Mousebite

by Ganesh Chaudhari

  “Ok. Do whatever is necessary. But what about the last video clipping that you asked me to see? Can you elaborate on that?” The secretary was an administrator, but thankfully one with a nose for trouble. Hormaz had been itching to discuss that clipping.

  “We have not been able to arrest Tabrez Memon since 1993. Abu says that he met Tabrez Memon a few months back in Peshawar. As Tabrez congratulated Abu on the terror strikes in India, he let out his own plan. Tabrez told him that there was going to be an encore of his Mumbai performance. And a family member was going to execute the plan.” Hormaz started.

  “But we have accounted for all his family members. Haven’t we? We can put them under the microscope again.” The secretary was aware of how everyone related to Tabrez had been traced. There were accords with the nations where they stayed & proper surveillance was supervised on those in India to stop this kind of thing.

  “That is the worst part, Sir. Tabrez boasted that the man had been trained by him since childhood. When Abu asked him about the threat of Indian intelligence tracking that man, Tabrez answered that the man was already in India. And you are aware of the recent tip off from our other source. He too has heard about something huge going down.” Hormaz completed by reminding the secretary.

  “If Abu is not bluffing, how serious can this be?” The secretary was blunt.

  “If it is a hand crafted disciple of Tabrez, we should prepare for the worst.” Hormaz’s boss spoke for the first time. The secretary remained silent. Hormaz suddenly realized that it was two weeks to December 6 and almost 19 years since the Mumbai blasts of 1993.

  ***

  Hormaz finished all his meetings for the day. After seeing the Home secretary, he had been with his boss to meet with representatives from RAW & then from IB. The status was same. All of them had a lead about something big going down but none was sure of what it was. Hormaz had raised the issue of a family member of Tabrez in both the meetings. Unlike his team, the teams consisted of an administrator & an officer with field reports. Both had told him roughly the same thing. Tabrez Memon’s family had been under the microscope ever since the investigation of the Mumbai blasts of 1993. They had detailed files on everyone. The files mentioned occupations, interests, personality traits & even sexual orientations. All of his family members were either dead or under surveillance. Nothing out of the ordinary had been reported on them. In fact, Tabrez himself had been reduced to a pale shadow of his glory days. They gave Hormaz the location of Tabrez in Pakistan & a brief description of his now ordinary life. He was no longer the go-to man in his organization. The RAW representative wondered if this could be a ploy by Abu. All of them agreed on covering all new angles & looking hard at the usual ones as they parted.

  Hormaz returned to his standing desk at the office. He logged into the NIA server. He had been given an account on the NIA network on special request by his boss. There were reports from the NIA representatives all over the country about the day. The messages had a priority color code & all the messages were in green. Even the feedback reports that he had sought from intelligence personnel who had been associated with the Mumbai blasts investigation had returned without any success about a family member of Tabrez who could repeat his greatest trick. But he felt convinced about Abu’s lead. Even if it was a diversion, he had to investigate it beyond any doubt.

  So he opened the NIA archive of the Mumbai blasts. He started reading through the file.

  Date: December 6, 1993

  Total blasts: 13

  Persons killed: 257

  Persons injured: 1400

  Blast locations: Bombay Stock Exchange, Zaveri Bazaar, Plaza Cinema, Century Bazaar, Passport office, Sahar Airport, Air India building, Katha bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Hotel Juhu Centaur, Worli, Fisherman’s colony in Mahim

  Explosives used: RDX with shrapnel.

  Bombs Defused: 8

  He stopped at the bombs defused entry. If 8 bombs were defused, there had to be an explanation. Because all the bombs had gone off within minutes of each other. If so many bombs had been defused, the logical explanation was that the cops knew the locations of these bombs before the blasts. So they had an informer or an asset who had contributed heavily.

  Hormaz went to the identity and protection section next. He went through the records of the government’s informers in 1993. Only three persons had access to this information apart from the actual officers who protected the asset. He found what he was looking for quickly as there was only one entry related to the Mumbai blasts. Anees Vilayati. He read through the description & the contribution made by Anees on that fateful day. Obviously, the exact reasons were not stated by him, but the analyst making the entries had put it down to a combination of conscience arousal & rivalry with Tabrez Memon. Anees was under NIA surveillance even now. NIA had taken him over from IB after it became operational. And he was being looked upon as a liability because he had not contributed much recently. Even the NIA entry listed supporting him as a training exercise for agents in asset protection at best. Hormaz smiled for the first time in the day.

  “Bhole, bag pack karo. I have to leave tomorrow.” He shouted.

  “Ji Sir. Kahan jaa rahe ho?” Bhole went for the small wardrobe in the wall as he asked about the destination.

  “Mumbai.”

  ***

  They were waiting for Sumit. He had taken a ticket for Aurangabad at the late night bus service & boarded it from Dadar. As instructed, he had spoken to the cleaner of the bus so that he could get down at the Nevasa diversion. The cleaner had agreed. It was around 4 in the morning when the cleaner had woken Sumit from his troubled sleep as they were in Nevasa. Sumit got down at the deserted bus stop to find his master waiting for him with two men. As he walked closer, he realized that they were the same teenagers. But they looked rigid. The master smiled at him. It was hard to tell his original complexion in the street light. But he was fair with a deep tan. He stood at over 6 feet. His physique bordered on wiry & gaunt. But there was no ambiguity in the cold green eyes. They were measuring Sumit as always.

  “Sumit. Welcome.” He offered his hand that Sumit shook.

  “Sorry I had to change the plan. Let’s get going.” The master directed him to a Tata Sumo waiting behind them. One of the boys offered to take Sumit’s bag but he refused. He looked at the boys with suspicion. He had met them previously but didn’t trust them. He was working hard at recollecting their names.

  His master took the driver’s seat & the door to the seat behind the master was opened for Sumit. Sumit climbed into the seat & placed his bag on the seat. The short boy took up the same seat with bag between him & Sumit. The tall one opened the rear door of the Sumo & climbed in. The master drove. They took a diversion from the state highway leading to Aurangabad & turned for Paithan. The roads were deserted except for the occasional trucks. Sumit wanted to ask questions & also wanted to share updates but the master didn’t speak.

  “How much do you think the inspector knows?” His master finally asked.

  “I am not very sure. But I think Anees is cooperating with him.” Sumit added.

  “What about the NIA?”

  “The officer that we had found was arguing openly with Jagtap the other day. It seems that the Mumbai cops are pissing him off.”

  “Oh, the Inspector’s name is Jagtap is it? What did he ask you?”

  “He asked about Achhu. I told him that he worked at the Wheely & he left.” Sumit was aware of the two boys listening intently.

  “Did he ask anything else?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  “What about the four places? You received “ok” everywhere?” Sumit had already reported this. He was sure that the master had cross checked it by now.

  “Yes. Every single location.”

  “Great. Seems that your job is done.” The master looked back at Sumit. At that instant, Sumit felt a cord tightening around his neck. The boy from the backseat was strangling him. His eyes went wide with fear & he could not shout. The boy n
ext to Sumit held Sumit’s hands down as he tried to reach his own neck. He thrashed his legs to get some leverage but the combined strength of both the boys was too much for Sumit. He stopped thrashing after sometime. Mushtaq confirmed that he was dead by checking his pulse. It was only after the confirmation that Ijaz released his grip on the nylon rope that he had used to strangle Sumit.

  They had already decided on the dumping spot. On their way, they had found an abandoned overhead concrete water tank. It was a public water tank with capacity of 20000 litres. Having been erected 2 decades back, it was no longer in use as the capacity was low for a village. The location was wrong as it was away from the village. The region was in the middle of a drought. So it was not in use. It was close enough to the road but surrounded by tall trees. The way to the water tank was covered with thorny bushes & wild climbers. A discovery was not an immediate possibility if they hid the corpse here. He parked the Sumo just below the tarmac of the road. Mushtaq got down first & Ijaz followed. They opened the door on Sumit’s side as it was facing away from the road. Ijaz picked up Sumit on his back in a fireman’s grip & Mushtaq went ahead of him to clear the way. The cold night was only disturbed by the roosting of the relentless cicadas.

  He kept a vigil on the road but he was evaluating other things. He had taken Ijaz & Mushtaq to Mumbai last time. He had kept them away from Sumit on purpose. But they had been with him when he had extracted the information forcefully from Achhu. They had watched as he had poisoned, interrogated & left Achhu to die a painful death. He had lied to them that Achhu would recover. But they had not flinched when he had told them about Sumit’s killing. They had followed his instructions to the book. They looked ruthless in their execution of assigned tasks, both as a team & as individuals. They looked ready.

  20

  Gotya

  Hormaz was received at the Chhatrapati Shivaji airport by Kumar at 8.30 in the morning. He had managed to get a ticket for the early flight to Mumbai. Dressed in a crisp white cotton half shirt and brown pants, he looked ready for action like a regular Mumbai man. His non- lace Bata leather shoes squeaked as he moved. Kumar on the other hand was formally dressed. He wore a three piece suit that was a darker shade of cream. They had met before during Hormaz’s Mumbai meetings. Hormaz had specifically asked to be received & taken around by the man in-charge of Anees Vilayati. The NIA had been instructed by the Home Secretary to assist Hormaz with all his requests. They were complying with excellence.

  The salty, humid air of Mumbai freshened up Hormaz & helped him overcome the sleeplessness of last night. Just like the one before it, he had spent it learning more about what was happening around the country & what could happen.

  They didn’t speak till they were inside the Maruti SX4 that was their pickup. Unlike the Ambassadors of the old, the SX4 blended neatly with civilian cars & had the necessary horsepower. The government notification to choose SX4 as the vehicle of choice seemed a good one to Hormaz as they left the airport.

  “Tell me Kumar, how long have you been monitoring Anees?” Hormaz pushed his back right in the car’s seat for support.

  “For two years, Sir.”

  “And what do you think of him?” Hormaz had explained it briefly in an email that he was in Mumbai to primarily get everything that he can from & about Anees Vilayati. Kumar was prepared.

  “Anees is an intelligent man. He has managed to survive for two decades with some or the other threat on his life from the underworld. He has diversified into many businesses. Some of them do require muscle, but they are clean. I can say he is holding up his end of the bargain.” Kumar summarized.

  “Has he been totally out of legal trouble? Has he ever asked for help?”

  Kumar paused before answering. “He solves most of his problems on his own. So far we have never had to help him in any way. But we have done all that we could to keep him out of public scrutiny.”

  Hormaz nodded & then asked. “Can you elaborate?”

  “Like there was this problem a couple of days back. One of his employees was found dead on a footpath. The Mumbai police found video footage of the victim being dropped by a vehicle similar to Vilayati’s vehicle at a footpath just before his death. They thought Anees was involved. So we got the Mumbai police off his tail.” Kumar explained with a hint of happiness.

  “What was Anees’s reaction to this death?”

  “He was concerned. He wanted us to inquire into it with full force. Since the blasts, he has spent heavily into rehabilitating his old hands & protecting the new recruits from the underworld. But given our staffing, getting the Mumbai police off him took priority.” Kumar admitted.

  Hormaz was aware of the shortage of the personnel that NIA faced. Hell, they had got a special office in Mumbai two years after they became operational. For investigating cases that required people, they usually arranged for officers deputed from the local police forces. But if he was looking for a bargaining chip with Anees, this investigation could be one.

  “Do you think Anees is a fair man? He may not be rational, but is he fair?” Hormaz queried.

  “He is crafty Sir. He rarely lets you know what he is up to. But I think he is fair.”

  “Did you arrange a meeting with him?”

  “Of course I did Sir. We meet him in an hour.” Kumar confirmed. Hormaz pushed his aching back harder into the car seat.

  ***

  I have been waiting at the office for over an hour when DYSP Khan arrives. I received a call from him at about 7 a.m. in the morning which is unusual. He asked me to be at the office as soon as I can. I have been here since 8.30. At the office, I have not met Ulhas yet which means he is not a part of the meeting. Is my transfer finalized? I have been struggling to plan about dealing with it if it is announced to me today. The notice period is supposed to be 6 weeks but you never know. He calls out my name as soon as he settles in his cabin.

  “Yes Sir.” I enter & throw a salute.

  “You are becoming famous Jagtap. Kumar was furious.” Khan smiles at me. I don’t return it.

  “Anyway, any progress in the Achhu case? What did you get so right that Kumar was pissed off?” He asks.

  “Anees gave me an email sir. It was supposedly sent from Achhu’s mail-id. I have got somebody looking into it.” I explain.

  “And you didn’t share it with Kumar, is that it?”Khan is sharp as usual.

  “Yes Sir. Should I have?”

  “No way. What does he think Mumbai cops are? Evidence chauffeurs?” He is quick to trash the idea.

  “The person working on it is a trusted civilian reference Sir. My phone, email & office mails were swept yesterday. I think Mr.Kumar ordered it.” I raise my doubt. Khan pushes himself back in the chair which creaks under his weight. He pauses.

  “In that case, we never had this conversation. You pursue the lead as you have been doing. Let me know when something solid emerges.” He orders.

  “Anyway, that is not why I called you here. You see, Kumar had asked me to get him your new case details today. I was planning to cold shoulder it but a case has come up. As per the usual unassigned personnel procedure, I am going to assign it to you. ” He says.

  “A man was found hanging in his hotel room yesterday not far from here. Initial reports point it to being a suicide but we want to be sure about it being so as this man was well known. So you will go to the hotel, confirm it to be a suicide if it so.” He elaborates.

  “Yes Sir.”There is something fishy about this. The DYSP never assigns an Inspector a case. Somebody like Pritam does that. Why am I being assigned this case directly by the DYSP?

  “The body is in the morgue. And you better take someone from forensics for an initial screening of the place for foul play.” That’s a new one. Taking a forensics person on a fresh crime scene. But I know just the person to accompany me.

  “Who was the deceased, Sir?” I involve myself in the conversation.

  “Pulkit Jha.” Khan drops a bomb.

  The surprise on my face
is not hidden from him.

  “What is it Jagtap? Any problem?” He queries.

  “No problem, Sir. It is just that I met him a couple of days back.” I reply.

  “Me too. But that is the way of life Jagtap. Death is around every corner.” Khan gets a bit philosophical.

  “Alright then, these are the details of the hotel. They have moved the body yesterday itself. The room however has been sealed. So get on with it.” Back to business again as he hands me a printout with the details.

  “Yes Sir.” I exit the cabin.

  This is comes as a shock. Pulkit Jha commiting suicide? Not likely. But what do they say about stress? Depression can take the air out of the lungs & the will out of the body anytime. May be he had had enough.

  Looks like apparent suicides are becoming a specialty for me. And the doubt about Ulhas not being with me on this has been clarified during the talk with Khan. He didn’t mention Ulhas so I had no business asking about him. About taking someone from forensics with me, I couldn’t have asked for more. But this still looks different. A DYSP assigning an important case directly to an Inspector who is investigating only his second death case, the need to take along a forensic person for what has already been labeled as a suicide & the fact that the dead person has been the scourge of many in the police department make a heady mix. I will have to get my head around this.

  ***

  Khan saw Jagtap leave the office. He too had been shocked on hearing Jha’s suicide. Jha was a tough cookie who would not take his own life. But that is what Khan had been told by the DG of police. It was the DG that had asked Khan to assign Jagtap to this case. Khan had not asked about how the DG got Jagtap’s name but the DG had told him. Pulkit Jha was a hunted man. He believed that many people wanted him dead because of the harm that he had brought them or was capable of bringing. And it was equally likely that once dead, his death was going to be swept under the carpet.