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  A few days later, Ram Dular informed them that some of Vijay’s close aides were making merry in Mannipur village. At an opportune moment, a few of Krishna and Raju’s supporters climbed the terrace where the drunk gangsters were dozing after a night of revelry, and killed all five men in their sleep. Vijay lost most of his important men in one go.

  Vijay seethed with rage. He decided a lesson had to be taught to Ram Dular.

  Ranjan was about to have lunch when he got the call. ‘Bada Babu, hum Vijay bol rahe hain. Bahut shauk hai laashe ginne ka (Bada Babu, this is Vijay. You like counting dead bodies, right?). Go, there are a lot of bodies lying in Mannipur village.’

  Ranjan felt like throwing up. He immediately left for the village.

  The village was absolutely quiet. Not one person said a word. Everyone was dead scared. Vijay had extinguished the lives of so many people in one night.

  The floor of the wedding pandal was smeared with blood. Ranjan and his constables were horrified by the sight. The first body was headless. A woman and a child were sitting quietly next to it. Their tears had probably dried up.

  Ranjan and his team started picking up the scattered bodies one by one and put them in the thana’s Commander jeep. After a few moments, Ranjan came across the body of an eight-month-pregnant woman. The lifeless body of a young boy, probably the woman’s son, was clinging to the woman. Even a battle-hardened cop like Ranjan found it extremely difficult to control his emotions.

  Within half an hour, the village was swarming with policemen. The SP and DM also reached the spot. ‘Sir, let us remove the bodies. There might be a law and order problem tomorrow morning,’ Ranjan requested the SP. In such cases, the people were known to demand compensation and action against the local administration before the bodies could be taken away.

  The SP was too shocked to speak. Vijay Karan had been promoted to SP from DSP just two days ago. He had been quite happy to have been made the SP of a district just a few months before retirement. But now all his joy had vanished; he was absolutely crestfallen.

  Sensing that the SP was in no position to speak, the DM, an amiable person, intervened.

  ‘No, no. Don’t take the bodies forcibly. I have the people’s support in Shekhpura. I’ll talk to the villagers and send the bodies to Munger tomorrow morning.’

  Shekhpura was so backward that even dead bodies had to be sent to the neighbouring district of Munger for a postmortem.

  The chief minister (CM) was absolutely livid. A no-nonsense person, he had been elected for his promise of sushaasan or good governance. The massacre was a challenge to his government.

  The CM, the Home Secretary and the DGP flew by helicopter to the sites of both the massacres. Huge crowds had gathered at both spots. The police had a tough time managing the crowds. Most of the protestors were Vijay’s supporters. They did not want to miss this opportunity to malign the police. So they started yelling, ‘Bada Babu murdabad, murdabad! Suspend Kasar SHO Ranjan! He is responsible for all the murders!’ on the arrival of the CM. The CM, a seasoned administrator, remained quiet at that time.

  ‘Get the post-mortem of the bodies done here in the village itself. Call a team of doctors from the Civil Hospital, Munger. After that, ensure that the bodies are cremated properly,’ the CM ordered.

  As the CM was about to board the helicopter, one intrepid press reporter asked him, ‘Sir, what action will you take against the district administration?’

  The CM stared at him hard and said, ‘Watch the news at 7.30 p.m. today. You will know.’

  The DIG, DM and SP were immediately removed from their posts.

  Ranjan had not slept the entire night. He returned to the police station late in the evening after almost twenty-four hours. He took off his blood-soaked uniform and put it in a bucket. Then he emptied an entire packet of detergent into the bucket.

  He called his wife in Ranchi. He always worried about her as she kept having bouts of depression. ‘Lagta hai hum ko suspend karenge (I think I’ll be suspended),’ said a dejected Ranjan.

  ‘Karenge nahin, kar diya hai (You have been suspended). The news is on all the channels,’ replied his wife.

  ‘Chalo achcha hai (It is good). I have not spent any time with you in ages. Let us go to Delhi for a holiday,’ said Ranjan, as he felt all the weariness of the last few months finally hit him.

  12

  ‘You Are Eunuchs!’

  I returned to the ‘circuit house’ and straightaway went to brief Kumar Sir.

  ‘How was your day? I hope you have started working on the case,’ said Kumar Sir, who was lounging in his vest and shorts. The heat was unbearable, and the humid weather made him perspire from head to toe. But not once did he complain. His presence in Shekhpura was reassuring. I briefed him about my meeting with Ranjan but did not elaborate much.

  ‘Amit, I’d suggest that you visit the village too. You’ll learn more about the massacre. Your visit will probably assuage the anger of the people and instil some confidence in them.’

  ‘Sure, sir, will do.’

  I saluted and retired to my room, dreading the presence of lizards and rats in the bathroom. But this time, I had a bigger surprise in store for me––a fully grown black cobra was silently slithering down the ventilator!

  Much to people’s surprise, I’m not afraid of snakes. I admire them for their grace, agility and stealth. I coolly called the guard to get an expert to take it away. I instructed them that no harm should come to it. The guard shook his head vigorously. Surely, he must have thought that I was a nutcase––a person terrified of lizards who was quite unfazed by the presence of a cobra in his room!

  Soon afterwards, the landline rang. ‘Hello, how are you? I’m so happy that all of us will join you tomorrow. Avi misses you so much. Aishwarya has also not seen her papa for so long!’ said Tanu cheerfully.

  Our house was almost ready and I had decided to call my family to Shekhpura. Tanu was being a fantastic mother, taking care of both the kids all alone. And she had been taking care of Manju Devi, the septuagenarian maid, too! Thank God the maid was still alive.

  I reached Mannipur village after an arduous journey. The village looked deserted, probably an after-effect of the brutal murders. After all, the village had seen a wedding function turn into a funeral service. Being a police officer, I had gone to many crime scenes and was accustomed to seeing dead bodies, with wailing relatives all around them. It can be very disturbing for other people, but we tend to get used to it. We do our business the way a surgeon operates upon a terminally ill patent.

  But this was an entirely different experience. There was a deathly silence, betraying the trail of blood that Vijay had left behind.

  I went to Ram Dular’s derelict house and surveyed the courtyard. In the corner, an old, fragile woman was lying on a charpoy.

  I took a stool and tried to strike up a conversation with her.

  ‘Maaji, what happened that night? I’m really sorry for your loss.’

  She gripped my hand and started shaking vigorously, as if in a fit.

  ‘No, you are not sorry. My entire family has been brutally massacred. My son, my grandson, everyone. My khaandaan, my dynasty, is finished. All because of the inefficiency of the police. Can you get my children back? Has the police done anything except take the statements of a few people? Your policemen promised security to Ram Dular for the information he gave. Naturally, he was on Vijay’s hit list, but you did not protect him and his family. You let him die. You are all eunuchs.’

  I couldn’t take the tirade any more. The woman was being harsh to the police, but she had every right to vent her ire. As I visualized the night of the carnage, I wondered what it would be like if my children had been trapped in such a situation. I shuddered and turned to leave. I saw a small, frail child standing in front of me. His innocent eyes were still filled with the horrors of that fateful night. He was Ram Dular’s nephew, the only surviving member of the family apart from the matriarch. I patted the boy’s head an
d left the courtyard.

  I tried to talk to the rest of the villagers. As expected, they all feigned ignorance, but fear was writ large on their faces. Their silence strengthened my resolve. An absolutely innocent family had been butchered for no fault of theirs. Just because one man had wanted to satiate his bloodlust. The saga of Vijay Samrat had to be brought to an end. So far, I had been treating Vijay’s arrest as another ego trip, but the visit to Mannipur jolted me. It was my duty to bring justice to the people who had suffered at Vijay’s hands.

  13

  The Cable TV Connection

  June 2006

  Deeply shaken, I drove back to my house. I just thought how incredibly lucky I was to have my family with me. My thoughts were interrupted when I got home and heard my son, Aditya, squeal with delight when he saw me. I was reminded how, since he had been a baby, he would always gurgle with happiness when I put on my uniform and tug on my lanyard and the Ashoka Stambh. I have always found it absolutely surreal to have the Ashoka Stambh on my shoulders. It automatically gives me a feeling of immense pride and responsibility. Seeing my family reminded me that I had a responsibility towards them as well. I hugged Tanu and took our now six-month-old daughter, Aishwarya, in my arms. Again, I felt afraid of losing them all.

  I took a round of our small house and arranged the furniture in perfect alignment. I have a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I always want everything in order in my house and office. But this quest for order and perfection helps me a lot in my profession. It helps me focus on cases with manic concentration.

  Kumar Sir was reading a two-day-old edition of the Times of India. I remembered my friend Ramnathan telling me that getting even basic things was difficult in Shekhpura. At the time, I had thought that he was exaggerating.

  But today, these small things didn’t matter to me at all. Kumar Sir could observe a strange calm on my face. He sensed that perhaps the arrival of my family had lifted my mood. But it was more because of the focus and clarity I had now. I was determined to catch Vijay, come what may.

  ‘Amit, I have asked for additional forces so that we can patrol the villages more effectively. The extra force will help us conduct more raids,’ he said. ‘Sir, my gut feeling says that Vijay is not in Shekhpura right now. He knows that it’s not one SP looking for him; it is the government that is determined to catch him. I don’t think we’ll be able to catch him with conventional policing. Either we get a tip from an insider about his location or use the latest technology. The first option seems highly unlikely. He has an absolutely loyal local supporter base and, moreover, only a person on a suicide mission would leak information about him. We all know what he does to anyone who crosses him.’

  Though Kumar Sir was a staunch believer of old-fashioned policing, he was equally open to new ideas. He never imposed his diktats on his juniors and that was one of his many qualities. In this case, he listened to me intently.

  After a long pause, he said, ‘Okay, do as you wish. But I hope whatever you do remains in the ambit of the law.’

  He knew my reputation as a maverick officer. But he also knew that rules could be broken when you had an adversary who was a law unto himself.

  There was no sign of the hustle-bustle that was usually seen outside the offices of the SP and the DM. It was quite shocking to see no people in the office, considering I had been used to hundreds waiting to meet me at my other postings. I entered my chamber and checked my new table and chairs. The carpenter had done a fantastic job. The furniture was even better than the original. I was happy with the office now. And there was no towel wrapped around my chair.

  I looked at the board showing the crime statistics. Ironically, Shekhpura had one of the lowest crime rates in Bihar. And the biggest criminal in the state.

  I called Ranjan.

  ‘Ranjan, come over to my house tonight. Get Krishna and Raju with you. I need to know everything about Vijay,’ I said.

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘I also need the mobile numbers of Vijay and his closest associates, particularly Horlicks.’

  ‘Sure, sir. I’ll ask Raju and Krishna to get the details,’ replied Ranjan. He was quite surprised at the demand for the phone numbers of Vijay and his gang.

  Ranjan reached my house at 1 a.m. Raju and Krishna followed him with great trepidation. It was the first time they were meeting an SP. They were also very worried that I might send them to jail. After all, they had been Vijay’s supporters till a few months ago, even though they had no criminal records.

  ‘Baith jaiye (Sit down),’ I signalled to all three of them.

  They kept looking at each other.

  ‘Nahin, sir, theek hai (No, sir, it’s all right),’ replied Ranjan. Like any junior officer, Ranjan was used to standing in front of his seniors. This is the unwritten code of conduct for policemen. Moreover, he was under suspension. Naturally, Raju and Krishna did not dare to even touch the chair unless Ranjan sat down.

  I could sense their unease.

  ‘Sit down, it’s going to be a long night,’ I said in a serious tone.

  With a little reluctance, Ranjan pulled up a chair and sat down. Raju and Krishna perched themselves quite awkwardly on the chairs. They were still finding it difficult to believe that they were sitting with the SP of Shekhpura, and that too, in the SP’s residence. They had dared not sit even in front of an SI.

  ‘Tell me everything about Vijay and his gang. I want to strike at the top. Who are his most trusted people right now?’

  ‘Sir, luckily, his gang has weakened in the last few days. Some of the members have been killed. Chhotu Samrat, a very close associate, was put behind bars recently by Ranjan Babu. Of the top leadership, only Vijay and Horlicks Samrat remain,’ said Krishna gleefully.

  ‘Sir, but Vijay’s gang is very dangerous. They can still wreak havoc. The recent massacre at Mannipur is an example. Though Chhotu is in prison, he has escaped from jail twice earlier. He is capable of doing so again,’ interjected Ranjan. ‘His last jailbreak was quite audacious. As we know, a number of undertrials are taken to court before a magistrate. Vijay’s gang knew the exact date and time at which Chhotu was to be taken to the Nawada court premises. Chhotu and his accomplices made an excuse to go to the toilet that day. I remember, it was 28 February 2004. You will not believe it, sir, but Chhotu and his company simply tore down the walls of the toilet and escaped from the back of the premises,’ he continued.

  ‘Are you serious? What do you mean he tore down the wall?’ I asked.

  ‘The court remains closed on the weekend. There is no security, not even a single person to guard the premises. Vijay’s men climbed into the court compound one weekend and broke the wall of the court lockup toilet to make a small hole. After they were done, they just stuck sheets of yellow paper over the hole to make it look like it was a part of the wall.’

  ‘Chhotu just tore off the paper and escaped?’ I was incredulous.

  ‘Ji, sir, this is exactly what happened.’

  Raju and Krishna looked at me with a faint smile.

  My surmise was right. It would be almost impossible to capture Vijay using standard police procedures.

  We discussed Vijay and his gang, the people who were part of it, his modus operandi, his supporters, etc. in detail.

  Finally, I asked, ‘Numbers ki list laaye ho (Have you got the numbers)?’

  Krishna handed me three neatly folded papers.

  ‘Sahi hai? Have you checked?’

  ‘Yes, sir, 100 per cent,’ said Raju with full confidence.

  I clutched the paper, which had the numbers of Vijay, Horlicks and a few other members of the gang. I smiled. Now it would not be very difficult to play cat and mouse with them, I thought. I could not have been more wrong.

  The mobile phone is arguably the most revolutionary invention of this millennium. It is almost impossible to imagine a world without this palm-sized gadget. It has made life incredibly easy––for criminals as well as the police. Often, even the most intelligent a
nd tough criminals are caught because of their devices. However smart the criminals may be, their mobile phones can provide many clues to the police. I decided to use my knowledge of tracking mobile phones.

  I dialled various service providers like Reliance, Airtel and BSNL and requested them to provide the call details of Vijay and his gang’s numbers. Soon, the fax machine ran out of paper. My table top was covered with hundreds of printouts and faxes. I realized very quickly that it would be futile to rummage through so much data. I decided to concentrate on Vijay’s, Horlicks’s and some other members’ call logs. I had to cut the trunk and the root of the tree of Vijay’s empire. Then the branches and leaves would fall on their own.

  After separating Vijay’s and Horlicks’ call details, I called the service providers to ask for the tower location of their respective mobile phones. Vijay and Horlicks were not in Shekhpura. Horlicks was in Kolkata and Vijay’s location indicated he was in Ranchi. The printout revealed that Vijay had been using his mobile phone quite regularly, and the calls were largely outgoing. Obviously, not many people, including his gang members, called him for frivolous talk. Even criminals had a clear hierarchy. Horlicks’s records showed more call traffic. Both the brigands had SIM cards issued in fake names. Earlier, it was quite easy for criminals to get SIM cards without any verification by vendors. Of course, now the government has implemented stringent rules.

  I called Ranjan again.

  ‘Ranjan, talk to Raju and Krishna right now. Find out if Vijay and Horlicks have any friends or relatives in Kolkata and Ranchi. Do they frequent these cities? Do they have any hideouts there?’

  There was an urgency in my voice.

  ‘Sir, I have my doubts. Vijay and Horlicks don’t have any contacts in those cities, as per my knowledge. However, I’ll talk to Raju, Krishna and some other sources.’