by Gagan Saini
“Simar, I can’t talk, it’s a chaos here.” He was busy helping wounded people.
“I know, but there is something very important which you should know. There were a few people who knew that explosion was about to happen, and they left just before that. I am sending a photo of one on your phone, just check it out.”
He checked the phone and saw the photo.
“I know this policeman. I am going to find him, the bomb squad has cleared the premises and there are many people coming to help, I guess I can go.” He hung up the call and dialed the number of Mr. Sinha.
Zahid sent the same photo to Mr. Sinha and told him everything. Then he called the head office to inquire about the details of that policeman. He reached the address given by the headquarters. He was about to knock, the door opened by itself. It was that policeman, he was about to leave with a suitcase in his hand. When he saw Zahid, he hit Zahid with the suitcase and started running. Zahid chased him. After running for a while, he caught him. After a couple of punches, he stopped struggling. He folded his hands, cried, and apologized.
Zahid asked, “Why are you apologizing? Where were you going and why did you run away just before the explosion?”
“I will tell you everything, please spare me.”
“So, tell me, what is all this happening?” Zahid asked him impatiently.
“A few weeks back I was told by one of my colleagues about something. He was contacted by some people who offered a huge sum of money. He told me that I could get a lot of money too.”
“Why did they offer money?”
“I don’t know sir. I got one million rupees the very next day. In return, I had to give them my mobile number and wait for instructions. Today we got the message to run away from that place and there will be an explosion, don’t talk to anyone about it.”
“Who else is with you?”
“There are so many Sir; they chose one policeman from each police station and bribed him. They asked him about other policemen in that particular police station. The ones with greedy nature are given a huge sum of money, and those who do not have such nature are not approached at all.”
“It means those got killed in the explosion were honest officers?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” he answered sobbing. Zahid shook his head with disappointment. He took the phone from the man and checked the number of the message he received. But this was a blocked number.
Zahid called Simar to tell all this. While he talked on the phone, the man snatched Zahid’s gun and shot himself in the forehead. Zahid was shocked. He tried to ask him more, but he died instantly.
Simar heard the gunshot over the phone; she asked, “Zahid, what just happened?”
It took a little while for Zahid to get himself out of the shock. Then he told Simar what just happened. Simar told him, her worry, “Zahid, I can feel something bad is going to happen.”
“This was going to happen, so many people died already. Many honest police officers died what else could happen.” Then he hung up the phone.
He rang Mr. Sinha on his mobile. He was on the way with Mr. Sharma to the site of the blast to analyze the extent of the damage. He started to tell the whole story. As they spoke over the phone their car stopped. He put Zahid on hold and asked the driver, “What happened driver?”
“Sir the car stopped by itself; there must be something wrong with the engine I have to look.”
“Okay, be fast.” The driver stepped out of the car.
“You go and help him; if you guys can’t fix it, call another ride.” He said to the bodyguard sitting on the passenger seat at the front.
“I will have a look as well. I have good knowledge of cars.” Sharma said and stepped out of the car as well.
He resumed speaking to Zahid. “Sorry, Zahid there is something wrong with the car.”
“Sir, our most of the honest officers are dead. We should not trust anyone at this stage.”
“Don’t worry Zahid, these are my trustworthy men, moreover Sharma is with me as well.”
“Sharma Sir is also with you?”
“Yes, he is having a look at the car’s engine as well.”
“Sir, can you see them?”
“No, the bonnet of the car is up.”
“Sir, do you have your gun with you.”
Sinha checked his jacket’s pocket. “I have it Zahid, stop being paranoid.”
As soon as he said that he heard two gunshots. He saw Sharma falling on the ground. He put his phone in the pocket and took out the gun. It was his driver who shot Sharma. He took the machine gun of from the dead bodyguard and started firing at the car randomly where Sinha was sitting. After shooting for a while he realized Sinha wasn’t there in the car. He heard one voice from behind, “I am here!”
As soon as he turned around, Sinha shot him in the head; the man fell on the road. Sinha ran to Sharma and shook him. He was dead and so was the bodyguard. He took his phone out.
“Zahid, you were right, my own driver tried to kill me.”
“Are you alright Sir?”
“Yes, I am okay, but Mr. Sharma and my bodyguard is dead.”
As they spoke, Sinha lowered the bonnet and put Sharma’s body in the boot. Then he sat in the driving seat and started the car, it started with no problem. He left the scene quickly.
“What is happening, fire, blast, bribing policemen, attack on me?”
“Sir, I think all these things are interrelated, we should stick together until all this has been sorted out.”
“Yes, meet me in a coffee shop near your home.”
“Why don’t you come to my place, Sir?”
“Zahid, we don’t know who is following us, I am very sure that we were monitored. I am sure there must be someone waiting for us outside our homes.”
“Sir, get your family with you as we don’t know how secure your house is.”
“Thanks, Zahid you mentioned it.” After talking to Zahid, he called his wife.
He asked her to get out of the house from the back door without telling anyone. She was an intelligent lady. She understood the seriousness of the situation. She ran away from the back door of the house with her daughter and hired an auto rickshaw.
The time when Sinha was attacked, some other major events were taking place in another corner of the city. Those trucks entering the city from different directions were headed to the parliament. A few trucks from the city joined the group. When they came near to the parliament, the security personnel stopped the trucks. In the first truck, Sam sat patiently on the passenger seat. The security man came to the driver, he asked the purpose of the visit and what was in the trucks.
He said he was only a driver and talk to the boss, he pointed to the seat next to him. The security man moved to his side of the window and repeated the question. Sam did not say anything, he had a gun ready with a silencer on it. He shot the man twice in the chest, and the security man died instantly. This grabbed the attention of rest of security personnel there. They were five in number. They pointed the gun towards the first truck, but before they could do anything, two security guards among themselves killed the rest of the three. After that, one security man gave a thumbs up to Sam.
Sam in the first truck smiled and informed the other trucks behind him over the walkie-talkie, “It’s all clear, move on.”
About ten to fifteen trucks headed towards the parliament. The same thing happened at the next two check posts. Some security persons killed other colleagues and let the trucks go. Now the trucks were near the main entrance of the parliament.
Sam took walkie-talkie out and said to someone, “You are on!”
A big vehicle about the size of a truck came forward; the back of the truck was covered with a brown cloth-like covering. The driver reversed the truck and moved it opposite the main big gate of the parliament. The security guards ale
rted the main office for some unusual activity at the gate. The one who answered the call did not tell anybody else, he kept on enjoying his Pepsi.
Now the back of the vehicle was facing the gate. The driver of that vehicle pushed a button, which released the cloth. The releasing of the cloth revealed a big and sophisticated cannon. Other trucks had lined up already. The driver took the walkie-talkie and said, “I am ready.” Sam replied, “Let’s do it.”
The driver pressed another button. The gun unfolded itself and its barrel pointed towards the gate.
Before the security guards could do anything, the big gun started firing. The firing was very powerful, continuous and sudden. All the members of gate security were killed. Once the security guards were slaughtered, the gun changed its barrel to a bigger one. It started bombing the gate.
The gate was very strong and bulletproof, but it couldn’t stand against the cannon for long. The third blow broke the gate from hinges and it fell a few meters away. This vehicle moved in the parliament. It bombed two check posts inside as soon as it entered. Policemen and other security guards started firing at the vehicle. The firing did not affect the driver because of the bulletproof compartment.
He changed the barrel again. He saw the positions of the people firing at him through a camera mounted on the gun and started firing. The security did not have any answer to this brutal gun. The body parts of the guards were flying in the air in no time. The driver told others that it was clear, and they could move in. The trucks started to enter the premises.
The trucks divided into two groups. As the parliament is circular in shape, half the group covered the left semi-circle and the other half covered the right semi-circle of the building. A couple of trucks were parked at the gate to seal the entrance. In the center, they parked the truck with the canon facing the barrel towards the entrance. Fully armed men took their position in the truck facing outside and at the check post.
This whole process was well planned. Everyone knew their job. From the trucks, many armed men came out. Among them, there were the masterminds of all this; those four friends – Sam, Junaid, Rana, and Rohit. They were dressed up in nice business suits. By now the leaders inside knew something was wrong outside. Before they could analyze the whole situation, the four friends and another gunman came inside, all wore masks on their faces. They surrounded the seating area.
The leaders were making a lot of noise because they were confused about what was going on. The four of them walked very fast and reached the chairman’s seat. The guard tried to stop them; Rana shot him in cold blood. Rana asked the speaker to go down and sit with other leaders. Rohit came closer to the microphone and said, “The whole parliament is under our control now. Please cooperate with us otherwise, you will be killed.”
One leader stood up and said, “Who are you? We cannot be bullied, we are representatives of the people.” Rohit looked at one of his gunmen, who shot that leader on the back of his head. The leader fell on the table in front and all the papers got drenched with his blood.
Rohit said, “When I said you will be killed, I wasn’t joking. Is there anyone who cannot be bullied or who cannot sit quietly?” Everyone was quite now. There was a pin drop silence in the house. Then Prime minister raised his hand.
“Yes Mr. Prime Minister,” said Junaid. The Prime Minister was a nice-looking gentleman in his mid-fifties, he wore a crisp white kurta-pajama. He stood in his place and asked, “Who are you kids and what is this all about?”
“We are the common people of your country and we have some demands.”
“This is not the way of putting your demands.”
They all laughed, “Oh really?!” Rana said. “Do you guys really listen to the common people in your country?
“Yes, we do,” the Prime Minister said.
“If it is like that, then why a common man has to take a step as we did?”
“What are your demands, by the way,” the Prime Minister asked with curiosity.
Rohit said, “We want independence. This fight is for independence.”
“India is already independent, kids.”
Rohit said, “Do you really think India is independent? We are enslaved by this dirty politics. We want to get rid of bad leaders and bad influences.” All leaders got stunned as if they knew they are going to die tonight.
At the same time as this all drama was going on in the house, the other men from the trucks were busy in their work. Some unloaded huge boxes from trucks. Those who were not unloading started patrolling around the parliament. They eliminated anybody they found with guns. Normal workers were allowed to run away but the canteen workers were held back. Two gunmen were given the permanent duty at canteen to make sure everyone gets to eat. The parliament has a huge canteen so feeding so many people wasn’t a problem and the canteen staff didn’t have any choice anyway. Four heavy boxes were taken to the roof. These were the parts of Hydra 7. Three men started assembling that on the roof.
A couple of snipers took positions on the roof as well, one at the front and one at the rear end of the building. Everything happened very fast and in a very well-planned manner. Soon a few more trucks came. They were redirected towards the kitchen. It had food supplies which they stocked weeks before. Most of the trucks were unloaded. Now they had tons of weapons, explosives, and food materials. They were ready for the war. That was not all, they had their heavily armed men on the city entrance.
Nobody was allowed in or out of the city. Which meant not only the parliament but the whole city was under cease. Till now this news was not very public.
Mr. Sinha met Zahid at the cafe and they started a discussion about what was going on. Before they could come to some conclusion, the TV in the cafe drew everyone’s attention. It was Rohit with the mask on the TV, live from parliament. The parliament has already got a live telecast system, they just needed some engineers to do what they wanted. They had skills but they hired many engineers with them who were paid huge sums of money. So, the broadcast started. People were surprised who was this sitting on the speaker’s chair.
He started speaking, “Welcome to the revolution! Indian people, we are here to give you independence from these corrupt leaders. These leaders have sucked our blood for very long but not anymore. We got independence in 1947 from the British and we became slaves of these greedy politicians and their dirty politics. We are here to change the history. We’ve got the parliament in control and all the leaders are at our gunpoint.” The camera showed the men with guns pointed to the leaders and all the leaders sitting scared. It was only Rohit speaking, the rest of the three friends did not come in front of the camera.
Rohit continued, “If any police, army, air force or anybody tries to come near the parliament house your beloved Prime Minister will be killed in front of your eyes.” The camera showed the Prime Minister sitting there. “And one more thing, we want all the streets of the city to be empty. Stop whatever you are doing and go to your homes; however, hospital staff, doctors, and nurses will stay in hospitals. You have one hour to reach the home. After that, we are going to shut down the mobile, landline phones, trains, buses and the broadcast of all TV signals. We will be patrolling the streets soon; if we see anyone in the streets, will kill them on the spot!”
The broadcast stopped. It left the whole country stunned. People in the city started running here and there. Everyone wanted to go to their homes within an hour. Even the cafe where Zahid and Sinha were sitting; the owner asked everyone to leave and he started to close down everything. When Zahid and Sinha came out, they saw people had gone mad.
People were running here and there, everyone wanted to save their lives. Zahid received a call from Simar, “Did you see that?”
“Yes, it is a disaster.”
“Come to our control room we need to plan something.”
“But Simar, Mr. Sinha is with me”.
Sinha did not hear
that because he was making sure on the phone that his family was safe.
“That’s all right this is the crisis time and I can sacrifice my secret for the country.”
Once they both finished talking on phone, Sinha brought his car near Zahid and asked him to get inside. Zahid hung up the phone with Simar and got into the car. Zahid asked, “Sir, is your family safe?”
“Yes, they are at my friend’s house.” On the way, they found the traffic was very congested. They could not go further. He reversed the car and on the way, they stopped one biker and exchanged Sinha’s car with his bike. This time Zahid drove the bike.
“Where we are going Zahid?”
“You will know soon, Sir.”
On their way, they saw total chaos in the city. Sinha called his office, nobody answered the call. The staff might have run away to their houses or they could have accepted the bribes. Law and order in the city just stumbled.
All over the country, it was a matter of concern because the rebels had control of the capital of the country. All defense forces came into action. The President was on a foreign tour. He was called back urgently. All defense forces chiefs had a meeting remotely with the President from the Mumbai headquarters. They could not let the capital of the country under the rebels for long.
So, the decision was made to attack from the air as well as the ground. The army headed towards Delhi. They could not just blow the whole parliament with jet planes, so they opted to go with fighter helicopters. A few army vehicles approached the city. The first few were blown away by the mines installed by the rebels. The rebels quickly informed their chiefs in the parliament that the army attacked them.
Soon they saw helicopters progressing towards them. The helicopter staff was aiming for the rebels on the gate and other patrolling men, but they did not know that the rebels had prepared for that as well. Hydra was installed already on the roof and it got rid of one helicopter within seconds. Another helicopter’s pilot was shot dead by a sniper on the roof and the helicopter crashed just outside the parliament. The broadcast started again. This time Junaid was on air.