all.

  I keep coming back to Achhu’s mobile. The thing that nobody knows is the number of that mobile. “Achhu’s mobile number?” I have written down this text on a blank sheet of paper. I have been circling it for half an hour when I get an idea. It is most likely that whosoever dropped Achhu to the footpath had a mobile phone on him. So if Achhu had a phone on him that the other guy took it away (with whatever id Achhu had), those two phones were moving together till Achhu was dropped at Mira road. There is a long chance that the cellular phone companies can help me with this.