by David Singh
With a sudden surge of panic he ducked back and in the process dropped his rifle. The rifle hit the stones with a loud clang. He dropped himself flat on the ground over his stomach and crept into the cover of bushes.
The trouble was invited.
They rose up together, slowly like demons, just so that their heads could be seen behind the bushes and trees. This was a remarkable and
meticulous display of guerilla warfare on junglegrounds. The very first volley wiped out half of Raju's men. The violent and sudden attack first paralysed him with panic then instantly he recovered and dived into the bushes, creeping on the ground. Bullets were flying in abundance. It was an ambush. They all had walked into the death trap laid by Majumdar. Raju's men were not that fast to respond. He kept crawling like a chameleon to find a safer way to escape until he saw a small ditch. He crawled into it and curled inside like a baby. Gritting his teeth with anger, he helplessly heard the deafening shots all around him along with the last agonized cries of his dying men.
? Finally, the jeep came to a halt. Gangwar had been handcuffed. He had not spoken a single word throughout. The path they had taken was not fit for any vehicle to drive. Entire drive was a bumpy and jerky
crawl of hardly ten kms per hour – slower than a bicycle – leaving the passengers slam into each other and feel dizzy, of course, except Gangwar since he was trained well enough for such situations but just to put up the act he kept a tired, beaten and haggard face.
'RK.' Raghav looked at Gangwar, 'your luxury ride is over, now we have to walk ahead. I hope, being the national chief of your party you wouldn't mind the trouble.'
Gangwar chose to keep quiet as usual. Everyone disembarked from the dust ridden vehicle. Venu lead the way and the group began the journey – a little hike around the hill. Raghav removed Gangwar's handcuffs. 'I shouldn't mention but just a protocol, keep your free hands and mind in control. There is no way to escape except upwards…you know….to the heavens…pardon…hell.'
The climb wasn't demanding on stamina. They skirted their way slowly around the base of the hill to reach a narrow zigzag pathway descending downwards into a dry valley. Gangwar noticed the curve of the river on the opposite side slightly leftward down the valley. Valley was a small football-ground sized flat plateau covered with rocks, stones and dense shrubs. A few trees were scattered around. The curve of the river bore a dense line of close set trees which ran towards the right side to merge into the dense jungle.
'This is Pukka Gaon.' Raghav said. Gangwar noticed, in the name of a gaon (village) it was just a single huge structure of bricks and cement devoid of any plaster, paint or whitewash. Just a few seconds' look was enough for Gangwar to memorise the complete layout but he had several minutes to observe while descending down.
The narrow pathway had no cover of trees. It allowed a single person to move at a time. They all commenced the descent in a single file keeping Gangwar in the middle. Another few minutes' walk took them down to the floor of the valley.
'Hold on.' Balu said. The little caravan stopped. Balu came forward and said, 'from here onwards, watch your steps now. Follow exactly into my steps to avoid the land mines.'
'Landmines?' one of them said, 'can't we simply step over these stones and move on?'
'Carry on if you are fed up of your life, you fool.' Raghav replied, 'it's the stones where the land mines have been planted underneath.' 'Come on carefully.' Balu resumed the walk. Everyone else followed in his steps in an undulating single file. Gangwar looked up into the clear sky, thinking, Cartosat somewhere up there must be recording their trail through its never blinking digital eye.
? The handmade radio equipments Majumdar and his men were using had a limited range of mere a few hundred meters. The communication channel also comprised of men on foot, deployed at every thousand meters in the form of a chain, readily available to run the distance and pass on the message further. Reply would come the reverse way.
It had been too long a wait near the decoy jeep. Venkat got worried and suspicious as well. They were confident that the enemy commandos will be lured to the trap, coming after the GPS signal of the wrist band. But it had been a long time now that no one seemed to be turning up. No noise. No stealth approach. He signaled two of his men to have a look around. The men moved and disappeared in the jungle in opposite directions. After a few minutes they appeared from mutually opposite directions shaking their heads in negative.
He addressed another of his men, 'Syam, report the situation to dada.' Syam nodded and took off deeper into the jungle in the direction of the messenger waiting a kilometer away. Venkat wanted Majumdar to know this unusual state of affair at the trap. Thoughtfully, he stared into the blank green jungle.
? Suddenly it was very quiet. Then Raju heard a faint cry of agony at a distance. These were his men dying in pain, helplessly giving away their position to the enemy. Then he heard a shot. The cry muted. Then another shot and another last shriek. They were now searching and killing those who were left alive or wounded.
But how many and how fast can I kill? He raised his head slightly above the ground level from inside the ditch. No one in sight. The little comfort was the advanced rifle given to him by the commandos.
But how many and how fast can I kill?
Keeping low, he crept out of the ditch and moved on four limbs in one direction. The air was still and gunshots have scared the birds away. It was an eerie of silence. He kept his ears strained to catch any
threatening noise. The only sound he heard was the faint rustle of leaves as he tried stealing his way into the bushes. He saw the twigs move above his head. This way, he knew, he himself would give away his position.
Som must be alive. Nobody knows his position. He must have witnessed or at least heard what has happened. But how could he help alone from there?
Then the thought struck him. Som must be alive. Nobody knows his position. He must have witnessed or at least heard what has happened. But how could he help alone from there?
'Get up slowly.' The voice came from behind. Raju's blood turned into refrigerated yoghurt. The terror of death froze him in his place.
'I said get up. Let me see your face.' Raju didn't get up but turned back to look at the face of his death. His eyes looked straight into the muzzle of a rifle glaring at him. At the end of the rifle was one of Majumdar's men.
'You!' his hunter exclaimed in utter astonishment, 'how come…' The whiff of dust chocked the man's eyes. Impulsively he pulled the trigger but Raju had already struck the barrel jerking it into another direction. Bullet went off useless. He fired twice into the baffled man's body mass, killing him instantly. The age old trick had helped him. When the man was blabbering, Raju had grabbed the handful of dust and blinded him using the surprise element. Still incredulous on his extended lease of life, he jumped into another bush leaving the place, knowing that shot would attract other hunters. He got on his feet and ran off, hurting his face and shoulders, as fast as his legs could carry him. Running blindly, he suddenly came into a clearing. To his horror he saw that it was the clearing around the temple ruins. Instead of running away he had ran into the middle of the storm. One of Majumdar's men saw him and shouted. Raju turned his rifle up but he was too late. His hunter took the shot first. Raju ducked. The bullet hit his rifle somewhere. He found his bearings and scrambled back into the jungle cover.
The man took the aiming stance on a knee and pulled the trigger. The bullet brushed past him. He screamed with fear and pain then turned back. Desperately, he pulled the trigger. He heard the clank of bullet feeding into the firing mechanism but the trigger was stuck midway. Firing pin was jammed. Enemy's bullet had made a hole in the firing mechanism of his rifle. Cursing, he threw the useless weapon away. He looked ahead. His hunter was taking his next shot at him. But he couldn't. To Raju's utter surprise, he saw his hunter's head blown off.
So, Som is holding the fort. Thinking, he let himself plunge into the jungle again.
? The twe
nty men right below Malwanker's nose gave a bloody but one sided gunfight to the Naxal's firing from inside the temple ruins. He kept himself safe behind the rock away from any stray bullet and allowed himself just a little peep to witness the slow slaughter. The fight lasted hardly for ten minutes and then he saw a few men retreating back into the jungle for their lives and almost a dozen strewn around, dead. It was silence again as if the death was catching a breath or two before resuming its bloody dance. A few shots were heard occasionally in the distance across the temple ruins. He knew the meaning of such shots. The hunters were searching and spotting any survivors or wounded and killing them.
The sniper rifles were appropriately silenced. If Malwanker was not already aware about Som's position, he wouldn't have registered the faint 'phut' off his rifle. He peeped into Som's direction and saw him cocking the rifle back. So, he took a shot on someone out there, Malwanker thought when Makker's voice came over, 'Friend, the action zone location is altered. We are going behind Majumdar. You go back to your cave and wait there for us to return.'
'I know Terminator.' Malwanker said looking at his GPS tracker screen, 'I am coming right behind you.'
'No Friend. You are our back up. You stay back.' 'What use I am as a backup if I relax in the cave. I'll keep a distance and….'
'It's an order Friend.' Makker said in a terse tone, 'stay back. Over and out.' The radio fell silent.
Malwanker shook his head in desperation and murmured, 'it's an order! Assistant commandant Milind Malwanker doesn't take orders from some soldier boy.'
He consulted the tracker screen looking at the moving dots showing Makker's and Samarjeet's positions and slowly began climbing down the aft of the hillock.
? Vir Bhadra Singh double tapped on the screen himself this time to find out that Gangwar's green dot was almost static now.
'They are on foot now.' He said, 'zoom down. Let's have a look. There seems no tree cover now.'
Sakshi zoomed the view down. From a few hundred meters Vir Bhadra Singh looked at the helicopter view of the people. Then he spoke to Samarjeet, 'Retriever, they seem to have reached their base. It is a valley at the curve of the river. Now they are walking down the valley. You stay put and wait for Terminator to join you. Terminator, you copy?'
'Sure VB.' Makker replied. 'Destroyer! Wiper! Good Morning.' Vir Bhadra Singh called out to Mohan and Sathya.
'Hey VB! You broke our sweet dreams.' Sathya replied.
'Come on boys, how is it going?'
'We are feeling like two lazy mice sitting here, waiting for the cheese to drop.' Mohan said, 'we are craving to go down there.' 'Hold on. You know Terminator and Retriever can handle. Soon you may get your chance. Meanwhile just sit tight in the pavilion and await your turn.'
'Sure VB. No choice. Keep the commentary up. We don't have the luxury of Cartosat.' Sathya spoke suppressing a yawn. Both Mohan and Sathya were stationed at Swami Vivekananda Airport at Mana, Raipur – Capital of Chhattisgarh. They were awaiting a go ahead from Makker to board the Nelcopter and reach the action zone. The choice of SVA was to keep as much away from army as possible. A call from higher up had made the arrangements for both and they had complete authority to move around in any part of the airport without clearance and no questions asked.
? The actual rendezvous where Gangwar had been brought by Raghav and party was an incomplete structure of bricks and cement. To an untrained eye it looked like an unplanned and abandoned spot but Gangwar noticed – with appreciation – that it was a strategically constructed rough structure used as a field-fortification to fight the threat from outside.
Each part of the building was constructed in such a way that it looked either incomplete or randomly designed, giving the entire place a pre-historic look. Gangwar's eyes first caught the presence of six observation posts – three in front and three at the back side overlooking the curve of the river. The concrete wall around the place looked incomplete but nowhere was it less than six meters high with the jagged top – almost impossible to scale it with bare hands. At the far opposite end he noticed that right at the bottom of the wall, inside, there were knee high thorn bushes to wound the intruder.
The wall took a complete round and it's both ends met at a huge entrance/egress devoid of any gates. In the name of gate, just a barrier of heavy wooden log of Saal tree was present blocking the entrance of any vehicle but on foot any one could easily enter. That meant, from somewhere inside, the gate was being watched constantly. Within the boundary, he noticed six huge and medium sized single storey structures which were of normal ten feet height. Everything was not normal.
Then he noticed – the peep holes in the walls, in place of windows, were just at a height of two feet from the ground. That meant only two things – either the floors of the rooms were lower than the ground level or one could shoot through the holes with kneeldown position – a natural shooting stance. There were rocks of varied sizes strewn around in the compound. No, they were not just strewn around! He noticed that all the rocks were placed strategically between adjacent rooms to aid the men sprint out of one room and take cover behind the next available rock. This way, one could move safely from one room to the other among the flying bullets during a gun fight.
Outside each room were stacked cement and lime sacks by the walls. No, that was not the construction material kept for finishing the building. It was reinforcement – a cover from bomb blasts.
They all entered the gate by bending below the log. Balu lead the group to a hall that was in the far inner corner of the premises behind two rooms. The hall had an 'L' shaped covered verandah with long leg making the entrance. Immediately after the entrance was an opening in the floor. They took the stairs descending to the basement. Gangwar's eyes took a while to adjust to the dim light, from two petromax lamps, in contrast to the sunlight outside. When his eyes could see, he recognized the man instantly. Majumdar's face was a closer look to the artist's sketch from RAW.
Then he noticed the presence of armed troop inside. Those were the same men who were present at his abduction point. Their presence beforehand was a proof that there was another secret shortcut to this place.
Was VB able to see these men taking the secret short route? Probably not.
'Welcome RK!' Majumdar smiled and pointed at one of the plastic chairs, 'have seat. Sorry, we couldn't arrange a sofa for you. To inform you in advance, sleeping will be on floor.'
'What do you want?' Gangwar didn't move to any chair.
'When dada says sit, you sit.' Raghav growled at him. Gangwar took a chair. So did Majumdar, opposite him.
'The man who makes the news here,' Majumdar's smile hadn't left his lips, 'is asking me what do I want.'
'Peace talks are not initiated with a hostile gesture, Bhanu.' Gangwar replied.
'Even if I sneeze, state will take it as hostile RK, you are my security here when CMO will invite me for peace talks.'
'No one will invite you as long as I am in your custody.' 'Let me correct this. I will be CMO's guest as long as you are breathing fine in my custody. State fails in this and you are a dead man.'
'Killing me wouldn't do any good to both of us you know? Then, you need your men to be released too. Don't you?'
'Those are not my men.' Majumdar's smile was taken over by a grim, cruel expression with hatred in his eyes, 'they are innocent tribals who don't even know how to hold a gun. Your forces have illegally captured them and tortured them like monsters. You have to release them otherwise we will kill every man involved in their arrest and restraint.'
'We are not fools. If they were innocent, they would have been released pretty earlier. We are running a state not a circus with jokers.' 'I agree with second half of what you said,' Majumdar mocked, 'state is really not a circus but you all are real political jokers.'
A little laugh erupted among his men. Suddenly, an armed man emerged from the farther dark corner of the hall. His arrival made Gangwar notice that in that corner was a little partition with a door in
it. The man had walked in through it. He was panting as if he had been running some distance. Majumdar looked at him. He said, 'Lal Salaam dada. Venkat's message.'
'Venkat? What happened?'
'No show.'
'No show.' He slowly stood up murmuring, 'impossible….. impossible….' then he took to a brisk walk around, thinking loudly, 'why?.....they are not interested in…' he looked at RK, with a mix of worry and thoughtful expression. Gangwar gave him a slightly puzzled look.
He came near Gangwar, hovering over his head, staring at him very thoughtfully. Gangwar returned the same puzzled look. Majumdar bent down, bracing his palms on his knees and leveled his stare with Gangwar's. Both glared at each other, unblinking, then Majumdar spoke to him loudly enough to be heard in the room, 'with your GPS wristband we have created a trap for your men of force but they haven't followed it yet. Why RK? Why don't they come to save you?'
Gangwar sat tight. Majumdar stood straight and answered his own question, 'there are two possible reasons. One, they somehow discovered my men waiting near the decoy jeep and sensed the danger. Two, somehow they know where we have brought you. They still know your location…..our location!'
Gangwar held his breath. The man was cleverer beyond their estimate. Majumdar recommenced his walk. After a couple of rounds he stood still and almost shouted, 'Raghav!'
'Dada.'
'Remove his clothes.'
Within a minute Gangwar was standing stark naked in front of
them, putting up the act of shivering with anger, scorn and shame. Venu turned her stare away. 'Check every nook and corner of his body, check for any signs of fresh wounds.'
Game spoilt.
Within seconds they discovered the tiny but fresh wound on Gangwar's right thigh.
'Cut it open.' Majumdar ordered. There was no point of making a fuss and inviting unnecessary pain. Gangwar gave in, 'okay, okay. There is one in my thigh.'
'Cut it open.' Majumdar repeated. He didn't let his stare drift off from RK during entire process of the wound being cut open with a hunter knife, pulling out of the device from the tight flesh and dressing of the wound with a rough cloth. RK was wincing and whimpering with pain. The device was carefully covered in a harmless synthetic transparent capsule.