by Gabriel Khan
‘Of course I did! Those bastards—’
‘That’s why. Ajay, don’t you see? You showed your hand too early. You insulted them, and that means that indirectly you insulted the minister too. So they marked you, and that’s why nobody will hire you.’
Singhania could see the bewilderment on Ajay’s face, but there was something else there too, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Ajay clenched his fists. So a minister had wanted his relative to get the job and bribed his way into it, leaving honest, upright men like him out on the streets. Maybe he wasn’t the only one, maybe there were others who were suffering like him, just because of that one man. And he was a minister! He was supposed to be helping people, working for them. And the CBI – they were supposed to be for the people, not against them!
Deep inside Ajay, something snapped. The stricken Singhania saw it happen in the youth’s eyes.
Leaving the interviewer on the floor, Ajay strode out of the room.
4
The Hound Joins
the Hunt
I thanked God again that she had married me. Her father had asked my father and that’s how it had happened, but all that didn’t matter any more. She was now my wife, the mother of our child. In a rare intimate moment after a week of running around at all hours, here I was finally, in bed with her close to me. Her body was perfect, her touch so soft and sensuous, her eyes brimming with invitation.
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘Like what?’
‘Like you’re hungry?’
‘You like hungry?’
‘I like hungry.’
I reached out and had just caught her by the waist when the hellish ring of the telephone interrupted. Damn! Who would call so early in the morning?
I picked up the phone, barked a furious hello into it, and immediately wished I hadn’t. The voice on the other side was the additional director of the CBI, my boss. ‘Why are you yelling? Bad time, is it?’
‘Not at all, sir. Can you hold for a moment?’
I covered the mouthpiece with my hand and shouted furiously under my breath, ‘Fuck fuck fuck, really, really bad time, asshole!’
The hungry thoughts had evaporated. Sana got up and checked herself in the mirror. The dupatta went back to its original position. I went back to mine.
‘Sorry, sir. I was getting ready.’
‘Good. I want you in my office first thing. Be here by nine,’ he said, and hung up.
Bloody hell. That left me barely enough time to take Akbar to the bus stop for his school pickup, get ready and leave. ‘Jaan—’ I gulped.
‘It’s all right. I know,’ she said, and stalked off.
Half an hour later, Akbar was ready for school and we were on our way to the bus stop, Akbar bouncing on my shoulder.
‘Papa! Have you seen Junaid’s car?’
‘You shouldn’t be comparing, Akbar.’
‘It’s so big! Papa, I want that car! Buy me that car, Papa!’
It hurt a little, that I couldn’t even buy a toy for my son. That rich bastard in the house opposite kept buying his son Junaid all the latest toys and gadgets, the whole damn neighbourhood ogling at the spectacle. He’d even got him his own little radio. Parents these days… They don’t know what they’re doing, and end up spoiling their children.
Akbar kept up his plaintive wailing. ‘Papa! I want that car! Will you buy me Gems? I want that car and Gems?’
I bounced him a little more to distract him as I hurried to the bus stop. If we missed the bus, I’d have to take him all the way to school on the scooter, and there was no time for that. The CBI’s AD himself had called me in for a chat. Every chat was a potential case and every case was a potential promotion, which in my case was long overdue.
There! Made it in time. The bus hadn’t left yet.
‘There you go! Be a good boy, have your tiffin. Don’t get into a fight like last week—’
‘I want that car, PAPA!’
‘Behave yourself, Akbar. You be a good boy, and we’ll see about that car, all right?’ I hated having to bribe the kid, but there was nothing else I could think of to keep him quiet.
I watched Akbar getting into the bus with his friends. At the window, he yelled, ‘Bye Dad!’
‘Hey! Call me Papa, not Dad!’ Who calls their father ‘dad’? All this new-age nonsense that kids pick up these days, really! God knows where they get it from.
A hurried breakfast and a mad dash on my scooter later, I was outside the AD’s cabin – within the hour, sweating profusely in the June heat. I had been here many times, mostly to be given all kinds of cases that seemed unsolvable. And to be honest, I’d been lucky, and solved pretty much all of them. Sure, I’d had luck on my side. But somehow they’d all worked out. Somehow, I’d found that one thing that helped put all the pieces of the case together. Waseem Khan, CBI Deputy Commissioner, Economic offences wing. And all I had to show for it was a great reputation in the force, a family I hardly ever met, and a salary with which I couldn’t even buy a toy for my son. Life’s screwed like that. But there’s always tomorrow.
As I waited, I ran through all the cases that I’d heard of recently. A couple of homicides, a few hit-and-runs, a high-profile drug bust where a politician was involved. I knew one of them would come my way.
It turned out to be none of the above.
An underling opened the door and ushered me into the AD’s office. It was less hot inside; the room even had one of those new air coolers that all the top officers were getting themselves.
The AD looked up. ‘Ah, Waseem Khan! Just the man I wanted to see. Have a seat, have a seat.’
Yep, it was a case all right. All the courtesy and sweet talk meant he was going to throw another one at me. One that would have baffled many.
‘Thank you, sir,’ I said, and sat down across the table.
The AD got straight to the point. ‘Have you heard of the 26 January case?’
Of course! How could I have forgotten that one! It was pathetic, actually.
‘Yes, sir. Some men raided A.K Gupta’s house in our name. Fucked the minister up royally.’
‘Exactly. Haven’t you wondered why he hasn’t lodged a case yet?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Strange. You don’t want to know?’
‘Oh, I know why he hasn’t, sir. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? If he lodges a case, he has to reveal what’s been stolen, but then that’s stuff you don’t want people to know you have at home, because if you do, your career’s over.’ I was a little impatient. This was a small-time job. Why had he called me in for this?
‘Well, you’re really cued in, aren’t you, Khan?’
‘Yes, sir.’ It was true. Why be modest where you don’t need to be?
‘Well, you know there won’t be a police case, right?’
‘Yes, sir. Sir, why are we bothering with this? It’s just a two-bit job, not for the CBI, right?’
‘I wish. You know they took the police for a proper ride too?’
‘Yes, sir,’ I said, as contemptuously as I could. ‘With respect, if a cop can be so easily fooled, he doesn’t deserve to be a cop.’
‘Maybe, maybe.’
‘I don’t see why the CBI needs to bother with this trivial matter, sir.’
The AD sighed. ‘I want to show you something, Khan. Come here.’ He got up and went to the window to his right. I went with him.
‘See that man there? He’s the one those bastards took for a ride.’
I peered through the glass, interested. The man I saw was sitting hunched on a chair, the picture of dejection. Twirling his cap nervously in his hands, he was talking to my man Rahul.
The AD went back to his chair and sat down. ‘He’s a promising kid,’ he said.
I turned back to him. ‘How can you say that, sir? He must be a dimwit to have been duped like that!’
‘Give him a chance, Khan. He’s good. In fact, he has taken the whole thing very
seriously, apparently staking his reputation on it.’
I came back and sat down. ‘What’s left of it, you mean.’
The AD smiled. ‘You’re a brilliant officer, Khan, and I’ve wanted to say this to you for a very long time. You’re wrong.’
He passed a file to me. ‘Read that. That kid went on the hunt, started sniffing around by himself. He dug up all that dirt on his own.’
I glanced through the report, and I had to admit, it was impressive. And as I read it, I realized why the AD had called me in.
‘See? In the last year, these guys have pulled off thirteen heists. Thirteen! And that’s just the ones we know about. Fuck knows how many more places they robbed that we have no clue about.’
‘What about the victims, sir?’
‘That’s the strange part! Half the time, they don’t file complaints. Probably crooked themselves, I don’t know. But look at the list, Khan. They’ve impersonated every goddamn agency! CBI, income tax, ACB, everyone. And they’re getting away with it.’
I looked up, already knowing the answer to the question I was going to ask. ‘What do you want me to do, sir?’
‘You know what I want. We have to catch this gang. They’re making us look really bad. People are talking, and they’re not saying anything good. This has to stop. You have to stop it.’
I looked at the report again. Madras, Nagpur, Trivandrum, Lucknow— these guys were everywhere. And they were targeting mostly businessmen and politicians, every one of them crooked. Obviously, they weren’t going to file cases, but word got around.
‘Many politicians in here, sir?’
The AD nodded.
‘Which party?’
‘Take your pick. They’re all there.’
Yeah, this case was big. There was only one answer I could give, and he knew it. ‘Okay, sir. I’ll take over.’
The AD exhaled. ‘Good, good. Khan, this nuisance has to end now. I’m counting on you.’
‘Yes, sir.’
I got up and walked to the door. But before leaving, there was one last thing I had to ask. ‘Sir, is there any word on my promotion yet? And the increment?’
Got you, I thought. You can’t say no now, not when you want my help.
As expected, the AD immediately nodded. ‘Yes, yes, of course. Don’t worry, Khan, I’m already on it.’
‘Thank you, sir. The kid needs toys that I can’t afford with my current pay, sir. I really wouldn’t want to have to stoop to asking for bribes.’
With that parting shot, I walked out, not giving him a chance to think of a comeback.
I walked over to the cubicle where Ranveer was sitting with Rahul. With them now was a beggar, reclining in a chair as if he owned the place, and smoking a cigarette.
All three of them sprang to their feet as I approached. I sat down, saying nothing at first. Rahul, having worked with me for several years now, sensed my mood, and kept quiet too. The beggar sat with us, looking from face to face.
‘Shankar, will you leave us please?’
The beggar jumped up. ‘Sorry, sir,’ he said, and went to his desk, took out a holster hidden beneath the rags, put it inside a drawer, sat down and started to file a report.
Ranveer watched him, open-mouthed. ‘But… but… but he’s a beggar,’ he protested. ‘How—?’
Rahul smiled at him. ‘This is the CBI, Ranveer, not a police station. We have many men working undercover,’ he said.
I looked at the man in front of me, and wondered what to do. To be honest, when you imagine an incompetent cop you visualize one of those greasy, lazy, middle-aged morons who live off bribes and scaring local vendors. Yeah, there were innumerable such cops, and I could see them being taken for a ride. But this guy came as a surprise. For one, he was young, maybe just touching thirty. Also, he looked energetic, alert and more importantly, he didn’t look the gullible sort. To fool someone like this meant the gang was really good. I could feel the beginning of the chase stirring in my mind.
But part of me was still utterly contemptuous of PSI Ranveer Singh of the Delhi Police. The man was an idiot, this half of me said, it was obvious. He had taken part in a fictitious raid and hadn’t even known that he was being taken for a ride.
The other part of me felt sorry for the guy. He was young, he was ambitious, and above all, he seemed to be eager to serve the law. Also, he had walked into trouble he couldn’t have anticipated.
Screw it. I’d been in enough messes in my life to know that a helping hand from above is always a good thing. Stops you from doubting yourself and your ability.
I leaned forward. ‘So, Ranveer. What the hell happened to you, man?’
Ranveer looked up. He tried to smile, but what emerged was a lopsided grimace. ‘I don’t know, sir.’
‘Well, we all do. You were taken for a ride like a mindless idiot, and you didn’t even know it.’
Ranveer looked down, not meeting my eyes. I took pity on him.
‘But then you don’t look like a mindless idiot, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Tell me what happened.’
Haltingly at first, and then speaking freely, Ranveer recounted everything that had happened, from the phone call to the raid to the realization they had been duped and the sinking feeling that he was done for.
When he fell silent, Rahul said, ‘So there were four of them?’
Ranveer nodded.
I pushed his report across the table to him. ‘This is yours?’
Another nod.
‘You found this out?’
Nod.
‘All on your own?’
Nod.
‘Did anyone ask you to do this?’
‘No, sir, it was me.’ his face screwed up pleadingly. ‘Sir, tell me, if you’d been in my place—’
‘Kid,’ I interrupted. ‘If I’d been in your place, this mess wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t join the CBI to screw myself over.’
Ranveer hung his head again, and spoke in a low voice. ‘I know what I’ve done, sir. You don’t have to insult me for me to know that. I needed your help, which is why I came here. If you help me, we can sort this out quickly. But even if you refuse to help me, don’t make the mistake of assuming that I’m giving up. I won’t rest, sir. On my own, it’ll take me much, much longer, but I’ll get them in the end, sir. One way or another, I’ll get them, I promise you that.’
He was getting worked up, but still speaking quietly, voice thick with emotion.
I smiled inwardly. I’d judged Ranveer accurately. Whatever he might be, he was definitely not a fool. Or a quitter.
‘Calm down, Ranveer,’ I said. ‘You said exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course we’ll help you.’
A look of gratitude spread across his face. ‘Thank you, sir!’ he said.
I passed over his report to Rahul. ‘I want you to coordinate with these police stations. These are the only cases that have been registered. Speak with all of them, talk to the IOs handling the cases, talk to the man who took down the complaint. They may know something we can use. Ranveer, you’ll go through all the records we have. You’re the only one who saw those four men. Let’s hope there are some police records for at least one of them.’
The beggar was looking at me expectantly. ‘Shankar, you get on the phone with Minister Gupta. We’ll need to talk to him.’
Ranveer interrupted. ‘But, sir, he’s refusing to talk!’
‘He’ll talk to me.’
Another thought struck me. I turned to a full-bearded sadhu who was dozing on a nearby desk, his feet on the table. ‘Mohan!’
The sadhu snapped to attention. ‘Yes, sir!’
‘Get the sketch artist. Get him to talk to Ranveer and draw up descriptions. I want everything double time. These men have duped the police long enough. But now they’re up against us. They won’t get far.’
Shankar had gotten on the phone immediately. He now turned to me. ‘Sir, Gupta’s PA on the line. He’s being… uncooperative.’
‘Looks li
ke he needs another slap, this time from the real CBI,’ I muttered and picked up the phone.
‘Waseem Khan. CBI Deputy Commissioner, Special Investigations. Who is this?’
‘Myself Chauhan, Mantriji’s PA. We won’t speak to anyone. We—’
‘Chauhan saab, if you want to be thrown in jail for obstructing the CBI’s investigations, please say so. There’s a cell here I’m itching to fill.’
‘But—’
‘No buts. Jail or home. You decide.’
Silence.
‘Good. I’ll be there tomorrow at ten. Tell your boss to be ready,’ I said and hung up.
I turned back to Ranveer and saw he was looking slightly awed. ‘Don’t worry, kid,’ I said kindly. ‘You’re working with the CBI now. We’ll get them. You’ll have your revenge soon.’
Ranveer looked exactly like Akbar did when he got his Gems.
The chase was on.
5
Birth of a Con
His experience had scarred him. His dream, his passion, the essential meaning of his very existence had been shattered. For weeks, Ajay walked around in a stupor, not caring, not feeling anything but a dumb numbness. Seeing his son broken had mended something inside his father, and he got up and started to live a little; if anything, to get the boy going again. Soon, he found Ajay a job at a local car mechanic’s garage in the Fort area.
It was while he was hammering a hole into the chassis of a Premier Padmini that enlightenment came to Ajay.
If the law didn’t want him, maybe the other side would.
When it comes to doing anything unlawful, there are hundreds of ways to get it wrong, but only one way to do it right. It was that simple. You just had to figure out the one right way.
A couple of weeks into the job at the garage, Ajay had already caught the owner’s eye for his exceptional intelligence, which the man felt was clearly being wasted. Finally, one day, Albert Pinto called Ajay into the office at the back of the garage.
‘Tell me something, Ajay,’ he said, when Ajay had settled into the seat in front of him with a mug of tea and a breadroll. ‘I’ve been asking around about you, and I heard that you’re some kind of scholar. Is that true?’
