Saboteur

by RV Raman

  ‘The calls to a Mumbai number, Alex,’ Dhruvi said, frowning and absent-mindedly twisting a curl of her hair. ‘Were all three from the same mobile tower?’

  Life flickered for a moment in Alex’s eyes. ‘Good question, ma’am. The first two were from a tower close to the office, but the last one was from another tower nearby. In fact, all the calls, except the one at 10.29 p.m., were from the tower near the office.’

  ‘You see what that means, Alex? The last call was made after he got into the car.’

  ‘Does that tell us anything useful?’

  ‘Two things. First, that he was all right for some time after entering the car. He had not been rendered unconscious before entering the car or abducted or some such thing.

  ‘Second, it tells us that he knew the person or people in the car. He had felt safe enough to speak to the Mumbai person while in the company of the car driver and anybody else who had been in the car. He knew the person or persons who had picked him up and there was nothing out of place when he got into the car.’

  Alex’s gaze now held interest. His face broke into a lazy grin.

  ‘That’s right, ma’am!’

  ‘Have you found out who the Mumbai mobile belongs to?’

  ‘Someone called Ved Prakash, who works at a retail chain.’

  Suddenly, a penny dropped and Dhruvi made a connection with what she had heard at MyMagicHat.

  ‘So that’s where Puneet must have got the sales break-up of physical retail stores! Nilay said that Puneet was comparing a retail chain’s sales mix with MyMagicHat’s sales break-up. What department does Ved Prakash work in?’

  ‘Strategic planning, I was told.’

  ‘That fits, Alex. Planners would have such data – or so I think. What about the Bengaluru prepaid number?’

  Alex’s droopy mouth drooped further as he shook his head.

  ‘Can’t trace it. One of the thousands of SIM cards purchased with fake papers.’

  ‘Could it have been the car driver? The driver could have called Puneet at 9.51 p.m. to tell him that he had arrived. Puneet called him back at 10.18 p.m., asking him to bring the car around to MyMagicHat.’

  ‘Possible, ma’am.’

  ‘Has anyone spoken to Ved Prakash?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Good. I’ll call him now. Thanks, Alex.’

  She picked up the desk phone and called the Mumbai mobile number.

  ‘Mr Ved Prakash?’ she asked when the call was answered.

  ‘Yup. Who is this?’

  ‘Dhruvi Kishore from the Bengaluru Police. I need to speak to you for a few minutes.’

  ‘Bengaluru Police?’ Alarm spurted into his voice. ‘Wh…what is it about?’

  ‘Some routine business.’ She adopted a casual tone. ‘I would like to ask you about a couple of calls you received yesterday.’

  ‘Calls…what calls?’ Ved seemed surprised, but interested.

  ‘Can we talk now, Mr Prakash? I need a few minutes.’

  ‘Yes. Go ahead.’

  ‘Do you know one Puneet Kaul?’

  ‘Yes.’ The response was immediate. ‘He’s a friend.’

  ‘Do you know where he is now?’

  ‘Bengaluru, I think. Unless he has taken the flight back to Mumbai.’

  ‘How well do you know him?’

  ‘Pretty well. He’s a close friend. What is all this about? Is he in trouble?’

  Dhruvi ignored the question and pushed on. ‘When did you last speak to him?’

  ‘Last evening. We spoke two or three times.’

  ‘That’s what I wanted to ask you about. What did you talk about?’

  ‘Look here, madam. What is this all about? Is he okay?’

  ‘In a moment, Mr Prakash.’ Dhruvi was politely unyielding. ‘Can you answer my question, please?’

  ‘What did we talk about?’ Haste made the words tumble over each other. ‘Something about the sales volumes of different categories of products that are sold through physical retail stores and how they compare with online sales. He is working on a project on online retailing.’

  ‘What specifically did he want to know?’

  ‘What I told you – category-wise break-up of the products physical stores sell, how many, what value and stuff like that. I happened to have some data on this, which I had shared with him. He had done some further analysis and wanted to discuss it.’

  ‘Why did he want to discuss it with you?’

  ‘Because we’re friends,’ he said sharply. ‘Because I happen to work in that area. Because I was the person who shared the data with him. Now I’ve answered all your questions. Will you answer mine? Is Puneet okay? Is he in trouble?’

  ‘He is missing, Mr Prakash.’

  ‘Missing? What do you mean “missing”?’ Ved’s voice had become tight, anxious.

  ‘He hasn’t been seen since last night. After he spoke to you.’

  A stunned silence greeted her. She tried to imagine Ved’s face, but couldn’t. She had no idea what he looked like.

  ‘Oh my God!’ he said after a stunned pause. ‘Are you sure? Have you tried calling him? His house?’

  ‘We’ve called several times, Mr Prakash. His phone is switched off.’

  ‘Shit, man! I hope he’s okay. Have you checked with the hotel where he was staying?’

  ‘He didn’t return to the hotel last night. His last known activity was the call he made to you.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ he said again. ‘Poor Puneet! Do his parents know?

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Anything I can do?’

  ‘Check with your common friends to see if anyone knows anything. Call me if you find out anything. Call me immediately if Puneet calls you. I’ll text you my mobile number.’

  ‘Okay. This is terrible! Can’t you guys do something? You’ve got to find him!’

  ‘Does Puneet have a girlfriend? Do you know?’

  ‘Well…not a girlfriend, exactly…but there is a girl he’s close to. Her name is Mamata.’

  ‘Do you have her number?’

  ‘Shit, man! You’ll get me into trouble…and him too! His parents don’t know about her…they’re the traditional type.’

  ‘Well, Mr Prakash, you do want us to find Puneet, don’t you?’

  ‘What kind of a question is that? Of course I want you to find him! But that doesn’t mean his private affairs must be made public. But okay…I’ll message you her number.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Prakash. One more request: can you send me the reports you had shared with him?’

  ‘Hey, you’re going to get me killed! They’re confidential! I can’t give them out. I shared them with him because he’s a close friend. I’ll get into trouble if I send them to you.’

  So it was as she had suspected. Ved had shared with his friend something he was not permitted to share. If he had shared internal reports from his employer, he could be fired. But that didn’t matter now.

  ‘This is a police investigation, Mr Prakash,’ Dhruvi said with a sweetness she didn’t feel. ‘I could formally requisition the reports if you wish. Then everyone will get to know about your sharing them with Puneet. Would you prefer that?’

  A tense silence stretched for a long moment.

  ‘No…no need to requisition them,’ he finally said through a constricted throat. ‘I’ll send them to you.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Prakash. I’ll text you my email ID as well.’

  ■

  Gautam Puraria sat with his father, who was leaning back in an overstuffed sofa, sipping his habitual post-dinner cognac. Gautam’s wife was away. The two men had the house to themselves, except for the presence of the live-in housekeeper.

  ‘I’ve been wanting to have this conversation with you, Gautam,’ Sashikant said. ‘It’s difficult to have a one-on-one in Mumbai without attracting undue attention.’

  Gautam waited for his father to continue. Sashikant’s coming down to Bengaluru for no apparent reason had seemed uncharacteristic; he was not one
to waste money or time without good reason. If he had come all the way to talk to his son, the imminent conversation must be important.

  ‘You’re a smart boy, Gautam. I think you already know or can anticipate much of what I have to say. But we must have this open chat, as much for your sake as for the larger family’s. Understand?’

  Gautam nodded. Sashikant took a leisurely sip from his goblet and continued.

  ‘You do realize, don’t you, that things have changed recently? It was different when you were doing your MBA in the US and even when you were working there after graduation. Now that you are back in India and are managing your first family investment, your brothers no longer look upon you as their kid brother.’

  Gautam’s two brothers, Raj and Dilip, named after Sashikant’s favourite Bollywood heroes, were, respectively, fifteen and twelve years older than him. It was natural for them to have looked upon the new baby, born over a decade after them, as just that – a baby. The sibling rivalry that existed between the two older brothers was completely absent when it came to their attitude towards Gautam. But the flip side, to Gautam’s unending annoyance, was that they seldom took him seriously. That only strengthened his resolve to prove himself to them.

  Sashikant was right; Gautam’s MBA and even his subsequent two-year stint at a consulting firm were seen as a part of his growing-up process, his preparation for real work. But that perception had begun changing when he returned home in 2013 and made two declarations: first, to marry his Swiss girlfriend; and second, to start playing his part in the family’s business empire.

  His brothers, who had viewed higher education as a distraction and had preferred to cut their teeth working under their father in several family businesses, were not impressed by his MBA degree. They had good-naturedly brushed off Gautam’s suggestions as ‘new-fangled MBA-type ideas’. But when he had persisted, they had become annoyed.

  ‘MBA kuch nahin sikhata hai, Chotu,’ Raj had said, summarily dismissing the relevance of his hard-earned business degree. ‘Presentations aur frameworks se kaam nahin banta. Pehle India mein vyapar karna seekho. Sauda karna seekho.’

  Gautam had made a passionate case for the family to enter online commerce, insisting that the time was right. They already had an extensive network of physical stores, he had gone on to say – both supermarkets and speciality stores that sold a wide range of goods, including apparel, electronics, footwear, appliances, groceries, luxury items and baby-care products. To supply this chain of stores, they had developed enviable expertise in sourcing goods on very favourable terms. And to top it all, they already had warehouses in strategic locations and a logistics network that supplied the stores at short lead times.

  All they had to do now, Gautam had argued, was to create an e-commerce layer that piggybacked on their sourcing, warehousing and logistics capabilities. What Flipkart and Amazon were building from scratch, they already possessed! And for building the e-commerce layer, they already had deep IT capabilities within the group. Core systems were already in place and the new online company would not have to build software for the fulfilment, logistics and sourcing functions. All it had to do was focus on the online customer and create a new ‘front-end’ layer for them. This ‘front-end’ layer would be linked to the group’s existing ‘back-end’ systems that were being used by their brick-and-mortar retail business.

  Sashikant had bought the idea and decided to make it a reality. Gautam, he decreed, would run all the market-facing and branding activities, while Dilip oversaw sourcing, fulfilment and the other back-end activities. Building an online brand and riding the e-commerce wave required a mindset and capabilities that suited Gautam, he said. At the same time, they would scale up, rather than fragment, the back-end. The companies Dilip already oversaw as the head of the group’s Retail SBU had all the back-end capabilities that were required, and the additional scale from the e-commerce channel would only benefit the group.

  Soon, a clutch of companies were incorporated in India and Singapore. MyMagicHat was born, with Sashikant as the chairman and Gautam as the managing director. Gautam moved to Bengaluru to set up shop, while Dilip continued to operate from Mumbai.

  ‘I suppose you are aware that Dilip is not happy with how cash is being spent?’ Sashikant asked.

  ‘I am,’ Gautam answered evenly. ‘But that’s how this industry is; you must spend money to acquire customers and market share at this early stage. Everyone, from Flipkart and Amazon to the small ones, are doing so. You can’t not do that. Dilip knows it.’

  ‘He does and so does Raj. But they are not pleased.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Look at it this way, Gautam. We have spent a thousand crores. What assets do we have to show for it?’

  ‘The brand! Surely, Papa, you can see that. Our brand is worth much more than what we have spent. Just look at the valuation! Our stake is worth far more than our investment.’

  ‘That is where the source of their discomfiture lies, Gautam – valuation. In every other business, we have physical assets to show for our investment – land, plant, machinery, stock, etcetera. That is what your brothers are used to.

  ‘On the other hand, the MyMagicHat brand is intangible and derives value from the hype around e-commerce. One scandal could destroy it. Their fear is that this speculative valuation may turn out to be a mirage. You can’t deny that the valuation is but speculative – it is based on a fictitious number called Gross Merchandise Value and a heap of assumptions.’

  ‘What about our customers? There is some loyalty we have built there, isn’t there?’

  ‘How many of your loyal customers aren’t also buying from Flipkart, Amazon or Snapdeal? How many of their customers are not buying from you? The customers who swear by you today will desert you the day someone else offers a higher discount. Don’t build your hopes on customer loyalty, Gautam. Our ultimate strength lies in sourcing advantage and deep understanding of our customers.’

  ‘We also have our technology platform.’

  ‘Yes, we do. That’s why I had insisted on it being housed in a separate entity.’

  MyMagicHat’s IT system was owned by a company that was fully owned by the Purarias. ‘But software is a funny thing, Gautam. It is valuable as long as it is state-of-the-art. Once you stop investing in it, it is no longer state-of-the-art and begins to wither away. It’s like an animal that you have to keep feeding till you sell it. It sucks in endless money.

  ‘Even so, it’s our only insurance, woefully inadequate as it is. If all else fails, we could offer it as a service to companies that want to open an online presence quickly; a “plug-and-play platform”, as Dilip calls it. In the next few years, every retailer – from the big boys to the small ones – will want access to a top-notch online platform. Few of them will have the wherewithal to build or maintain one.’

  Gautam remained silent. There was nothing more to say. Sashikant poured out some more cognac and continued.

  ‘I am not saying that Raj and Dilip are right or that you are wrong,’ he said softly. ‘I realized on Day One that online commerce is a different game, but one with a limited time window. It is a valuation game that has little to do with intrinsic worth. We hope that there will always be a bigger fool who will buy at an even higher valuation. If we are to make any money here, we will have to sell our stake once we have ratcheted up the valuation.’

  ‘Exactly, Papa! Then where is the problem?’

  ‘I realize that, but I am not sure if your brothers do. Besides, their risk appetite is not the same as mine.’

  ‘We just have to educate them!’

  ‘Be careful, Gautam.’ Sashikant’s voice hardened. ‘“Educate” is a condescending term to use when you speak of elder brothers.’ He paused for the reprimand to sink in. ‘Besides, what is the guarantee that we won’t be the fools holding the bag at the end?’

  ‘None, I suppose.’

  ‘So you see, “education” will not be easy. Today, your brothers see the risks mor
e starkly than the potential rewards. The risks are there in front of them today, but the reward is only a future possibility. As long as this remains the case, it is you who will have to be patient. Don’t forget, not long ago, you were a kid brother in their eyes.’

  ‘How –’ Gautam began, when Sashikant cut him off gently.

  ‘Show them an example of profit, Gautam…even if it is small… It may give them some confidence. Recover some of our investment at a healthy profit.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll see what I can do.’ He hid the fact that he had no idea how he would do that.

  ‘Good. You see, this is an important conversation for us to have. The last thing I want is friction between my sons. I want you to take your rightful place in our group, alongside Raj and Dilip. Your thinking is different from theirs and that will add to our strength. But first, you will have to earn your stripes. I hope you understand.’

  ‘Yes, Papa.’

  Gautam grimaced inwardly as he realized that there was one other thing Sashikant had left unsaid. In most of their large investments, the Purarias had recovered their money early. Using means such as over-invoicing and routing purchases through group companies, they had siphoned off much of their investments, even before production began. This had not been possible at MyMagicHat. That had heightened the risk perception in his brothers’ eyes, making them view it as a gamble.

  ‘Now, on to other matters,’ Sashikant continued. He seemed more relaxed now. ‘How is Project Iskan progressing?’

  ‘Going all right,’ Gautam replied, making a conscious effort to keep his voice from betraying his misgivings. ‘The MoUs with Ivory, Ebony and Mahogany are signed, as you know. And Kantoff is in the last stages of their DD. I’m hoping to conclude it early next week. Paperwork will take some more time.’

  ‘I hope people haven’t got wind of the project.’

  ‘Only Nilay and I know about the entire deal. The rest of the company thinks it’s just another fund infusion – this time, by Kantoff.’

  ‘Nilay is competent, no doubt,’ the older man said. ‘But he is ambitious too – far too ambitious. A time may come when his ambition will go against our interests.’