The day was Saturday. 13-2-2015. Alok combed his hair with one hand while his other one flipped through the pages of a seven year old Indian newspaper. The paper was bearing the headlines of a bomb-blast in Kolkata. Nineteen people had lost their lives in the blast caused by a bomb which was carefully placed in an ice cream van parked in the Birla House market area in the evening. There were a lot of other casualties too. He went on to page number seven of the same news paper. There was a list of the dead. Anita Chaterjee, Barindam Mukherjee, Jaspal Singh were some of the names which Alok read before throwing the paper away.
He picked up another paper which was just two weeks old. It was bearing the headlines of another blast in Kolkatta. This time sixty-five people had lost their lives and a lot of casualties and devastation of public property was seen. The origins of both the blasts were traced back to a Pan-Islamic organisation,whose head was a man, called Saeed Younis. Wanted, in many terrorist attacks across the world.
Alok checked the contents of his bag, a pen, a small diary, a voice recorder, a video cam and some small microphones were the instruments he checked before opening his other bag in which he kept his clothes.
He took out a long orange cloth and started tying a pagri (an indian word for a turban which normally Punjabi's wear) around his head. It was strange though, because even though, he was a Sikh, he normally wore a Pagri only when he went to the Gurudwara, the place where Sikh people normally go to offer their prayers. But again, maybe it was a special day. Saeed Younis had finally agreed to talk with the reporters of a leading Indian news channel called K-News. It seemed as if Saeed wanted to reveal his intentions behind the recent bomb-blast. It was going to be a live telecast. All the Indians and almost everyone around the world would be watching. Alok was a news reporter for the same news channel.
When Alok came to know about this, he had immediately contacted his boss that he wanted to cover this event live. Alok was naturally chosen for the task as he was one of the best reporters in India. Alok was excited. Maybe this was the interview he was waiting for. Maybe this was going to get him a promotion and a salary hike.
Alok stepped out of his room and knocked on the door of another one. "Gopal, I'm waiting downstairs. Hurry up. We have to leave soon." said Alok as he started climbing down the stairs to reach the reception.
"Is my car ready?" asked Alok to a pretty receptionist who had just appeared on the reception desk. Alok had already asked her to book a car for him the previous night which he would be needing today. "It's here sir", she said smilingly.
Alok went outside through the lobby. He was residing in 'Sakeena Executive', an expensive but a luxurious hotel in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. His car a Pajero, an SUV to be precise waited for him with the driver. He greeted the driver whose name was Mohammed. Mohammed was well versed with the area. Alok now waited for Gopal. He lit a cigarette and was thinking. The terrorists had contacted them through a satellite phone till now. No name or number displayed when they called. They had asked Alok to wait near the footsteps of a small deserted hill on the outskirts of Dhaka. After that they were going to escort him further.
A small burn from the filter of the cigarette, a result of being too engrossed while smoking, broke Alok's thoughts. He threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it with his left leg to extinguish it. He greeted Gopal good morning who had just arrived. Gopal was Alok's camera-man. He was also one of the skilled camera-man working for K-News. "Hello sir", said Gopal. "Sorry i'm a bit late but the water heater in my room had some minor problems. I had to call the house-keeping and their fixing took a bit of time".
"No problem" said Alok before opening the door and sitting on the rear seat of the car. Gopal took the one besides Mohammed. "Lets leave Mohammed miyan", said Alok. Miyan was the term used for brother in Urdu.
They waited patiently. They had reached the place where the terrorist had asked them to. Alok had asked Mohammed to park the car on a safe distance and had asked him to wait in the car. If anything wrong happened he was asked to flee immediately from the scene. Gopal was with Alok with the camera. They didn't have to wait for much long as they saw a white colored Land Cruiser approac them. Out came two enormous,huge people with their faces covered in a typical Muslim scarf and with Ak-47 rifles in their hands.
"Don log? Don log nahi aa sakte" growled one of them. It mean't only one person could go with them. Alok told them it wasn't possible as Gopal was the camera-man. "Kyun tu nahi kar sakta kya akele? Maar de kya isse?" asked the other one in hindi and laughed carelessly. He had asked Alok if he was going to come alone and do everything or they would shoot Gopal. Alok agreed and asked Gopal to wait with Mohammed in the car till he came back and took the camera from him.
Alok was checked thoroughly and then blindfolded before he was made to sit in the Range Rover. His equipment was kept in the backseat of the car. They then asked him to call Gopal and tell him that he should now leave.They were going to drop Alok after the interview,to a location which Gopal would be informed later . Then he should pick him up.
Deep in his mind Alok was happy that he was going alone. Maybe because he was too excited that he was going to cover such a huge thing live... Alone...
Alok woke up from a nice sleep. He wasn't blindfolded anymore. He lifted his wrist to look at the watch. It was not there. He slid his hand in his pocket for his cellphone. It wasn't there either. He felt a slight pain on his left hand on his bicep. He scratched. There was a small wound caused usually by the piercing of a needle. Alok didnt even understand when an injection had pierced him on his hand and when had he fallen asleep. It was given to him by one of the terrorists. That was to prevent him from knowing how long had they traveled and how far had they traveled. His belongings were taken away and were kept in a bag which was in the hands of one of the terrorists. Alok stepped out of the car and asked for some water. The terrorists had now taken off the scarfs covering their faces and were eating silently keeping their guns aside. Alok scanned the surroundings and within minutes realised why his blindfold was taken off. There was no sight of any tree, let alone a person, for miles. Perfect location for a terrorist organisation to set up their camp. They offered Alok some meat and rice along with some curry. Alok ate and had some water after which they started again. After driving for some half an hour they reached the footsteps of a considerably large hill. It was almost evening. So they were at-least six-seven hours away from the place where they had left Gopal along with Mohammed.
Alok stepped out of the car and started walking behind the two men who had escorted him till now. They walked for around fifteen minutes before they came near a door which was hidden neatly by two huge boulders. But they were nothing for the two men who easily slid them aside and opened the door. They asked Alok to go inside and carefully locked the door from inside before placing the boulders on their original place outside. It was totally dark inside. Damp and cold. One of them took out a powerful torch from his bag and switched it on. White light filled the place which seemed like the inside of a cave. They were actually inside the hill. Alok was impressed by how well hidden their camp was. After walking for about five minutes, they approached another door which had a small window on it. It was locked from the other side. One of the men knocked on the door in a rhythmic tone which was a passcode. The small window was opened by a guy. He confirmed the identity of his co-workers and opened the door. Alok was shocked by what he saw. The terrorists had set up a huge camp inside the heart of the hill which was basically hollow inside. From what looked like a hill from outside, was the camp of the most dangerous terrorist organisation inside. There was a gym, a shooting range, a dining hall, and a room with every hi-tech communication gadgets and computers with foreign scientists working on them. At-least a thousand young and medium aged people were training rigorously as if they were a part of an army.
Alok was asked to wait in a bunker constructed in the same camp. He didnt have to wait long, for five minutes later Saeed Younis arrived. Alok was terrified when he saw him in the beginning as all he had seen were the pictures which the news channel had provided him. He looked more dreadful than the pictures. He was huge, long shoulder length hair and a long beard which almost went down till his stomach. He had shaved his moustache, which normally all Muslims do. He smiled and greeted Alok with an 'Assalam Vaalekum' which Alok returned with just a 'Vaalekum Assalam' and started arranging the set up required for the live-telecast. The interview was scheduled for the next day.
Two steel chairs and three stools were placed in front of the camera The live telecast was about to begin in a few minutes. Alok was being given a set of instructions by one among three of Saeed's most trusted men. The instructions were mainly regarding the format of questions that were going to be asked in the interview. Alok was told that none of the questions asked should be about where and how is Saeed running such a huge terrorist organisation and he shouldn't question the prestige of the organisation. If at any point they felt that Alok was asking more questions than required they would stop the interview and shoot Alok right in the head later. Alok, though angry with the way he was being threatened to act according to their will, kept mum as there was little that he could do. Alok was searched thoroughly for one last time before Saeed finally arrived in the room.
"Let's begin the interview Alok miyan." said Saeed as he sat down on his chair. Two of his personal men were standing next to him.
"Yeah, just a moment." said Alok before adjusting the camera towards himself. He passed Saeed a microphone. He switched on the camera before adjusting his pagri and tie. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is Alok reporting live from an undisclosed location on the outskirts of Dhaka. Today we have with us a person who is infamous as the most wanted terrorist by majority of the countries across the world. He is also the master mind behind the recent Kolkata blast and the blast which happened in Kolkata in 2005. He is the leader of the terrorist organisation called Lashkar-E-Islam, Saeed Younis."
"Salaam Vaalekum" said Saeed as Alok turned the camera towards him.
"So," Shall we begin with the interview? asked Alok.
"Yeah sure. Lets begin. Go on and ask me whatever you want to." said Saeed.
"So to begin with, do you admit that you were the mastermind behind the blasts which took place in Kolkata and some more places across India?" asked Alok.
"Yes. I'm the one who had planned the blasts. My men smuggled the material required to assemble the bomb across Indian borders. Once in India, trained corrupt Indian scientists assembled the bomb for us in exchange of huge amounts of your currency. I wont disclose any names. So basically yes, I take the full responsibility of the blasts and in advance, take the responsibilities for the blasts which will occur in India in the future." said Saeed with a smile on his face.
The Indians who were watching the telecast live, cursed Saeed. Some weeped silently as they remembered the ones they had lost but could do nothing to save them.
"Do you mean to say that there will be more bomb-blasts in Kolkata? Why?" asked Alok. His voice seemed angry and scared at the same time.
"Yes there will be more blasts." replied Saeed calmly. "Not only in Kolkata. But everywhere in India. The reason is simple and well known. Kashmir."
"Kashmir? How is spreading terror in Kolkatta going to help you capture Kashmir?" asked Alok.
"We are just helping our brothers in Pakistan. Until you give us Kashmir we will spread terror in every major city across India. Your country will be shaken. Your politicians will go mad but won't be able to decide what's best for the future of your country."
"Do you know how many women and children died in the blasts?" asked Alok
"I know the exact number of females and children killed in the blasts. The number declared by your government is not accurate. If the real number is disclosed they won't win the next elections. I knew what I was doing. In-fact I won't mind killing a thousand more Indians for Kashmir. The moment we achieve our goal all our sins will be washed." said Saeed.
Alok took a deep breath. "My last question. Do you regret the decisions you took till now? Do you think that killing innocent was not a good thing at all? Even if it was going to help u achieve your goal?"
"No. Not at all. If I'd regretted my decisions I wouldn't have been the master mind behind all these blasts." These were the last words that Saeed spoke,for moments later, in one swift stroke Alok unveiled his Pagri and took out a shining kirpan from a steel case neatly hidden inside the Pagri. Yes the day was indeed special! With one fierce full strike he stabbed the dagger directly inside Saeed's throat and slit it open. "Die you ruthless devil" said Alok before two bullets went right through his head. They were shot by one of the two bodyguards. They were crying uncontrollably. The person whom they were living for was dead in front of them and they had done nothing to save him. One of them kept on shooting at Alok's dead body after shooting at the camera and breaking it to pieces. The people watching the telecast live, were shocked by what they had seen. They didn't know what they should do. They couldn't decide wether to celebrate the victory of good over evil. They had seen what most of them wanted to do on their own. The death of Saeed Younis. But they had lost the man who had done it. The man who had done the thing which no anti terrorist organisation or army or police in the world could do. He had single handedly brought down the most wanted terrorist of all times.
Moments later the whole wide world was watching the television. The news channels flashed the video of Alok stabbing Saeed right in the throat. The reason why he had done it? He was Alok Singh, son of Jaspal Singh, the third name on the list of dead in the 2005 Kolkata blasts. Alok had died inside on the day his father, the only person close to him in this world died in the blasts and couldn't think of anything but revenge when he got the opportunity to interview Saeed.
His act of vengeance had satisfied the feeling of revenge of millions of people all around the world.
V A R U N
S A D A V A R T E.
