THE BUTCHER OF BENARES
Page 26
Manvendra’s ravings took on a note of finality. ‘I’ll have to sacrifice you, Hawa Singh, to my goddess. Hé Ganga Maiyya, please accept his blood.’ He took aim and fired. The shot rang out loud and clear, piercing the air. The bullet hit Hawa Singh. He reeled, fell overboard and sank in the water.
Fauja Singh collapsed on his knees. He hadn’t come to Benares to see his son die. It was he who was supposed to go first. Tears ran from his closed eyes.
‘Hawa,’ sobbed Ruby, in Manvendra’s stranglehold, ‘Hawa’.
She attempted to struggle but Manvendra squeezed her throat with his free hand. ‘I won’t kill you,’ he purred into her ear, ‘but any one of these thousands standing there. You better stay still—for their sake.’
The SSP ran ahead with his team, all pointing their guns at Manvendra. ‘Are you really in a position to point guns at me, SSP?’ Manvendra demanded of him. ‘Ask your men to drop their weapons. Right now!’
The SSP signalled his men to lower their guns. They all obeyed.
Manvendra returned his attention to Ruby who was standing paralysed, all the fight having gone out of her. ‘It’s time for you—FBI half-breed!—to die,’ he said, almost lovingly. He closed his eyes. His finger curled over the trigger and tautened.
Somewhere from below them, a cry rang out, ‘Jai Ganga Maiyya!’
The waters seem to part with the cry and Hawa Singh emerged, like the Ghost he was. He got a grip on the boat and tipped it with his strong arms. Both Manvendra and Ruby fell into the water.
Hawa Singh looked around with murderous eyes, his face streaming. Ruby resurfaced at a distance from him and he was relieved to see the SSP and Sub-inspector Gaya Prasad Sharma hastening to her rescue.
Manvendra emerged too, right behind him, and Hawa Singh spun around to make a grab at him. They grappled together in the water.
Fauja Singh had risen to his feet by now, his eyes now hopeful, even excited. He ran to Ruby and hugged her with moist eyes. ‘My boy would never let any harm come to you,’ he wept with joy.
Ruby’s eyes, too were, wet, as they both turned to look at the Ganges.
The water suddenly turned choppy. The only light came from the lamps bobbing in the water. Hawa Singh remembered Manvendra’s knowledge of Marma-Adi and realized the best thing was to keep him away from his body. Manvendra did strike him once, close to the heart, but the blow was weakened by the pull of the water, and didn’t do the job Manvendra had intended—to paralyze his heart.
Fauja Singh, in a thin reedy voice, began to sing Lord Shiva’s aarti. One by one, the pandits, the devotees and then the thousands of onlookers joined in, until there was one unified chorus. Their hymn, accompanied by drumbeats, rose to the heavens.
As the two strong men fought, the turbulent water brought them close to the ghat. Manvendra had begun to claw at Hawa Singh, tearing at his arm where he was shot. Hawa Singh punched his head, sending him deep into the water. For a second, Manvendra stayed submerged, but was up again, clambering up the side of the ghat, this time brandishing the Colt. He pointed it at Hawa Singh, who stood on a step right above him.
Manvendra put his finger on the trigger, smiling his old maniacal smile, aiming point blank. Hawa Singh could see the cannibal’s canines shining through his grinning mouth. He turned his concentration to Manvendra’s finger. He knew that the trigger was filed and wouldn’t require much pressure to release the bullet. He could see the dark tunnel down the muzzle of the revolver.
In that fraction of a second, Hawa Singh seized Manvander’s shooting arm, twisted it painfully, snatched the Colt from the now loosened fingers—and shot him through the head. The bullet ripped through the skull, scattering brain matter right up several steps of the ghat. Manvendra returned to the water from whence he had come.
Hawa Singh cupped his hands and, scooping up some water in them, offered it back to the holy river. The chanting grew louder and louder as Ruby and Fauja Singh hurried up to him, and they all met in a thankful embrace.
Benares reverberated with cries of ‘Ganga Maiyya ki Jai!’
EPILOGUE
The media had milled outside the SSP’s office. They had all wanted to interview Hawa Singh face-to-face. It had to be a big story.
Hawa Singh had not been interested in meeting the reporters and it was only after much persuasion from the SSP and Ruby that he had come out to face the newshounds. There were television cameras, flashbulbs that blinded him and questions fired at him from all directions.
Hawa Singh had only one answer for them. ‘I’m a policeman. I just did my job.’ And he had walked away.
The one-line answer had been telecast repeatedly on news channels across the country, causing many to wish their hometowns and cities were similarly policed.
The next morning, Fauja Singh had packed up his stuff, all ready to go home. Hawa Singh saw him putting his things together and asked, ‘Have you cancelled your death leave?’
‘I’m stronger than you and my heart feels better than ever. Let’s get out of here,’ the old man had responded energetically.
Hawa Singh and Ruby had celebrated with the SSP, ACP Shishir Jha, Sub-Inspector Gaya Prasad Sharma and other personnel who had been their colleagues for a while. The SSP ordered hot kachoris, samosas and jalebis for everyone.
Ruby was flying back to the US. The flight was from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, two days later.
Hawa Singh had used the small break to take her to his village. He showed off the lush green fields, their prized tube-well, his father’s little hut in their field, and the tractor, on which he took her for a ride.
Fauja Singh was a happy man again. It felt like a family reunion. It was like Kavita had come back in their lives. His tears didn’t stop.
Meanwhile, Neeraj Thakur, the SSP, Benares, had made an announcement in the press that Kashi Naresh Maharaja Abhay Narayan Singh suffered a major heart attack hearing about the exploits of his brother Manvendra Singh. His body was cremated inside the walls of Ramnagar Fort with full state honours.
The time had come for Ruby to leave. Early in the morning father and son had gone to the airport to see her off. She had felt something tugging her behind. She hadn’t wanted to part from Hawa Singh. They’d looked deep into each other’s eyes, and held each other fast.
Fauja had quietly stepped away.
‘You just have to call me, and I’ll be there,’ promised Hawa Singh, as Ruby wiped her tears.
There would come a time when she would call him.
The flight had taken off at 4.15 am. Hawa Singh and Fauja Singh had watched from outside the airport the massive plane spearing the sky.
‘How do such heavy machines fly in the air?’ asked Fauja Singh.
‘You don’t need to break your head with such questions. They fly because they are supposed to fly, just like I fight crime because I am supposed to do that.’
Fauja Singh had nodded thoughtfully and said, ‘I feel like having filter coffee, like Kavita used to make.’
‘If anyone heard what you said back home, they’d laugh,’ Hawa Singh had teased him. They would say, “The Haryanvi Jat has become a Madrasi”!’
‘Let them say what they want. The smell of coffee reminds me of Kavita.’
Hawa Singh had bought two cups of coffee from a vendor outside the airport. Fauja had smelled the coffee and remarked with a sneer, ‘Kavita’s was better.’
He had looked up at another plane in the sky, and said, ‘Tell me, what do they drink in the US? Tea or coffee?’
Hawa Singh, sipping on his coffee, had said, ‘Some day, I’ll take you there. Then you can find out for yourself.’
‘I’m not going to wait for you. I’m sure my CID girl will call me there soon.’
They had exchanged a look and laughed.
Table of Contents
About Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Ch_01
Ch_02
Ch_03
Ch_04
Ch_05
Ch_06
Ch_07
Ch_08
Ch_09
Ch_10
Ch_11
Ch_12
Ch_13
Ch_14
Ch_15
Ch_16
Ch_17
Ch_18
Ch_19
Ch_20
Ch_21
Ch_22
Ch_23
Ch_24
Ch_25
Ch_26
Ch_27
Ch_28
Ch_29
Ch_30
Ch_31
Ch_32
Ch_33
Ch_34
Ch_35
Ch_36
Ch_37
Ch_38
Ch_39
Ch_40
Ch_41
Ch_42
Epilogue