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Operation Camouflage

Page 16

by Amit Sidham


  SAMIR: Over to the jury for the final verdict.

  AADI: The accused has admitted his crime and the advocate has admitted his role in defending a culprit in spite of knowing the truth. Who am I to announce the punishment? Their punishment should be decided by the ones who have suffered. Bring them.

  Avanish spoke over his phone ‘Come in.’

  Next moment walked in two men with two Tigers.

  Aadi went near the Tigers and caressed them. Pointing towards Rocky he said ‘He killed your mother’ and pointing towards the advocate said ‘He protected your mother’s killer.’

  The two men released the leash attached to the Tiger’s harness and let the Tiger’s free. Avanish caught hold of Rocky and his advocate and walked towards the centre of the lawn.

  The tigers first pounced on Rocky. The self-proclaimed strong man defended himself courageously… for fifteen seconds before he surrendered. He begged Avanish, Samir and Aadi to save him. After about a minute or so his gut wrenching cries came to an end and he lay there motion-less. The Tigers now pounced towards the advocate who already frightened by what he had witnessed fell to the ground. The Tigers sniffed him and walked away. A doctor was called in who examined both of them and confirmed their deaths. The advocate had died due to a heart attack even before the Tigers could touch him.

  The media had covered everything but the story was not yet over. Aadi walked to the judge and in front of him extracted blood samples from both the Tigers and handed them to the judge, ‘These are not trained Tigers, in case you thought so. They have been brought from Sunderbans just now and will be dropped back there. You can conduct a DNA test and match it with the DNA sample of the hunted Tigress, to confirm their identity.’

  ‘The case that had been dragging for twelve years and still without a sign of justice, in reality did not take even twelve minutes for closure. Don’t you think something is seriously wrong? Don’t you think if justice would have been provided at that time, people today would not only have had respect for the law but would have also feared it. 833 cases of poaching of endangered animals have been registered all over the country after this one, of which 298 accused have been acquitted, 31 convicted and all of them appealed in the high court where, in only 3 cases the decision of the lower court has been upheld, others have been acquitted and balance cases are still pending in the sessions courts itself. Had there been justice in this case, would we have these eight hundred and thirty three cases today? No. The culprit would have thought ten times before committing the crime.’

  The judge extremely moved by what he had seen in the last half an hour asked Aadi ‘If you don’t mind can I say something.’

  Aadi nodded.

  ‘I had never felt so helpless in my life before, the way I have felt today. Like the masses and the media, I knew he was guilty. But keeping aside my conscience, keeping aside my intellect, I had to wear the hat of the law and acquit him. After the verdict his eyes pierced into my conscience and his nasty smile challenged me as if saying, you cannot do anything to me in spite of knowing the truth.’

  ‘His words to the media that he had gone through a lot of mental trauma and hence proceeding to Vegas for relaxation were like salt on wounds. He was so confident of being out today that he had planned his vacation to start right from the time he left the court. And who goes to Vegas for relaxation? His faith in the judiciary and the honourable court… another crap.’

  ‘I felt enough is enough. After announcing the verdict, I felt guilty and decided to resign with immediate effect. When you came to my chamber that is what I was doing. I salute you all for what you have done here. Some might argue that what you did was right but the way was not, but I am seriously not concerned about the way. I believe if the intent is right, way to achieve it is immaterial. And in such a case if that is the only way, so be it. If culprits can take the law in their hands, exploit its weaknesses for illegitimate and selfish gains, I see nothing wrong in a good intentioned person doing it for selfless motives. Even if I failed to deliver justice, I am happy that justice prevailed. It would be my pleasure if at any time I could be of help to you.’

  Samir who had also been listening attentively to this whispered in Aadi’s ears, ‘He is speaking the truth. He has been in this field for twenty years and knows the tricks of the trade very well. Has a pure heart. Can be an asset for us.’

  ‘Would you like to utilize your skills and experience for GALAXY? Would you be willing to represent us for legal proceedings, when need be?’ asked Aadi

  ‘With pleasure,’ replied ex judge Ravikisan Mehra. It was going to be another first. A person having resigned from his position as a judge, was now going to represent his client as an advocate.

  Many people present on the spot shared the video feed on their social networking platforms. The content generated a lot of comments. The media started conducting different polls. ‘Is this the defeat of the judiciary?’ ‘Should the law have been taken in the hands by GALAXY?’ ‘Did Rocky Zutshi deserve this kind of a death?’ ‘Is a citizen safe in this country?’ ‘Should Aaditya be arrested?’

  This is where all the support that GALAXY had garnered till now, came into utilization. The employees, the customers, the channel partners and all different stakeholders who had come in close contact with GALAXY, who understood their mission came forward in their support. The blind fan following of Rocky Zutshi with their baseless arguments was countered by logical comments on social media. Some of the other logical thinkers who had not yet come in close contact with GALAXY also saw merit in the comments in GALAXY’s favour and extended their support to GALAXY. The movement had caught pace. GALAXY, in spite of its outrageous ways was garnering people support. Along with certain industries GALAXY was now being perceived as a problem by the government as well.

  Back at the head quarter the team received a warm welcome akin to that of a glorious king and his army returning victorious from the battlefield. Aakash, Jivika and all others hugged Aadi, Samir, Avanish and the twenty nine other warriors who had successfully carried out the first ever overt operation at GALAXY.

  Ex judge Ravikisan too received a warm welcome. Yes. He too was brought to the headquarter by the team. After a green signal from Samir, a new person could join then and there itself. No further rounds of interviews, no background checks, no joining letters or formalities. The core team believed in speed and worked in that manner.

  At this point Samir made an announcement, ‘Comrades, today’s episode was just part one of the operation.’

  Everyone became attentive immediately towards Samir. All including Avanish were anxious to know Aadi’s plan of capitalizing the situation. Ravikisan thought it could be a series of such operations in all pending cases of poaching. That is because he did not know Aadi the way other colleagues knew him.

  Samir continued, ‘As usual Chief has thought beyond today and created a big opportunity to enforce the message. While the media coverage and online views are grabbing attention of one and all, Chief has decided to make a movie out of this episode. Doesn’t sound exciting that’s because the excitement is yet to come.’

  And when he completed his next statement, there was brouhaha and the atmosphere filled with celebrations.

  ‘Over to you Aadi’ said Samir.

  ‘With our plans, it’s going to be a movie that’s going to break all viewership records. Anyone wanting a role in the movie, aspiring to become a star may get in touch with me separately,’ said Aadi. And the crowd broke out into laughter.

  Jivika was the first one to respond, ‘Count me as the heroine, Chief. I don’t want any compensation. I just have one condition. Hero has to be you and only you.’

  While many in the crowd laughed, Aadi knew what was in Jivika’s mind. ‘Unfortunately, there is no heroine in the movie,’ was Aadi’s witty reply.

  Impressed once again with Aadi, there was one question in Ravikisan’s mind. He went to Samir and Avanish and asked them, ‘Why is Aadi referred as Chief?’

>   ‘Sir, boss, managers are many. Any person with a reportee can be addressed with that title. But Chief is only one. It’s not a formal designation for him. He himself prefers to be called by his nickname. But for us it comes out of respect, naturally,’ replied Avanish.

  Ravikisan had himself seen and heard many cases of workplace politics and completely contrary to his experience was an amazing camaraderie, a strong bonding that he saw in this team. He felt extremely proud and fortunate to be part of this team.

  Chapter 25

  THE AIRPLANE EPISODE

  April’ 2017

  In a country where cricket and movies were treated like religion and cricketers and movie stars like Gods, there was bound to be acrimony at the death of Rocky Zutshi.

  One such fan club’s members who had been trolled, beaten and bashed up on social media for their illogical comments and blind love for a criminal decided to avenge the death of their star. Where GALAXY was winning many hearts it was also antagonizing certain elements with its every move. This was bound to happen and hence one of the reasons they had preferred to work in hiding was for the safety of their family members and themselves.

  Though Avanish was the one who had slapped Rocky twice, the fan club felt it was Aadi the mastermind behind this who needed to be eliminated first. Hence amongst the three Avanish, Aadi and Samir, Aadi was on the top of their hit list.

  They studied the three of them for over a month after the incident and came to a conclusion that Aadi was extremely good with his weapons. It was impossible to eliminate him when he had his weapons. Unfortunately for them, Aadi carried his weapons everywhere, even when he was bathing. Only way to trap him was when, he would be without them. They somehow needed to create a situation for him to part with his weapons.

  He always used his chopper for travelling. Never flew by an airline though one of his companies was into aviation. Three weeks later the fan club got their answer. Chances were remote but that was the only option to trap him.

  Aadi received a call from one of his college roommates Mihir, ‘Hi Aadi, how are you doing?’

  ‘Hey Mihir. Good to hear you after a long time. What’s up buddy?’

  ‘Getting married next month. I know a bit late, but finally decided to move on and settle down.’

  ‘That’s good. Congratulations. I am very happy for you!!!’

  ‘Thanks Buddy. Two things for you. One you have to come for the wedding. All our batch-mates are coming. It will be like a reunion. Block your date right now. And second I need a plane. Getting married in the air.’

  ‘That’s cool. I’ll connect you to my head of aviation.’

  ‘Thanks Aadi. I’ll take it forward from there. But remember. You have to come I am not getting married if you don’t come.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I have blocked my calendar. Until and unless there’s a medical emergency, count me in.’

  Aadi briefed Avanish about his schedule. Avanish gave him an assurance of personally looking into his security arrangements. Aadi also asked Jivika to accompany him, citing inflight security reasons. He thought this as a good opportunity to subtly breach the topic about moving on in life as Mihir’s love story had a resemblance with hers.

  During college Mihir was in love with a girl who did not accept him. He pursued her even after passing out but she did not agree. She got married to someone else and that day Mihir had vowed to remain single all his life. But today, here he was having moved on happily getting married to someone else. He had got relieved from the unnecessary punishment that he had given himself all these years and was now happy with his life.

  After completing the security check, just before boarding the plane, there was another security check counter managed by Avanish for all the guests and crew on the flight Ritu, Dhara, Jivika and Aadi were going to travel. All the guests had to undergo the security check once again and to their surprise, they had to discard many items including pens, aerosols, gels, liquids and what not that had been allowed even by the airport security.

  Everyone finally boarded the plane and it took off. Preparations for the ceremony started and as planned Aadi brought out the topic about Mihir’s lovestory in front of Ritu and Jivika. After some time Ritu excused herself as had been suggested to her by Aadi well in advance and went looking out for Dhara. Aadi also got up and went to chat with his other friends. He wanted to give Jivika that solitude for some time.

  Aadi had gone to the rest room. And when he was coming back one of the stewards opened the flight door, another threw the tray in his hand and jumped on Aadi, pushing him out of the door. Jivika startled with the turbulence came out of her trance and rushed towards the door. Aadi had firmly caught hold of the steward and seeing that the steward also jumped out. Jivika held him but got dragged out of the plane due to the force of the wind. Aadi’s mind started thinking of ways for both of them to land safely. Aadi checked and on confirming that the steward who had jumped with him did not have any parachute, kicked him and separated from him. Aadi and Jivika moved towards each other. They looked up and saw the aeroplane door had been shut and it was now stable. They now prayed for their own safe landing.

  Holding Jivika around her waist Aadi asked her ‘Remove my suit.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Just, do as I say.’

  Jivika removed his blazer, tie and shirt. All this while he had held her, lest they separate in air again.

  Once the shirt was removed Jivika said ‘Ohh, this!’

  Jivika now caught Aadi around his waist and he took his hands backwards. He pulled up a wooden cylinder from a harness on his back, till the tip was few inches above his head. The cylinder was still harnessed to his back. He pressed a button and two blades sprung up from the sides and the top half of the cylinder consisting of the blades started spinning around like a fan. It was a compact flyer meant for a single person. One could easily fly like a bird with the help of the flyer but they were two not one. Even if they were able to safely land, it would be good enough. Their descent slowed down comparatively but still the speed was very fast. Impact at this speed could be fatal. When they were at a height of three thousand feet, Aadi pressed another button and a small parachute popped out from the top cylinder of the flyer. The parachute was extremely small, that could fit in the small cavity of the wooden cylinder and its purpose was only to avoid hard landing for a single person. FOR A SINGLE PERSON. Aadi asked Jivika to turn around. So instead of facing each other, they were now facing in the same direction. Aadi said ‘Utilize the reaction force, bounce back as soon as your feet touch the ground and when you hit the ground second time, start running in the forward direction.’

  Getting the timing right for jumping back was extremely critical. Any error meant breaking of knees and limbs. Their feet touched the ground and before they could feel the jerk in the body they pushed back and went two to three feet high against gravity. This time when they landed the impact was much slower and as decided they ran in the forward direction. After running for a fifty odd metres confirming they had landed safely, they gave each other a hi-fi and came to a stop. Aadi removed his harness and got rid of the flyer. They thanked God for their safe landing and sat down there itself on the fields, catching their breath. They saw the body of the steward laying few metres away from where they had landed. Once their breath was normal, Aadi started his phone and called Avanish.

  ‘Chief, hope you are all right?’ asked Avanish.

  ‘Yes, we both are,’ replied Aadi.

  ‘Great. We have the update from the pilot. Things are under control in flight. Ritu, Dhara and all guests are fine. The entire staff and stewards of the wedding planner company who had arranged this event have been detained and locked in washrooms. The flight is making an emergency landing at the nearest airport. Got your location, reaching there in fifteen minutes.’

  ‘Aadi, I know why you brought me for this wedding. I got the message and let me assure you, nothing is more important to me than our mission. Neither you nor I. My person
al life is secondary,’ said Jivika.

  ‘Well, I do not want you to just give up on me but I want you to move on in life,’ was Aadi’s reply.

  ‘Let me complete Aadi. Secondary does not mean I neglect my life. I have decided to move on, like Mihir. Had given you a chance but poor you, you lost the opportunity. Ha Ha. By next year I will settle down with a partner who will love me as much as I love him. You or Ritu need not have any insecure feeling henceforth from my side. But one thing, I am definitely not getting married in the air.’

  ‘Good decision Jivika.’ And they both burst out laughing.

  They chatted for some more time and shortly Avanish reached the place. He jumped out of the chopper even before it landed and ran towards both of them. He hugged both of them together and tears started flowing out of his eyes. The three friends lay in an embrace for quite some time all the while Aadi and Jivika trying to console Avanish. He had taken up the responsibility of Aadi’s security and had failed. The thought of losing Aadi and Jivika and that too because of his failure was too big a guilt even for a mighty Avanish.

  Finally, they were able to calm him. Avanish threw the broken body parts of the steward in the chopper. Jivika, Aadi and Avanish all boarded the chopper and flew off.

  Chapter 26

  THE RAIDS

  All the passengers in the flight were safely brought back but none allowed to leave till each one of them had been questioned. Using a lie detector on Aadi’s friends would not have looked good hence Samir questioned each of the guests and staff totalling over a hundred, individually. None of the guests, pilots, Mihir or his bride had any kind of involvement in the attack. Mihir had been sold the idea of a wedding in the air by the wedding planner. It was the planner and his staffs who were big fans of Rocky Zutshi and had masterminded this attack. One of them was already dead in the jump from the aircraft and the other six were now in front of Avanish, in his interrogation chamber.

 

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