‘Have the commandos reached?’ Imran looked at his watch impatiently. He knew that as soon as Farooq learned about the location of the secret, he would waste no time in leaving Patna. So, he had detoured to speak to Vijay’s friends in the hope that they would be able to delay Farooq’s departure from the safehouse just long enough for the commandos to reach.
‘No,’ came the reply from his agent outside the safehouse. ‘And I think Farooq’s slipped out. The building is on fire.’
Imran cursed as he disconnected the phone. He had lost Farooq.
And he didn’t know where to start looking for him.
Marching Orders
Colin knocked on White’s door and the archaeologist opened it. He was looking normal now. The short rest must have done him good.
‘Your phone,’ Colin explained. ‘Farooq calls us on your phone.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ White apologised, looking sheepish. ‘I should have left my phone with you. I wasn’t thinking straight.’ He fetched the phone from his desk.
The two men walked down the corridor to Colin’s room.
As if on cue, the phone rang. Vijay’s mobile number flashed on the screen.
Farooq’s smug voice floated over the phone. ‘You have the information I want.’
It was a statement, not a question, but Colin answered him anyway. ‘Yes.’
‘Well?’
‘We’ve solved the riddle.’
‘And what is the answer?’ There was an edge to Farooq’s voice that Colin hadn’t heard before. He remembered Imran’s instructions.
Delay them as long as you can.
He just hoped he wasn’t putting Vijay and Radha in any more danger than they already were.
‘The secret location is in the Hazaribagh plateau.’
‘And what makes you believe that?’
‘Before I tell you that or the exact location, I want to know how and when you will hand over Vijay and Radha to us.’
‘Do you take me for a fool?’ Farooq’s voice strained with fury and something else percolated through. Was it an undercurrent of desperation? Colin couldn’t be sure.
‘Do you know what your friends just did?’ he continued, his voice shaking with anger. ‘They tried to escape.’
Colin’s heart sank.
Farooq’s next words made his blood run cold.
‘My patience is running out. I don’t have either the inclination or the time to negotiate. If you don’t give me what I want then that’s fine. You’ll never see your friends again.’
Colin hesitated. He considered his options. There was no guarantee that Farooq would return Vijay and Radha to them after learning where the secret was hidden. On the other hand, if he didn’t get the information, both of them were doomed.
There was only one thing to do. Colin could only hope that Imran reached the safehouse in time.
‘Sitagarha Hill,’ he told Farooq. ‘The Hazaribagh plateau.’ He explained to Farooq how they had arrived at this conclusion.
Farooq seemed to doubt his explanation. ‘And how do I know you are being completely honest with me?’
Colin didn’t have an answer.
‘There’s only one way to be sure,’ Farooq interrupted his thoughts. ‘You’ll show me the way to this hill to prove that this is indeed the place.’
‘And you’ll let them go then?’ Colin persisted.
‘I want you to leave Patna immediately. All three of you.’ Farooq ignored Colin’s question. ‘Leave for Hazaribagh now. I will meet you there and together we will go to this hill. If what you are saying isn’t true...’ He left his threat hanging but Colin understood perfectly.
‘One more thing. Switch your phone off. Now. I don’t want you to switch it back on until you are near Hazaribagh. I’ll be checking to see that you’ve followed this instruction. Don’t let me find your phone on. Call me when you’re approaching Hazaribagh.’
The phone went dead.
Colin hung his head.
‘Did he come around?’ White inquired, looking anxious.
Colin shook his head. He quickly explained to the others about Vijay and Radha’s aborted attempt to escape and Farooq’s demand.
‘We must be going.’ He rose. ‘Farooq asked us to leave Patna immediately. I’ll get the X Trail out and meet you in five minutes at the main porch.’
Trapped in an inferno
Radha had switched on the light in the room.
There were no windows and it was pitch dark inside. She had found the light switch by going around the room, by sticking to the walls, and feeling her way.
The room seemed to be a storehouse. There were empty boxes and cartons lying around. In one corner, cotton mattresses were stacked into piles.
Bedding for the terrorists, she assumed.
Outside, silence had descended. She wondered what was happening. With a feeling of dread she hoped that Vijay was okay—though she had a nasty suspicion that Farooq would be vindictive and punish him for her attempt.
What would happen to her now?
She suddenly realised that the air had become somewhat hazy. Radha looked at the door and saw, to her horror, tendrils of smoke seeping into the room from under the door.
Horror gripped her. Was there a fire in the building?
She flung herself against the door and beat at it with her fists, screaming at the top of her voice.
Had no one in the building realised there was a fire?
The smoke grew thicker and she heard the fire crackle and spit outside in the hall. She backed away from the door, trying to find a place where the smoke was thin so she could breathe. Her eyes were stinging and she began to cough. She had read somewhere that most victims of fire died not from burns but from suffocation.
But it was no consolation to her that she wouldn’t be burned alive. No one seemed to be coming to her rescue.
She was going to die anyway.
Outside the safehouse, Imran leaped out of the jeep as it screeched to a halt. The commandos had reached, and he saw that they had taken up defensive positions around the house.
Three fire tenders stood by as firemen battled the flames. An ambulance had accompanied the fire tenders on Imran’s instructions.
But they were too late.
The birds had flown the coop. Farooq and his men were gone.
Imran walked over to the commander of the commandos, a young officer who introduced himself as Major Kishore Verma.
‘Is there anyone in the house?’ Imran was concerned that Vijay and Radha may have been left behind to perish in the fire. Farooq had no use for them now that he knew his destination.
Verma shook his head. ‘We’ve been trying to figure that out, but the fire was raging when we got here. The heat sensors are going haywire with the fire itself. It’s difficult to detect a human presence inside. And the firemen think it isn’t safe to go inside just yet. It looks like they used some kind of chemicals to start and feed the fire, to keep it going for a while.’
Imran looked Verma in the eye. ‘There were two hostages. If they were alive when Farooq left, I don’t want to lose them to the fire.’
One of the commandos in the command vehicle gave a shout. He had been sitting with his eyes glued to the heat sensor, one of a range of equipment that the government had invested in after 26/11.
‘There’s someone inside!’ he exclaimed. The flames had diminished sufficiently to allow the sensor to detect a human presence in one of the rooms.
‘Only one?’ Imran asked.
The commando nodded.
‘Did you get a lock on its position?’ Verma enquired.
The commando nodded. ‘The room directly opposite the front entrance.’
Verma quickly explained the situation to the firemen and two of them agreed to break into the house.
‘I’m coming with you,’ Imran declared. ‘There’s no time to argue. Let’s go.’ He felt a sense of responsibility for what had happened,
A hat, gloves and a jacke
t along with a gas mask were quickly procured for Imran and he followed the two firemen. ‘There,’ Imran pointed to the door opposite them as they entered.
The firemen raced across the hall and broke open the door. At the far end of the room, Radha lay on the floor. Without breaking stride, the three men lifted her and sprinted out of the building with her.
Within moments, the paramedics with the ambulance had taken charge and begun trying to revive Radha.
Imran stood outside the ambulance, his face grim.
Would Radha make it?
38
Present Day
Day 10
Patna
‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you,’ Radha smiled at Imran. They were both in the police jeep, Radha having spent the better part of an hour in the ambulance and then in a local hospital.
Imran smiled back. ‘I’m just glad we made it in time.’
A serious expression replaced Radha’s smile. ‘So, Farooq fled because he got wind that you were onto him?’ Imran nodded. ‘Yes. We had tapped Vijay’s phone and minutes before the fire started, Farooq got a call updating him about Bheem Singh’s death and also informing him that the Intelligence Bureau knew what he was upto.’
The first thing Radha had done on recovering was to tell Imran about Bheem Singh, only to discover that Imran was from the IB and already knew.
‘So, you have a leak at the IB’?
Imran shook his head. ‘Not the IB. There’s only one person who has known all this and yet gone unnoticed and unsuspected all this while.’
‘Who’? Radha racked her brains but couldn’t figure it out.
Imran told her.
Radha’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m positive. We ran a match of a sketch with his photograph. A perfect match.’
‘And Farooq asked Colin to get the others and join him near Hazaribagh,’ Imran informed her.
Radha was really worried now. ‘We have to do something.’
‘We are. We are meeting the commandos in 15 minutes. We go with them to Sitagarha Hill.’ Imran had tried calling White’s mobile phone but it was switched off. There was no way of contacting them.
Radha had been dumbstruck when she heard, from Imran, about Sitagarha Hill and Colin’s explanation about why this hill had seemed to be the obvious location of the secret.
It all fitted together so well.
‘How will we find the hill?’ she wondered.
‘I know the place,’ Imran replied. ‘The Border Security Force uses the site as a heavy artillery range.’
His mobile phone rang. ‘Hi, Vishnu,’ he greeted the caller and lapsed into silence, listening intently. ‘Good,’ he said finally, ‘I’m glad that’s been worked out. If the state Home Secretary is working with you and the BSF have agreed to help, that’s great. Hell, we don’t even know what’s going to happen.’
The caller responded and Imran seemed satisfied. ‘Okay. Thanks, Vishnu. We’ll see you in Hazaribagh.’
Radha looked enquiringly at him as he hung up. ‘Vishnu Prasad,’ Imran explained. ‘The District Collector of Hazaribagh district. We don’t know what lies in that cavern within Sitagarha Hill but I just can’t believe that the secret that LeT is after is the only thing that’s in there. I asked the DC to get the town of Hazaribagh evacuated. Just in case. The town is barely 20 kilometres from the hill. I don’t want any civilian casualties if something goes wrong. We are dealing with a small army of LeT men armed with sophisticated weapons. We can do without them running amok in a town full of innocent civilians. Before LeT gets to Hazaribagh, there won’t be a soul there.’
Radha was curious. ‘You seem to know everything,’ she remarked. ‘The brotherhood of the Nine, the clues, the search, even the secret.’
‘Not everything,’ Imran smiled at her. ‘A bit. Courtesy Bheem Singh. And I want you to fill me in on the rest. Ah, here we are.’
They had reached the rendezvous point. Three five-ton camouflage trucks stood there, filled with men garbed in black body armour—the elite commandos of the Indian army, armed to the teeth with INSAS 5.56mm light machine guns, AGS 17 Plamya 30mm automatic grenade launchers, Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless rifles and Glock 17.9mm pistols.
Imran and Radha hopped into the leading truck. Imran looked at Radha. ‘You’re sure you want to do this?’ She had insisted on coming along as she thought she might be able to help with clues at the site.
‘Absolutely,’ she replied. Imran nodded to the driver of the truck and the convoy trundled onto the highway that led to Ranchi.
39
Day 10
The Patna-Ranchi highway
Colin rubbed his eyes wearily. He had driven without a break for four hours, since leaving Patna. Darkness enveloped them like a shroud.
They were alone on the highway.
They had passed the town of Nawada two hours ago and several villages after that, as the highway snaked through open fields, which had now given way to dense forests.
‘Where are we supposed to meet Farooq?’ White suddenly spoke up. He and Shukla were sitting quietly in the backseat of the X Trail.
‘He didn’t say.’ Colin responded before slowing down and stopping at the side of the road. He turned to White and held out his hand.
‘It’s about time you switched your phone on.’
White did as directed.
As if on cue, his phone rang.
‘I’m glad to see that you followed my instructions.’ Farooq’s smooth voice came over the phone’s speaker. ‘Where have you reached?’
‘I don’t know where we are.’ Colin fought back his anger and frustration, trying to keep calm.
‘Have you passed an ancient ruin in the forests along the highway?’
‘No. We are in a heavily forested area, though.’
‘Then you must be very near Hazaribagh. Look out for the ruin to the left of the highway. You can’t miss it. Stop there and wait for us.’
The phone went dead.
Colin drove on slowly, clinging to the left side of the highway. They all peered out, trying to catch a glimpse of the ruin that Farooq had described. It was dark in the forest and they had to strain to make out even the outline of the trees.
‘There. In that copse of trees.’ White saw it.
Colin jerked the car to a halt as White indicated a section of the forest they had just passed. He reversed slowly to the spot and switched off the headlights.
Darkness immediately descended upon them, welcoming them into its folds. Colin alighted and the others joined him, staring at the forest until they could discern the faint outline of a structure, barely visible among the trees.
They stood there in silence, waiting. The moments seemed to pass at a snail’s pace. Where was Farooq? Colin thought.
Suddenly they noticed two points of light that pierced the veil of darkness that hung over them. The lights moved slowly towards them, growing larger and brighter as they drew near. More lights appeared behind the first set. A convoy approached them.
‘Farooq’ Colin breathed. Did the man have Vijay and Radha with him?
As the convoy drew near, they discerned six black Ford Endeavours which drew to a halt in front of the X Trail. Men jumped off the SUVs and ran towards them, carrying UZIs.
Behind them, carrying a revolver, was Farooq.
Colin perked up suddenly as he saw that Vijay was with them. His hands were bound, his face was bruised and he looked weary, but he was alive.
The moment of elation was short-lived. Nothing had prepared him for what happened next.
Farooq tossed an UZI to White while Vijay and his friends stared, open-mouthed.
‘You sure took your time in coming,’ the archaeologist said heatedly.
Farooq shrugged, his demeanour clearly showing that he did not like being questioned.
Vijay stared at the two men, his head spinning. What was happening?
‘Okay, let’s get this show on the road,
’ White said dismissively. ‘We’ve lost enough time.’
Farooq turned to his men. ‘Get these three into their car and let’s get moving.’
40
Day 11
The Patna-Ranchi highway
‘Where are we?’ Radha had fallen asleep almost immediately after leaving Patna, tired and stressed after the events of the last few hours. The revelation that Bheem Singh was one of the bad guys and that a trained assassin was impersonating Greg White had come as a rude shock to her. It didn’t help that her father and her friends were in the hands of men for whom killing was just another day’s work.
‘We’re close to Hazaribagh,’ Imran offered helpfully.
‘They must have reached Sitagarha by now,’ Radha mumbled.
‘We’re going as fast as possible. These trucks weren’t built for speed.’ Imran looked at her. ‘Tell me, did Farooq reveal any of his plans while you were in his captivity?’
Radha told him everything that Farooq had shared with Vijay and her. ‘It’s a great plan,’ Imran conceded. ‘The consortium uses LeT as a front. No one will ever know. LeT gets to fulfil their ambition of becoming a great terrorist organisation, bigger and more effective than Al Qaeda. And the consortium can build an arsenal with the kinds of weapons they’ve already developed. As producers, they control the inventory. They issue a few to LeT, who target the G20 summit and allows the consortium to install their own men as state heads. Everyone is happy. LeT gets its 15 minutes of fame. The politicians realise their political dreams. And the consortium controls the world. Power and profit is theirs for the taking. The perfect plan.’
Radha mulled over his words. ‘And there’s nothing anyone can do to stop LeT from carrying out their threat,’ she said finally. ‘They’ve hit upon the one weapon that no armed force in the world possesses a defence against.’
Imran agreed with her. ‘I saw it with my own eyes. The prototype they’ve developed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Van Klueck is still alive, even if Bheem Singh is dead. And their political backers will ensure that LeT is able to develop and deploy their weapon. There’s only one thing that can stop them now.’
The Mahabharata Secret Page 24
