‘To grab it or to stay clear of it’ was the question that had played on Mohan’s mind for almost an hour before he hurriedly walked across the lane and picked up the red rucksack, which had been lying in an ignored corner near the Municipal dustbin.
Had it not been a day as rainy, damp and freezing cold, chances were that the bag could have been picked up by any of the numerous beggars lining the street, from near the dustbin, right upto the stairs of the Kali Temple. But, today, nobody dared the freezing weather, apart from Mohan, who couldn’t stay at home..because he didn’t have a home.
He looked around and then rushed into the waterlogged backlane, where he could put the bag on the window sill of the dilapidated house and check out its contents. The window sill of the long abandoned house was in fact the night shelter for him ever since he was 8.
‘God, I wish there is some warm clothing in this bag’ he had a silent prayer on his lips as his near numb fingers fumbled with the bag’s zipper.
In the near darkness, he felt the touch of paper and was immediately disheartened.
‘Damn, seems like some rascal has filled waste papers into this rucksack and purposely thrown it near the dustbin’. It suddenly made sense to him until his mind reasoned again.
‘Who would be stupid enough to fill waste paper in an expensive new rucksack?’
After five minutes, his fingers were trembling faster or maybe his heart was trying to pound out of his chest. He had just realized that the fistful of papers was nothing, but, a handful of crispy new 1000 rupee notes.
His head was spinning as he realized that the entire rucksack, was filled with such notes.
The rain that seeped through his ragged clothing and froze him right down to his bones ensured that he didn’t mistake it for a dream.
Suddenly, there were a million possibilities.
‘Damn! So much money! I can buy everything that I want and probably live in a small cottage of my own’
And then there crept up a billion fears.
‘Whose money is this? Will they come back for it and snatch it away from me? Will I be caught by the cops and wrongly jailed as a thief?’
Night had set in and the wind was howling. The splattering sheets of rain were no longer felt by him, he was lost in a world of his own.
It was difficult to really figure out, but, several hours had rushed by when he allayed the fears and resolved.
‘I don’t know whose money this is, but, it is God’s gift to me and I will use it to better my life. I will live like a human being now and marry and..I shall no longer be kicked by the cops and chased by the dogs.’
A little distance down the main street, barely about 50 paces from where Mohan had picked up the rucksack, was parked a Maroon Maruti Swift. The driver took out his cell phone and dialled a number.
“Yes Sir, he took the bag, just as we had wanted him to. He is still in the backlane with it. Poor soul is probably too stunned with the sudden fortune which God has blessed him with!” The words were punctuated by a hearty laugh.
“Yes sir, he is very much in our view and grip. Don’t worry, he won’t slip out of the net. Let’s just hope he acts as per plan and acts quickly.” He said and disconnected the call.
He looked around the street. His watch indicated that it was almost midnight and there couldn’t have been a soul on that rain lashed Shimla street at that hour. There was a black car, probably an old Honda City was parked another hundred yards down the road, but, there was no sign of activity anywhere in the visual reach.
Mohan woke with a start. It was still pitch dark and he immediately groped for the rucksack lying next to him on that window sill.
Once he felt the warmth that crispy hard cash generates, his spirits soared again.
‘It was all true and all his for the taking.’
His next main concern was the safety of his new found wealth and to spend it without being suspected for theft.
He gave the bag a roll in the muddy water and managed to tear holes into it at different points, so as to make it look extremely dirty and worn out. A brand new expensive bag in the posession of a vagabond like him was bound to land him in trouble, but, not now.
In the darkness itself, he started his trek toward the deep jungle, some nooks and corners of which were known only to animals and him and saner, busier people never cared to venture in those parts.
By the time he reached his destination, it was almost noon. Though, there was absolutely no chance, still he looked around to ensure that nobody had seen or followed him.
He entered the small circular hideout that was created by a natural arrangement of some rocks and which was capable of giving shelter to a couple of people if it rained or snowed.
He emptied the contents of the bag and found that it created a nice little heap of crisp 500 and 1000 denomination currency notes.
He filled his pocket with a few of the 500 ones and after stuffing the money back into the bag, he hid it safely at the base of one of the rocks, from where only he could have procured it.
Next morning he bought some clothes and a pair of shoes from the Lakkar Bazaar. He had the money, but, not yet the guts to go into a fancy showroom at ‘The Mall’ so he settled for the small roadside shops at the Lakkar Bazaar.
A few days rolled by and time had emboldened him, he purchased a small cottage in a village near Kufri and with the help of Daya, a man in his mid 30s, whom Mohan had employed as his domestic help, he had fitted the house with all the amenities.
Soon, a good portion of the newly found fortune was taken out from under the stone and spent on creating a life that Mohan had only dreamt of till then.
Wearing a blue Nike (flea market) jogging suit and a pair of locally made sports shoes, Mohan was streaking downhill towards the Glenn. Though, most of Shimla was deserted at that early an hour, the road was even lonelier once he crossed the Vidhan Sabha. All he could hear was the sound of hundreds of shrieking monkeys, chirping of birds and the sound of some heavy vehicles zipping through the NH 22 some distance away.
After a strenuous downhill run of about 30 minutes, he paused for breath. The curve in the road has led him towards the back of the hill, a side where it was even darker than above because the rising sun’s rays would reach there the last. Suddenly he became conscious of company as he noticed a shadow swiftly moving from one thicket to another. He couldn’t really make out an outline, but, he was sure that some living being was behind a thick Pine tree, five feet away from him.
It was really strange and a chill ran through his spine. For a moment,he wondered if some wild animal was stalking him, but, then he assured himself that there were no dangerous wild animals in Shimla’s vicinity. It could only be some monkey,langoor or a human being. The last, though, was still a scarier option as he hadn’t noticed anyone following him and if someone was really following him, why would he hide behind a tree unless..
He stared hard at the pine tree, heart throbbing and mind panicking a bit and waited for the next move from the shadow.
His suspense didn’t last long.
A large hand grabbed his collar and he was thrown violently on the road.
After a painful thud, he turned around and found two tall and really mean looking men staring at him with a nasty look on their faces.
Before he could utter a word, the shadow sprang out from behind the tree and acquired the shape of a slightly better looking man, though the nasty expression was shared by him too.
“Where is the money? What have you done with my money?” He yelled at Mohan.
“What money?” Mohan could barely say it before a hard kick to his guts made him double up with pain.
“You &^E*&! Don’t even try to act smart. It is much better for you to sing the truth and sing it faster. Interrogation is not something I love, but, if I interrogate you, you’ll hate it.” The man bent down and whispered to Mohan before slapping him hard.
“Please, I didn’t steal it. I swear, I didn’t do anything wrong.” Mohan pleaded knowing that he would get badly roughed up if he tried to argue.
“But, you spent it nonetheless, knowing very well that it was not your money.” Another slap followed.
“I am sorry. There is no fault of mine. Please let me go!” Mohan sobbed.
“Let you go? Let you go after you have swindled my money? Let you go without recovering it?” A kick to the temple followed.
“What do you want now?” Pain made Mohan growl.
“The money. All of it and right now.” One of the taller men bent down and hauled Mohan up by his collar.
“I can return whatever Is left. I don’t have much with me. I am sorry.” Mohan looked at his tormentors, expecting another nasty beating.
“Hmmm..I have ways and methods of extracting my money.” The interrogator circled Mohan and whispered down his neck.
“What will you do?” Mohan asked shakily. He was pale white and sweating profusely. There was some blood oozing out of his left ear, where one of the kicks had connected.
“I am a doctor. I can’t recover my lost cash, but, I will make you pay for it by using the damned body that you spent my money on.” His interrogator’s face was red with rage.
“I don’t get you.” Mohan was about to faint with fear.
“I will take one of these eyes and a kidney out of you. That will teach you a lesson and suffice for the money that you squandered.” The man said as he slammed a punch to Mohan’s stomach, making him scream in pain.
“No..Please don’t’ do that. I will become useless. I will work hard and pay the rest of your money too.” Mohan fell down to his feet and pleaded.
“You were always useless anyhow. I can’t wait for years to get what I can obtain in 24 hours.” The man turned around, signalling the two other guys to carry Mohan with them.
Around the bend in the road, the maroon Maruti Swift was waiting and a gagged Mohan, who was now packed inside a sack was thrown in at the backseat. He felt the car zipping away.
After the Maroon Swift went out of sight, a guy emerged out of a thicket, a few yards away.
“They have taken him. Task over to Team two now.” He spoke to someone on his cellphone.
Mohan found himself to be lying in pitch darkness, though the warmth of the surroundings made him realize that he was indoors.
“Oh God! What have I done to deserve this? Please if you wish then take this wretched money away, but, don’t let them maim me. I am happy the way I am.” He prayed silently.
A few minutes had gone by when the door opened, bringing in a beam of sharp light that made Mohan uncomfortable and then the men, who entered the room turned on some more lights.
After a couple of seconds, he could see around without squirming.
The interrogator was there with another three people, who were wearing coats similar to the ones that doctors use. The other two taller men, stood near the door, blocking the exit.
Suddenly he became conscious that he was not lying on a bed, but, was loosely tied to an operation table with overhead lights and the room had a large refrigerator and many other machines of various kinds.
“Hello Mohan, we have come to operate you. In another two hours, you will be a free man. Now all you need to do is to sign some papers.” His interrogator, whose actual name was Dr Rajat Mehta, took out a stack of papers from a nearby drawer.
“I don’t know how to sign.” Mohan mumbled.
“Damn..Well, we will have to take your thumb impressions then.” Dr Rajat said to Mohan.
“Please have mercy! Don’t do this to me. God will give you lots of wealth.” Mohan started weeping as he spoke.
“Just relax. Think of all the good things that you enjoyed with my money while we take the refund from you.” Dr Rajat opened another drawer and the bunch of doctors got busy in selecting their surgical equipment, which appeared to be murder weapons to Mohan.
He flailed his arms, yelled and struggled with his bonds, but, there was no escape.
They pulled the sheet covering his body down to his waist and started making markings on his stomach.
He cried incessantly.
One of them pressed a strongly scented towel on his nose. He felt cold steel touch his stomach as darkness engulfed him from all sides.
‘He is ready’. The man who had administered the sedatives announced to the others.
They all looked at each other, smiled briefly and got ready to perform their heinous operation.
Just as the first incision was about to be made, there was a violent thump on the door.
One of the duo guarding the door called out as the others froze in their spots at this unexpected arrival.
“Who is it?” The man asked loudly.
“It’s me. Nurse Rashmi. I have something very important and urgent to tell Dr Rajat.” A feminine voice answered from outside.
The guy looked at Dr Rajat, who after pondering for a second, signaled him to let her in.
However, as soon as the door was unlatched and the handle turned to open it, it was flung open by the extreme force from outside, sending the man holding the door handle smashing into the refrigerator.
Half a dozen strong looking men filled in the room alongwith a shivering nurse.
There was a gun placed on her temple and the man who wielded the gun was a smartly dressed young man.
“You are under arrest Doctor Rajat. Your game is over.” The youngman flashed his police id card as he signaled his fellows to point their guns at the group huddled around the operation table.
“Oh no!” One of the doctors slumped to the ground with his hands covering his face.
“Hey, let us go or else I will slit this man’s throat.” Dr Rajat put a surgical blade to the throat of unconscious Mohan.
“You won’t do that Doctor. Till now you are charged with posessing a fake doctor’s degree and human organ trafficking, but, if you do what you said, you all will be charged with a murder and I swear on God that I will pump all these bullets into your skull, before arresting your fellows for the murder.” Inspector Sunil, as the young man was known, replied calmly.
“Rajat, have you gone crazy? Don’t attempt such a thing.” Saying this the other three pounced on him, trying to snatch the surgical blade away.
A violent scuffle followed which was brought to a halt by a nasty shriek and a stream of blood jetting out of Doctor Rajat’s throat. The surgical blade which was in his left hand, was embedded deep into his throat now.
His dead figure crashed onto the squeaky clean white tiled floor which rapidly acquired the shade of red as the other doctors watched in horror.
“Bastard, met his just end from his own hands.” Inspector Sunil said with a frown on his face and then asked his team to arrest the remaining criminals and to send the dead body for postmortem.
Next afternoon, Inspector Sunil met Mohan in his cottage.
“Nice little place that you have set up, eh?” He remarked as he looked around.
“I hate this place now. It’s blood money that I used to buy all this stuff.” Mohan had a look of contempt on his face.
“Its not your fault. You didn’t commit any crime and if you still feel bad about it, you can donate the same amount from the prize money that you will be getting soon.” Inspector Sunil smiled.
“Prize money?” Mohan was shocked.
“Yes, this guy Rajat Mehta was not a doctor, but, a much wanted criminal, who had killed several people in Singapore before fleeing to India and setting up this organ racket. There is a prize of one crore rupees on his head.” Sunil looked at Mohan’s face and noticed changing expressions as Mohan grasped the news.
“But, you arrested him so the money belongs to you.” Mohan asked.
“Yes, it does, but, we wanted to nab him red handedly and for that we needed a prospective victim. We shadowed each move of his and had to wait until he tried to play his trick on you. It was his standard modus operandi. He used to lure homeless people by this money bag trick and then took out their organs for sale. The poor victims never spoke due to the fear of being charged with theft of money etc. Therefore, me and my team are gladly willing to share one fourth of the prize money with you. You are our main man.” Inspector Sunil patted Mohan’s back as he got up.
“I will be back next week with your cheque.” The cop smiled and left the place.
That evening, sunset didn’t mean the end of the day to Mohan, but, the start of a party that would go on lifelong.
No comments:
Post a Comment