‘I will.’
Gailo stepped into Jeet Singh’s hovel.
He looked thinner, but was in a cheerful mood. Four months ago, back in January, he was badly thrashed not once but twice, both times due to Jeet Singh. First a mobster named Bada Batata beat him black and blue to get Jeet Singh’s address. Then, before he could recover and flee the city on Jeet Singh’s advice, he was held by Inspector Govilkar, who beat him so badly in Tardeo police station that even Gailo’s angels cried for mercy. He agreed to give in writing that he had earlier given a wrong statement in court to save Jeet Singh, whom he had rightfully identified in the identification parade as an accused in the Super Self-service Store robbery. Govilkar might have killed him in the police station had he not agreed to sign that statement. But later dcp Pradhan, Govilkar’s senior officer, had himself destroyed the statement for God knows what reasons, and hostile witness Gailo was exonerated of all charges, while Jeet Singh was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Gailo was a taxi driver; he lived in a chawl in Jambuwadi, Dhobi Talao with a bunch of his friends and fellow taxi-drivers.
‘Gailo!’ Jeet Singh said happily. ‘Come inside. Why are you standing at the door?’
‘Coming,’ said Gailo with a smile.
‘How come you are here?’
‘I wanted to meet you. When I reached that new flat of yours at Kalba Devi in Vithalwadi, it was locked. I asked the neighbours and somebody told me that you had said you were going to your old place and did not say when you were going to return. So I thought maybe I should try this place.’
‘You thought right. I am here, am I not?’
‘Yes, you are.’
‘Now tell me, how are you?’
‘All fit, by the grace of God Almighty and the active help of Jeet Singh, the lockmaster.’
‘That’s nice. But you were not in Mumbai the last two weeks. I met your driver friend Shamshi, I met Abdi also, both of them said you were out somewhere. But nobody knew where you were and why. So, where were you?’
‘I was on a long haul,’ Gailo said with pride, ‘I was driving an all-India permit taxi, showing Maharashtra to a foreign couple. I was out only for twelve days, not two weeks.’
‘But, Gailo, you don’t have an all-India permit taxi.’
‘No, I don’t. I got it from another driver friend, gave him my local taxi. It was a whirlwind tour; drove day and night. About 5000 kilometres in twelve days. Saved about twenty big Gandhis after giving some thank-you amount to the taxi owner as well. And do you know how much the couple gave me as a tip while parting?’
‘How much?’
‘Five thousand!’
‘Great. So currently our Gailo has 25,000 bucks in his pocket?’
‘No, Jeete, this sad story is the reason why I have come here.’
‘What sad story?’
‘I am coming to that. That’s why I have come here, to tell you the story. But first you tell me, what are you doing in Chinchpokli? Why are you resting on your ass here?’
‘Because from now on I am going to live here.’
‘What? What did you say?’
‘This is my home now, as it used to be for years.’
‘You don’t say! And what about that fancy flat in Kalba Devi?’
‘That is rented. This place is my own. This month’s rent of that flat is paid, so I will continue visiting it for some time. But by the end of the month, I will move here permanently.’
‘But why?’
‘The rent is 22,000. I don’t want to spend that much on rent. I want to have some savings.’
‘You are pulling my leg, right?’
‘Forget about it. Now, tell me your sad story. How did you lose those twenty-five biggies you earned?’
‘It’s a long story, Jeete.’
‘I have all the time in the world. You must too, or you wouldn’t be here.’
‘ok, listen.’ Gailo paused for a moment, thought over as if to decide where to begin, and then started speaking in a low, steady voice: ‘That D’Costa, my friend and fellow taxi-driver, he took me to a card game the day before yesterday …’
‘What? Have you started gambling?’
‘Oh no, nothing like that. But the recently earned 25,000 bucks were burning a hole in my pocket. I got carried away. And it was D’Costa who came up with the idea, so I thought I’d risk half the amount.’
‘And you went ahead?’
‘Yes, that’s how the story got sad.’
‘You lost half the money?’
‘No, all of it.’
‘But you just said you bet only half the amount?’
‘Oh, I did not lose it there. I did not lose it in the game. But later, something else happened.’
‘Bloody hell, you can’t speak straight, can you?’
‘And you can’t listen without interrupting.’
‘Sorry, I won’t interrupt you again. But tell me one thing first.’
‘What?’
‘Where was the game being held?’
‘In Panvel. At a motor garage that usually closes by six in the evening. There was a room above it, which could be reached by a circular iron staircase in the back, just like a fire escape. It was a big room, nice and comfortable. A carpet this thick on the floor. Air-conditioning and the works.’
‘How many people were there?’
‘Seven, but only six were playing. Later I came to know that the seventh person was the organizer. He collected ten per cent of the win, which was the security.’
‘ok, go ahead.’
‘Hmm … so there were already six players there and when D’Costa and I joined the game, it became eight.’
‘D’Costa played as well?’
‘Only for ten minutes, then he left.’
‘Where did he go?’
‘I don’t know. I didn’t see him there after ten minutes.’
‘So he was a pusher. It was his job to bring people to the game who had money, and who could be fooled easily.’
‘Jeete, he is my friend, my fellow driver, my brother in faith. How could he do that? How could he cheat me?’
‘This is Kalyug, you never know.’
‘You are right. But that isn’t where I was cheated. I bloody won three lakhs there.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, by the grace of God I won. My luck was on fire that day. I won in the very first game and I kept on winning till the end.’
‘Strange, what was the game?’
‘Teen Patti.’
‘How long did it last?’
‘I don’t know. I wound up around two. I got up at 1.30 when I was up by three peti, but then the other fellows in the game said it was wrong to pull out abruptly.’
‘So what was their point? That one must give prior notice before leaving?’
‘Yes, something like that. They said that suddenly pulling out of the game was wrong, and I must give them a chance to recover their loss.’
‘And then?’
‘I gave them a chance. And also gave them half-an-hour’s notice, that I would call it quits at 2 a.m.’
‘Then?’
‘I won 75,000 more in those thirty minutes.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, plus I had my own 25,000 with me. At 2 a.m., I left the place with four peti.’
‘Gailo, you made four peti there. Is this a sad story or a glad story?’
‘It’s a sad story. I am coming to that part now. I had a suitcase in the taxi just half full of my clothes. So I put the money in that suitcase, placed it in the boot and left. I took the Sion-Panvel highway back like I had on my way to the game. I crossed Thane creek over onto a long desolate stretch. And that’s where they robbed me.’
‘What?’
‘A big car came up from behind, with two people in it. Both had hats on and their faces were covered with black hankies so that only their eyes were visible. First they fired a shot to intimidate me, then intercepted my taxi by blocking my way. I had to stop the
taxi and within seconds they took hold of me. The one with the gun dug it into my temple and said he would put a bullet in it if I didn’t tell him where the money was. So I had to tell him. His partner took the suitcase out of the boot and then both of them fled in their car. I sat there for some time, thinking like an idiot that it was a nightmare that would end soon. But it was not a nightmare, it was for real.’
‘So this is our Gailo’s sad story.’
‘Yes.’
‘Who were those people?’
‘Robbers.’
‘So they were, but how come they knew you had money?’
‘I don’t know how, but they definitely knew it. Their modus operandi itself suggested that they had precise information.’
‘Had it been a routine road hold-up, they would have searched your pockets, snatched your wallet, your gold chain with the gold cross and ring, etc. Only then would they have asked whether there was any more money in the taxi.’
‘Exactly! Jeete, when I realized that it was no bloody dream, I immediately had the same thought. I bloody left the game and within minutes some robbers turned up and looted me.’
‘Somebody from the game made a call to somebody somewhere that you had four lakhs, hence the hold-up.’
Gailo was already shaking his head.
‘Don’t you think it is possible?’ Jeet Singh asked.
‘It is possible. But this is not how things happened.’
‘How could you know?’
‘I know, by the grace of God Almighty.’
‘What do you know?’
‘Jeete, I identified the man with the gun.’
‘You said his face was covered and he had a hat on …’
‘Yes, but still I identified him.’
‘Surprising, but how?’
‘Identification is not made just by face. There are other ways too.’
‘Be specific.’
‘The tip of the gunman’s middle finger in his right hand was missing.’
‘But was he not holding the gun in that hand?’
‘No, the gun was in his left hand. He was left-handed. He kept his right fist clenched so that I could not see the middle finger. But when he opened the door of taxi to get out, I saw his right hand. Bloody one-third of the middle finger was missing.’
‘He was left-handed, and the tip of one of his fingers in the right hand was missing, that’s why you could identify him without seeing his face?’
‘Yes, that’s what I am trying to say.’
‘Who was he?’
‘The organizer of the game.’
‘Oh! And the second one?’
‘He could be anybody. He was the driver. He drove the man’s car.’
‘Hmm. So you were robbed by that organizer?’
‘Yes, nobody else could have known so early that I had that much money.’
‘Why do you think he did that?’
‘Because of jealousy. Some new fellow comes to his game, makes big money and leaves; he could not digest that. He could not digest that a bloody taxi driver came and made so much money in his game. He thought snatching it back from me was easy. And how very correct he was in thinking that!’
‘Hmm … so this is your sad story?’
‘Yes, this is it. My bloody four peti …’
‘Your bloody 25,000,’ Jeet Singh said with a grin.
‘What … what did you say?’
‘Gailo, your own money was only 25,000 rupees. The rest of it came in a flash and went accordingly. You mustn’t regret it.’
‘You are right there, but …’
‘And as far as the 25,000 is concerned, I am ready to give it to you.’
‘Why you?’
‘Am I not your brother? As a brother, I’ll compensate you for your loss.’
‘For that I am thankful from the core of my heart. But Jeete, did I come here for that?’
‘You have something else in mind?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Then I am sorry to have made this offer. Go ahead, I am listening.’
‘Jeete, I spent all of yesterday gathering information about that organizer. I talked to taxi drivers, underworld informers, even bribed a constable in Panvel police station. All these efforts brought some results. I finally know who that fellow is.’
‘Who is he?’
‘His name is Mangesh Gable, and organizing the card game is not his real line of business. I got hold of one of his close acquaintances, who told me that organizing such games was a casual thing which he managed for his close friends on their demand.’
‘What is his real business?’
‘I am coming to that. But first let me tell you that yesterday I visited the site of that card game again.’
‘Gailo, you took quite a risk!’
‘I went there with D’Costa and Abdi with such an arrangement that had there been a problem, one of them would have informed the police.’
‘Oh!’
‘Yesterday a man with a gun was sitting by the back stairs, guarding the place. When we told him we wanted to go to the game, he said what game. When we told him we had been there the day before as well, the bastard still said what game. When I told him Mangesh Gable’s game, he said there was no person of that name there. I asked him to let me go up and see for myself what was going on, and he said the room upstairs was locked. And when D’Costa asked him what was he doing there if the place was locked, he said it was none of our business.’
‘It means that Gable expected you to visit.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
‘Maybe the game was moved, or even if it was running, you were not to be allowed there.’
‘But why? I know who robbed me, but how can they know I had identified him?’
‘You’re right. Maybe he was taking no chances.’
‘I don’t know what he did but my visit there wasn’t fruitful.’
‘What fruit were you expecting? Had he been there, would you have caught him by the neck and asked him to give you back your money?’
‘Jeete, had I been so daring, I would not have been robbed.’
‘Then what could you have done by going there again?’
‘I wanted to see how he would react when he saw me there.’
‘And what purpose would that have served?’
‘It would have confirmed that he was the person who had robbed me.’
‘How come?’
‘I had a plan.’
‘What plan?’
‘Had I met him there, I would have dropped a hint.’
‘What hint? That you knew he was the person who robbed you?’
‘Yes. And that I knew what his real business was.’
‘What’s his real business?’
‘He is a sort of a fence.’
‘Sort of, not actual fence?’
‘No.’
‘What is his real business then?’
‘Jeete, he acts as a sort of commission agent between the guys who buy and sell smuggled goods. A go-between, you know.’
‘That’s a fence, isn’t it?’
‘No. A fence is a person who buys stolen goods at throwaway prices and then searches for a customer who can buy them at a far greater price. This man is an organizer. He never handles the goods, never touches them. He only organizes the transfer of goods from this person to that for a cut. He never handles the money paid by one party to the other for the goods. Nor does he handle the goods. Do you understand?’
‘I don’t, but what I do understand, Gailo, is that had you been successful, then D’Costa would have collected only your corpse from there. Or probably been turned into one himself.’
‘I took precautions.’
‘What precautions?’
‘Have you forgotten that Abdi was also with us? Had something bad happened, Abdi would have called the police and the constable I bribed—Daya Khandse—would have helped bail us out of the situation.’
‘All these fancy precautions would not ha
ve worked, Gailo. It was good that you did not come across Mangesh Gable there. Otherwise you would have met a nasty end. And D’Costa and Abdi too.’
‘You are trying to scare me.’
‘One must be scared when times are bad.’
‘Come on, Jeete, why should I be scared? My friends are with me. My special friend Jeet Singh taala-chaabi is with me. Jesus is with me, no?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good! Now let me speak.’
‘Go ahead, I’m listening.’
‘First let me explain the special, fancy work which this Mangesh Gable usually does. Jeete, what I came to know about his set-up suggests that he organizes the transfer of only goods that don’t occupy much space but are high-priced … that may be accommodated in one briefcase but cost crores. Now tell me, what do you think could be such goods?’
‘You tell me.’
‘Diamonds, high-end mobile phones, watches, narcotics!’
‘Even narcotics?’
‘Especially narcotics. Jeete. One kilogram of ninety-nine per cent pure, uncut, number four Tiger brand heroin costs one crore rupees. Even the wholesale rate is somewhere between thirty and forty lakhs. If one fills a briefcase with just fifteen kg of it, then the briefcase is worth five crores. One pill of Ecstasy is sold for six hundred rupees in retail. Now imagine how many pills could be packed in a normal sized briefcase! Then there is cocaine, foxy, lsd, ghb … all of them are expensive drugs.’
‘Gailo, you seem to know a lot about drugs!’
‘A similarly attractive item for smugglers is the Swiss watch. One watch costs bloody two lakhs to five lakhs. Just imagine how many of them can be put in one briefcase!’
Jeet Singh nodded.
‘Then there are high-end mobiles. I have heard that there is a mobile phone called Vertu, which alone costs five crore. Even a regular high-class phone is no less than forty thousand these days. Fill one bloody briefcase and it is worth crores of rupees … easy to carry, easy to handle. And then there are diamonds. Just one pouch of diamonds is worth crores. Now imagine, how many such pouches could be accommodated in a briefcase?’
‘You are emphasizing a lot on a briefcase. Why so?’
‘Because a briefcase is the medium of exchange in every deal. The goods are sent in a briefcase, and the payment too is made through it.’
‘How can a payment worth crores be made through a briefcase?’
The Colaba Conspiracy Page 2