The Crimson Conspiracy

by David Singh

  Then he heard the murmur - many people talking together. They all had been looking at him over their tea cups in surprise. Malwanker swore under his breath.

  There were ten security men having evening tea with their guns kept beside them.

  ?

  'What an unbelievable jackpot Mr. Malwanker!' Ramdas said with a cunning smile.

  Malwanker was sitting in a swivel office chair with his hands tied behind. His legs, however, were free. The Japanese - Mr. Kiku was convinced by MBA guy that the missing labourer had been caught trying burgling into the building. Kiku, concerned more about the meeting with his staff, didn't bother much. Now, Malwanker, Ramdas and Om Prakash, were in a huge anteroom filled only with furniture and cardboard cartons. Both Ramdas and Om Prakash didn't and couldn't know that before being tied up, Malwanker had touched his locket just once, pressing a tiny pin sized button that started the sophisticated pin hole video cam equipped with highly sensitive mono-microphone for continuous recording of next four hours.

  'How do you know me?' Malwanker was really surprised.

  'Because, I know your boss Shetty and because I know what you have been up to for past months.' Ramdas bent forward and replied looking straight into his eyes savouring the look of utter surprise and in all oblivion, giving a nice, clear close up to the video cam.

  What disturbed him a little was the absence of fear in cop's eyes and instead, a mocking smile displayed over his lips.

  'What I've heard is the last piece of evidence I need to nail you Ramdas. How come I have become a threat to you all?'

  'Now since you are going to be buried alive in these mines somewhere, there is no harm telling you the truth. Who knows later your ghost haunts the place and this bastard Kiku closes down here. Ha ha ha ha ha.'

  Om Prakash too displayed his tobacco ridden denture, joining Ramdas in his sick joke. Malwanker kept quiet.

  'All your reports are in Majumdar's favour. And we believe that because we know the truth.' Ramdas said.

  'Then why did they let me execute this operation at all?'

  'Because you had escalated Commandant Shetty in getting the approval for your op. You were so hell bent for this covert op that you got it approved from the Ministry but luckily, your findings, by procedure, have landed in Shetty's hands and he is our man.'

  'Who is your real dad? Why doesn't he want the word out that Bhanu Majumdar is not the real culprit? And,' staring hard at Ramdas, expecting to catch him off guard, Malwanker threw the dice of wild guess, 'Rajanna, your puppet, is aspiring to become the undisputed controller of this area. Where is he hiding? In this building itself?'

  Ramdas's smile faded off for a fraction of a moment then he quickly recovered. 'Enough chat super cop! Do us just one favour before dying.'

  'Tell you where have I hidden all the real evidence?' Malwanker mocked, 'what a joke! Huh!'

  'Look here Malwanker,' Ramdas spoke icily, 'I go see off Kiku. You have fifteen minutes to think over. After that we will break both your shin bones, then ribs. Slowly, we will break or damage some part of your body but you will stay alive. No one can stand pain for ever. Finally everyone speaks. No exceptions. These fifteen minutes you take to decide doing it without any pain and die peacefully. I promise, after your death people will remember you as a great martyr. Om Prakash, watch him.' Then the broker turned away and left the room.

  Om Prakash locked the room from inside, pulled a chair a few feet away from Malwanker, sat down and rested his loaded carbine in his lap looking impassively at the captive who was thinking furiously. ?

  There was no time. Fifteen minutes could be ten or five.

  'You know Om Prakash bhai (bro), who you are working for?' he addressed Om Prakash.

  'Crystal Securities. They pay my salary and I stay alive here by being their faithful. I have a family including a wife and two children. I am happy with my work and salary. They have paid me well and extra in this posting and there is nothing you can do for me so keep your mouth shut and think over the decision you have to make before boss returns.' Om Prakash closed all the gates of hope for any persuasions and negotiations and looked off the window.

  Malwanker held his breath and, with all his might, pressed the back of the delicate chair, sticking his feet below the stalk of the chair. With little more effort he got successful. The backbone of the chair gave up with a loud crack and chair toppled back on the floor taking Malwanker down with itself.

  Om Prakash looked in his direction and swore.

  Malwanker's back had hit the floor with a faint “thud”. Lying there on the floor he shouted at Om Prakash. 'What third class chairs your boss has got for his business partner? Now come over and get me up, would you?.'

  Om Prakash got up. Malwanker took a silent sigh of respite. Om Prakash reached his certain death and rested his carbine beside a nearby carton. Then he bent down to straighten the captive who was far heavier than him. When Malwanker noticed that Om Prakash was completely engrossed in mustering all his strength to straighten him up, he slowly brought his legs up and, before the poor guard could sense the danger, chocked his neck in a deadly scissor grip. Last thing Om Prakash could manage to do was cringe in unbearable pain before, with a little jerk and almost no noise, his neck turned to a seemingly impossible angle in Malwanker's deadly vice – Thyroid Cartilage above Trachea snapped and C1, C2 and C3 vertebrae dislodged, making him very much dead.

  He pulled out his tied hands off the broken backbone of the chair and looked around. Of several glass windows in the room he checked out the first one near the closed door. His slippers were not enough. He somehow managed to take off one of dead man's shoes and shattered the window glass. Slowly and carefully he pulled out a big chunk of broken glass off the window frame and knelt down. He gripped the glass-piece between his heels and slowly began rubbing the nylon rope around his wrists over the sharp edge. It took him whole six minutes to free his hands. He opened the window and paused to ponder. Then he left that window opened, picked up the carbine and radio and reached to the window in the far corner of the opposite wall finding what he was hoping for. The lower latch of that window was a bit loose. He opened that window, climbed out to the narrow parapet and adjusted the lower loose latch in its straight position.

  Then he closed the window panes together from outside with a little force. The loose latch fell down and locked in its position closing the window from inside. Now they will be fooled into thinking that their captive had went off through the window near the door while actually he had escaped in the exactly opposite direction. This would buy him some time to escape outside the premises.

  ?

  After several bangings on the door and shouting over his voice, when Ramdas got no response from outside, he spoke in his radio, 'rescue! scatter around. I suspect the captive has escaped from top floor. Send two men here. Door is locked from inside.'

  The two men took another couple of minutes to reach. When they broke in, they found Om Prakash lying dead on the floor, his radio and carbine missing.

  Again he barked into the radio, containing his rage, 'careful! He is armed and listening to us. I need him alive but he will not hesitate to kill.'

  Stamping the floor below his feet, he rushed towards the control room.

  ?

  Malwanker climbed down into a wide lawn where a mini truck and a land rover were parked. He looked out for the cameras. Three were there looming above. He took careful cover behind the vehicles and calculated his next move. He had no idea which part of the building he was in and which way will lead out. On his hunch he moved forward keeping his best to stay in cover, away from the cameras. He peeped out to look into a long and wide, open corridor ahead taking turn to right side after a few yards. There was no cover ahead. He would still be under two cameras while crossing the corridor and then who knew what lay ahead. He was already shaken recalling how he had fallen straight into their hands just a while ago. He looked around again. It was a whole ten meters high wall on his left providing no
support to scale. Then, about twelve feet ahead, adjacent to the wall, he spotted a small opening in the ground.

  Sewer! Sewers always lead outside. He had seen in several movies

  – providing perfect escape route to the hero.

  But, to reach that opening, he had to cover twelve feet under the cams. He wouldn't be missed by the watchers.

  What if I destroy the cams? They would instantly discover my location. But then they can't see where I have gone to.

  He turned the carbine up and simply blew away both the cameras. He sprinted across the corridor and entered the inviting opening. It was a huge drain alright. Another problem now! Which way to go? Left or right? Which was in and which was out? It was dark enough below. Concentrate!

  He retraced his route in his mind from the point when he had entered the building from one side before getting caught. He recalled the plate glass window in Japanese's office giving mine areas view. He contemplated the directions with respect to the drain. His hunch told him to take left.

  Someone shouted outside in the corridor. Then he heard running footsteps approaching.

  'He can't scale the wall.' Ramdas was saying, 'the gate is on the other side. He came down from that window, fooling us. Look around.'

  Malwanker slowly stepped forward in the left side of the drain careful not to make any splash in the thick and filthy muck up to his shin.

  'He is down the drain. He is in the drain.' Ramdas shouted.

  Malwanker increased his pace forward. Deep down, it was completely dark. Holding carbine and feeling the left slick wall he now splashed forward. Suddenly he lost his balance. The wall he was feeling on the left, caved in and he toppled down in the recess, head over heels, somersaulting, hurting his head, elbows and knees. ?

  Rolling down stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Malwanker had landed on his side, his rolling arrested violently by a big rock. It was pitch dark there. This looked like some sort of pit. Surprisingly, the radio and carbine were still in his grip. He straightened himself wincing in pain. His cotton shirt was torn in many places and he could count the number of scratches by their irritating inflammation over his body and face. He let his breath settle down. There was no noise heard. He was underground somewhere and over his head, his adversaries, he knew, were searching for him. After several minutes, his eyes got accustomed to the darkness. He felt the rocky structure around himself. Suddenly he heard a faint splash. It was perfectly quiet down there that's why he could not miss that sound. His hunters had stepped down the drain and were coming forward.

  'It's awfully dark here.' One said.

  'Keep quiet and do not use the torch. He will shoot.' The other advised.

  Malwanker gripped the carbine and trained it towards the hole through which he had fallen down. If they anyhow discovered him, he was ready to shoot. But they didn't come. Probably they missed the hole and moved farther into the drain. Malwanker explored the hell hole once again, this time slowly and in a sequential pattern. He began from the rock at his back. Then he felt a crevice between one edge of the rock and the wall of the pit. He felt a very faint whiff of cool air – almost negligible, thinking that he had just imagined it. He moved his hand around in the crevice. It was big enough. It didn't seem to be a pit. It felt more like a small tunnel blocked by that rock. He held the carbine by its barrel and groped it through the crevice. Then he tried feeling around, beyond. The butt of the carbine hit a rocky floor. He felt carefully, tapping the floor. It was flat and plain. He again sized up the crevice with his hand and pondered over the possibility of crossing it to reach across. He pulled the carbine back, gripped it in his left hand, stuffed the radio in the waist and put his right leg across the rock through the crevice. Now he was straddling the edge of the rock with his back touching the wall of the pit. He pushed a little hard. Now his forehead and nose were scraping over the surface of the rock. He found himself stuck in a very odd angle. He remained there for a while, thinking, then very slowly a tried to pull his head across. Struggling against the brutal friction between his head and rock, he succeeded. Now he had to put his body through. Sustaining scratches on his back, with all his will power, he did that. Finally he pulled his left leg, then left hand holding the carbine to the other side. What seemed like a tunnel, allowed just enough space for him to crouch. In that position, he stepped forward feeling ahead with his hand. As he moved further, some hundred such steps, the tunnel began to expand in diameter. Now he could stand with his back bent almost eighty degrees. Several times he bumped his head and elbows into stony protuberances. Another fifty steps and tunnel suddenly expanded into a dome like chamber. It was still dark but he could make out the dark gray rocky outlines. He cleared his eyes of the fine dust and looked again, straining them. He moved into the chamber. Now he could stand straight with the rocky ceiling barely two inches above his head. He began exploring around. After a little struggle of a few minutes he discovered another entrance exactly opposite to the chamber. That entrance led to another tunnel further. He stepped forward carefully. Gradually the tunnel began shrinking forcing him to crouch again. All the joints of his body were aching now. Worst was the back but he relentlessly kept on moving, counting slowly under his heavy breath. After moving several steps, finally he came down to knees. The cruel rock bed was biting in his knees and palms. He sat for a few moments to catch the breath and muster the remaining strength. Almost blind, and now feeling hungry and sleepy, he began the journey again. The only respite was that the tunnel was wider enough for at least two people to crawl side by side. His heavy breathing and clang of carbine over the rock were echoing in the tunnel. The sound of echo told him that the tunnel was long enough and definitely led somewhere.

  After moving further several paces he decided to take another halt for rest when he noticed that tunnel suddenly expanded into a huge opening larger enough to stand. He sprang on his feet and walked on. Now the dark gray outlines had turned into lighter gray. After a few steps further he found a huge squarish opening and a hint of faint light behind it. He also felt a touch of cool air on his face. Was it hallucination? He shook his head and looked again. No, it was real.

  He stepped forth and crossed the squarish opening. Now he found himself in a huge hall or basement with rough walls around.

  In the middle were standing four armed men in olive green uniform.

  Malwanker quickly brought his right hand fingers together in a clasp and said. 'Laal Salaam.'

  ?

  'No one there knows anyone by the name Kisna in and around Lanka.' Saroj said, 'I have checked thoroughly.'

  Saroj was Raghav's most trusted man. Years ago, when he was a young lad, he had escaped his landlord's ire in Orissa somewhere and Raghav had provided him shelter. After losing some of his best men in the debacle of the last attack on the contractor, Raghav had assigned Saroj on the task to check the background of all the people in the group. Saroj had started with the newcomers. Kisna was the newest member. His quest had taken him to the Lanka village where, Kisna had earlier told them, he hailed from. He was back with his findings.

  'What about the tragedy with Kisna's family?'

  'Lanka village and any of the areas nearby had had no such incidents of violence. There had been no family where mother and child were killed by policemen.'

  Raghav stood up and began walking slowly in small paces – thinking loudly, talking to himself. 'An automatic police special issue he carries, saying snatched from his family's murderers….. speaks perfectly in our language….. saved the girl being raped by six trained policemen…….no villager would dare do such thing…offered himself to go to the contractor's hunt…' Suddenly he looked up, 'Saroj, tell me in minutest detail what exactly had happened that night in the ambush?'

  Saroj did.

  'He shot their commander right in the head?'

  'That too from quite a distance. Perfect sharp shooting. Single shot. Trained professional. Possibly CRAF himself.'

  'That's what puzzles me.' Raghav said.
'Why would he kill his own man? If he is really one of them then why did he save the girl from the six monsters?'

  'That was also an act of a man trained in combat. He jumped among them right through the bamboo roof.'

  'But why? To intrude us? May be. Then why has he taken our side? Why had he been assaulted by his own men twice?' Raghav and none in the group was aware of third attempt on Malwanker since they all were in a distant separate area of Dandakaranya while Malwanker was deputed by Raghav to take care of Anti mine drive in Abujhmad.

  'Something weird is there, which we need to find out but first we have to reaffirm our doubts and confirm our evidences. Saroj, when Kisna returns, put Jairam on his tail. Tell him to just keep watch and observe carefully. No engagement of any kind. Clear? And you continue checking others.'

  Saroj nodded in affirmative and bowed away.

  'I only pray we are wrong about him.' Raghav murmured to himself, as if wishing, in a gloomy tone, 'he is one of our best.' ?

  New Delhi

  Gangwar's engagement ceremony was at his fiancée's residence. It was going to be a love marriage in near future. All five and Vir Bhadra Singh were sitting in an ante room with cigarettes, cigars, beers and fine wine arranged and being enjoyed. The best part came when, on Makker's demand, a drunken Gangwar displayed a fine piece of Rajeshwar Karma's mimicry. He showed them how he walked, ate, expressed anger, hummed while peeing, his habit of holding right wrist with left hand while speaking, wearing wrist watch in left hand and lace-less shoes by stuffing the feet slowly without using his hand. Gangwar had even managed to gain some weight to match it with Karma's.