The father-daughter duo raced each other to the garage. Srikant opened the door and did went around the car to check out the tyre pressure. Ira got inside and positioned herself behind the steering. She turned on the car audio, '' Where's my cd?'' she hollered while looking all over the dashboard.
''Must be in the glove box, check it out will you.''
''Found it!''
''Alright, I'm done. Get yourself to the navigator's seat and put on your seat belt'' and he motioned Ira to move. Going out on drives was a walk on eggs for Srikant...after that overspeeding lorry had rammed into his wife's car and his idyllic life, he couldn't afford to relax...not even a minute for the last one year.
The shining black safari rolled out of the garage and mingled with the traffic heading to Howrah.
''Appa, i'm feeling much better now that we out of that room...see, even my forehead is normal'' and she stuck out her head for her dad to check.
''Not now Ira! I'm driving and yes, your doctor uncle may not be correct always. Maybe you should listen to me once in a while''.
Ira, miffed by his reply simply cranked up the stereo volume. Clinton Cerejo's husky voice filled the interiors of the 4x4 with ''hey ya'' and Ira join him in a duet impromptu. Feeling comfortable with the windows rolled up, Srikant too, lent his voice to this jugalbandhi with the effect that synchronized ''hey ya'' s could be heard even outside. They stopped at a signal and Srikant adjusted the rear view mirror, setting it properly by looking in the mirror...a white ambassador with two occupants caught his attention. He took out his cell and dialed Aquil's number.
''Hey Aquil, I think I'm being followed...there is this white ambassador which has been trailing me ever since I left home and.....'' he was cut short by Aquil.
''Hold on Srikant! Just gimme the license no...''
Srikant took a hard look at the mirror, it took him some effort to figure out the inverted letters and numbers, he didn't want to alarm the people in that ambassador so he suppressed the urge to look back directly, ''WB-1...B-5..2...3...6''
'' Relax Sri ! Those are my men...they'll be your shadows, just ignore them!''
''God! They nearly spooked me! Is that your idea of babysitting me?? Did you bug my place as well? Hey! Call them off, will ya...I'm not threatened by anyone'', Srikant got agitated yet he tried his best to keep his voice down so as to not bother Ira.
''Let me be the judge of that. Your security is my responsibility so those men stay put...understand? I'm hanging up now! Call me back when you have something better to do than to bug me'', Aquil let out a sober laugh and hung up.
''That bastard! How did I come to take his offer?'' he thought as he shifted the gear from neutral to the first ... the green light just came on.
To be continued
Sunday, May 23, 2010
And so it rained... Part one
'' Appa, how do the birds know that a storm's coming?'', Mr.Vasudevan's 9 year old daughter inquired in a soft tone. She was ill, ''seasonal flu'' as the doctor put it. ''Appa'' was busy going through the accounts of a textile export company. This particular company has been stashing black money for a long time now and had it not been for the economic vigilance department, the company would still be operational below the radar. Mr.Vasudevan, a ''freelance'' Chartered Accountant was pressed into service by the Vigilance department to look into the money laundering operations. A case was being prepared to nail down the GM of this company and Srikant...Mr. Srikant Vasudevan's report was going to be the difference between a successful prosecution and an easy acquittal. The officer-in-charge for this case was desparate to get himself a CA who could look beyond the obvious i.e. the fake entries in the ledger and journals seiged by his sleuths... it was the motive and the means linked with the illicit money transfers that he was after. Aquil Hassan, OC, working on this case for the last 3 years, could smell 'hawala' in all of this but he had nothing substantial on the company to implicate the GM. So, Aquil had Srikant Vasudevan go through the evidence to connect the missing links, and this man was the very best at that.
''Appa, look! Lightning!! I saw it strike that building over there! Will that building fall ?'' Ira, unmindful of her posture, was precariously perched on the window sill.
Srikant looked up once then dived back to work, '' Dunno about that building but you will fall over unless you get down right now, lady!''...he wasn't very concerned whether Ira complied or not, Nobody got hurt falling off a ground floor window only 3 feet over a lawn covered with carefully mowed soft, luscious grass, he reasoned while looking for the calculator he misplaced somewhere under the piles of registers and files. While shuffling files on the work desk in an attempt to tidy up the place, he picked up his diary to find a medical prescription underneath...it was for Ira, medicines were scribbled on it were meant for tropical flu treatment, dosage, food and health supplements, general precau.....his eyes zeroed in on the lower left corner of the prescription...the pathetic handwriting notwithstanding, he could make out a date written there...''23.05.2000''...Then it glowed on him...Ira's Birthday! its 23rd today..how did I forget that? This case has left me brain dead...and why didn't Ira mention it even once? At times like this, Srikant wished that Sujata, his wife, were there to set things right...she brought order to his hectic life. Having laid down his pen, he placed his hands behind his neck trying to massage the pressure points just the way Sujata did before he lost her to a road accident. Srikant, ever since turned a workaholic ( the other option was to be an alcoholic but with Ira around it never crossed his mind) in order to drown his grief in work.
''All is not lost! It's only 4:30 in the evening, I can still make up for this blunder'', he murmured while locking up the drawer and placing weights over loose paper strewn all over the workdesk.
He called out,'' Say what? We are going out!''...
Ira looked over her shoulders and ever so softly asked,'' Really? But I'm ill and Doctor uncle told me to take rest. And its about to rain, the birds stay in their homes, shouldn't we too?''
''Well, we are human and humans have cars,we can go out whenever we want so get up and get dressed. You want me to help you?''
''I'm a grown-up, dad...No, thank you''
The phone rang and Srikant recieved it promptly...
''Hello?''
''Its Aquil this side. How's my crack investigator faring??''
''Usually skeletons tumble out of the cupboards, but this shit has an entire graveyard in it! Their money transfers would embarrass even the Western Union !''
''Hey Srikant... I gotta tell you this...This is just a hunch but I believe somebody from my office leaked out the information that you are a part of this investigation...Considering the men and their stakes involved in this case which are obviously very high, they might go to any length to upset things. I have a surveillance team watching over your house. Don't worry we got you covered...just stay sharp, Okay??''
''Listen Aquil Mian, I've a more dangerous situation at hand...I forgot Ira's birthday and I need to make amends, so I'm hanging up...Bye! Call me back when you have something better to do than to scare me...'', he put down the receiver.
'' Ira! Are we good to go??''
'' Yes but where are we going?''
'' All in good time, sugar''
To be continued...
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Enough of the velvet glove, now bring in the iron fist.
What's the price of a Jawan's life?
Not much...It comes cheap...one of the very few things left untouched by inflation....a few lakhs of rupees and a mere mention as one of the numerous jawans killed or injured on the news channels, often confined to the ticker alone (in case the casualties have not occurred in bulk then their sacrifice is played down in favor of other ''breaking'' news). Perhaps a word of condolence to the family and rarely somebody owning up to the blunders that have led to their deaths. Tackling the Maoist Menace is a risky business and the government as well as the police top brass have made cannon fodder out of SPOs, Paramilitary personnels and Policemen. These brave men are considered expendable hence sent into the killing grounds ill-equipped, with negligible intel, guided by shoddy tactics and no backup/cover what so ever. This anti-Maoist operation has been *ucked up so bad that Mr.Kishanji and Co. rival Rambo, killing state forces with clinical precision. Supposedly mine- proof vehicles are being blown up by IEDs, yet the authorities insist on sending in troops with a token mine-proof vehicle to give the Jawan a sense of false security. Let me point out some glaring callousness of the think-tanks heading '' operation green hunt''. I understand that I'm not the appropriate person to have a say in this matter but the lapses are very basic in nature and as a military history enthusiast, the point I am trying to make do hold water plus this blog happens to be mine so I can say what I want to without mincing words...
* Government policy : In the insurgency hit J&k, when militants kill soldiers and civilians,Government sends in the army to deal with them...mind you in Kashmir militants operate in small groups of 3 or 5. The Government doesn't have a negotiation policy with the militants. Whereas in places like Dantewada, hundreds of Maoists en masse butcher the security personnels but still home ministry is reluctant to send in the cavalry. Why, even the issue of air-support during combing operation is marred by protocols and a misplaced sense of political righteousness. What differentiates a militant from a Maoist? Why does government even want to have talks with Maoist? Is it simply because home-bred terrorist deserve a second chance? Since when did killing mercilessly became an excuse to reach out to masses airing concerns of poverty and under-development? Are we going to find criminals like Kishanji in parliament in the future if the Maoist strike a deal with the government in the days to come? After decades of violence,leaders of IRA were given political pardon and leverage to enter the political mainstream of the Great Britain. Is something similar going to happen for the Maoists? Someone rightly pointed out that Rajapaksha quashed LTTE in Sri Lanka in spite of heavy odds then what's keeping the state from taking down the Mao Menace?? When does the government decide its time to go all guns blazing?? Is it after some more Dantewada s that the Home Ministry will get over the bullshit theory of offering the olive branch along with killer punch? No wonder Maoist are now dictating terms to Mr.Chidambaram...We need men of Sardar Patel's caliber who can take the bull by the horns. The policy needs a revision and subsequent modification .
* Tactics : Maoists are using the time tested Apache guerrilla strategy.
The idea is to organize massive strikes on small patrol parties with such brutality that it catches the public attention and furthers confusion mixed fear in the minds of the security forces. Look at their modus operandi...On receiving solid intel from the villagers regarding the path the convoys will take during routine missions, they have sleepers in the village relaying information to the pockets of Maoist resistance spread across the 5 states. The advance party does a recce and ascertains the intel. They pass on the info to the commanders who order the bomb experts to lay down explosives. Understanding that standard anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines will be useless against the Mine proof trucks, they use IEDs or Improvised Explosive Device which are usually artillery shells with wired detonating mechanism...obviously an artillery shell packs more punch than a land mine and comes cheaper as well (often these are unexploded shells recovered by scrap dealers who handle military wastes). Thus, IEDs defeat the mine proof armor of the vehicles. The Maoist well organized use bird calls to relay directions as they encircle and ambush the convoy all at once outflanking the Jawans who have no cover. Imagine a platoon of jawans surrounded by some 500 naxals in the jungle, trying to get cover while reeling from a massive IED explosion. Its an overkill situation. In guerrilla warfare, that too in jungle, its the no. that counts more than weaponry or shooting skills. The offensive against the naxals are so ill-coordinated that they can afford the time to regroup, rearm and replenish their ranks. Plus the unimaginative top brass ensures that the forces are always two steps behind the naxals.
The Maoists are now evolving their tactics...they are cutting off communication in and around their stronghold...blowing up railway tracks, telephone lines, power lines and even going after the power installations like the thermal Power plants in order to isolate these places and secure their fortifications. What next?? We can expect them going the way of the LTTE and the Chechen rebels i.e. to go after soft targets...schools, hospitals plus organize suicide squads...The only thing stopping them from doing so is the ideology factor that seems to guide them some what. But, if cornered and under the leadership of radical elements, the ideology will soon wane making way for an all out offensive against state. What will the government do then? Keep pondering over whether it was a ''law and order'' issue or a war against a sovereign state?? Only the time will tell...
*Strategy : This is how the para-military and state police machinery functions...you attack a small stretch of naxal occupied area with full force, force the Maoist to retreat and then set up outposts to act as a base of further action. The plan sounds good and effective but...Without secure supplies, high security perimeters, regular troop rotation and quick further action to grab the initiative of the outpost establishment renders this plan toothless. Add to it the fact that the terrain is jungle where its possible to about move about undetected by the outpost and the sentries. The naxal mingle with the locals to cloak their movements and strike at an unwary security unit. While the forces could hardly spring traps, the naxals pull off one massacre after another. How do the naxals to escape the heat? Simple! They keep crisscrossing into the adjoining states thus making the mockery of the jurisdiction of different states where the police is left in a lurch trying to figure out whose jurisdiction is it to go after the get-aways. And please, sharing information of deploying fancy elements like ''greyhounds'', GPS TRACKERS, Mine resistant vehicles, automatic weapons may add to the vanity of the high ranking officers and catch the imagination of the public but it hardly has any impact on the operational effectiveness of the combat forces. The troops haven't even got personal communication radios and to talk of high tech gadgetry is such blasphemy.
*Night combat tactics: The combing operations are halted at dusk. The night combat option has not been used yet for reasons best known to government. The naxals do not have the capability to negotiate attacks by night. Using Night Vision devices, sniper units can take out the top Maoist commanders thus leave the rag tag groups without leadership + motivation and that might force them to give up arms. Why not embed electronic chips in the rifles of the forces? The naxals are known to salvage arms and ammo after attacks, so they can then be traced revealing their hide outs. Instead of trying to outgun the Maoist, simply outwit them.
*Local intelligence : This is indispensable. You cannot venture out into naxal heartlands without solid intel. Instead of depending on half baked report provided by IB and CID its best to arrange for double agents and plant your own informers among the sympathizers. You have to pay to gather info. Publicly announcing awards on the heads of the targets ain't gonna work because through well connected source in the administration, the Maoist will come to know about the informer and then make them pay dearly. The IB should directly payoff naxal comrades to divulge information. This shouldn't be much of a problem considering there are always some Indians who have the tendency to defect from their side as evident in the Madhuri Gupta case.
* Air Support : PC doesn't want to use air power (i.e. Armed forces on Indian nationals). Fair enough! But at least issue a directive regarding proper use of air support. Don't bring in those choppers only to ferry the dead and the wounded. Have those choppers conduct patrol over sensitive areas and let them escort the convoys and the patrol parties which pass through dangerous zones. Timely patrol will check Maoists from planting bombs at will.
* Seal the porous borders: Arms are being supplied to the naxal by arms rackets operating near the international borders of India and Nepal, from north east and substantial amount being manufactured locally. The supplies to naxals must dry up to exert pressure on them. The effort should be more on boxing in the perps than spearheading into their territories. The noose should be tightened gradually waiting for them to make mistakes.
* Tag and gag those mother*ucking pro-naxal sympathizers : Kindly book those bastards who make their living selling the plight of the naxals to the public. An ideology which doesn't mind bloodshed shouldn't be allowed to spread into schools and colleges poisoning young minds. We have already witnessed student outrage and violence during the Naxal era...hundreds of lives lost, thousands of careers destroyed. Yet, these morons think that by rooting for the Maoist they can become the favored child of revolution...even if their designs are not that great still they are milking this issue to get footage. The disturbing thing is that the buddhi-jeevis are the ones justifying Maoist mayhem whether in open or in proxy. They should be made to hear what the widows, parents and children of the fallen jawans have to say. Maybe the rationals they give on TV can pacify the mourners.
The Maoist/naxals may not be wrong in opposing the suppressive policies of government on the downtrodden outcasts of society but that doesn't give you the right to dismantle the governance all together and take over sovereign parts of this nation by killing innocents as well as the custodians of law and order in this country. The Maoist movement may have been a good cause gone bad but its high time to see an end to it. Enough said!
Not much...It comes cheap...one of the very few things left untouched by inflation....a few lakhs of rupees and a mere mention as one of the numerous jawans killed or injured on the news channels, often confined to the ticker alone (in case the casualties have not occurred in bulk then their sacrifice is played down in favor of other ''breaking'' news). Perhaps a word of condolence to the family and rarely somebody owning up to the blunders that have led to their deaths. Tackling the Maoist Menace is a risky business and the government as well as the police top brass have made cannon fodder out of SPOs, Paramilitary personnels and Policemen. These brave men are considered expendable hence sent into the killing grounds ill-equipped, with negligible intel, guided by shoddy tactics and no backup/cover what so ever. This anti-Maoist operation has been *ucked up so bad that Mr.Kishanji and Co. rival Rambo, killing state forces with clinical precision. Supposedly mine- proof vehicles are being blown up by IEDs, yet the authorities insist on sending in troops with a token mine-proof vehicle to give the Jawan a sense of false security. Let me point out some glaring callousness of the think-tanks heading '' operation green hunt''. I understand that I'm not the appropriate person to have a say in this matter but the lapses are very basic in nature and as a military history enthusiast, the point I am trying to make do hold water plus this blog happens to be mine so I can say what I want to without mincing words...
* Government policy : In the insurgency hit J&k, when militants kill soldiers and civilians,Government sends in the army to deal with them...mind you in Kashmir militants operate in small groups of 3 or 5. The Government doesn't have a negotiation policy with the militants. Whereas in places like Dantewada, hundreds of Maoists en masse butcher the security personnels but still home ministry is reluctant to send in the cavalry. Why, even the issue of air-support during combing operation is marred by protocols and a misplaced sense of political righteousness. What differentiates a militant from a Maoist? Why does government even want to have talks with Maoist? Is it simply because home-bred terrorist deserve a second chance? Since when did killing mercilessly became an excuse to reach out to masses airing concerns of poverty and under-development? Are we going to find criminals like Kishanji in parliament in the future if the Maoist strike a deal with the government in the days to come? After decades of violence,leaders of IRA were given political pardon and leverage to enter the political mainstream of the Great Britain. Is something similar going to happen for the Maoists? Someone rightly pointed out that Rajapaksha quashed LTTE in Sri Lanka in spite of heavy odds then what's keeping the state from taking down the Mao Menace?? When does the government decide its time to go all guns blazing?? Is it after some more Dantewada s that the Home Ministry will get over the bullshit theory of offering the olive branch along with killer punch? No wonder Maoist are now dictating terms to Mr.Chidambaram...We need men of Sardar Patel's caliber who can take the bull by the horns. The policy needs a revision and subsequent modification .
* Tactics : Maoists are using the time tested Apache guerrilla strategy.
The idea is to organize massive strikes on small patrol parties with such brutality that it catches the public attention and furthers confusion mixed fear in the minds of the security forces. Look at their modus operandi...On receiving solid intel from the villagers regarding the path the convoys will take during routine missions, they have sleepers in the village relaying information to the pockets of Maoist resistance spread across the 5 states. The advance party does a recce and ascertains the intel. They pass on the info to the commanders who order the bomb experts to lay down explosives. Understanding that standard anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines will be useless against the Mine proof trucks, they use IEDs or Improvised Explosive Device which are usually artillery shells with wired detonating mechanism...obviously an artillery shell packs more punch than a land mine and comes cheaper as well (often these are unexploded shells recovered by scrap dealers who handle military wastes). Thus, IEDs defeat the mine proof armor of the vehicles. The Maoist well organized use bird calls to relay directions as they encircle and ambush the convoy all at once outflanking the Jawans who have no cover. Imagine a platoon of jawans surrounded by some 500 naxals in the jungle, trying to get cover while reeling from a massive IED explosion. Its an overkill situation. In guerrilla warfare, that too in jungle, its the no. that counts more than weaponry or shooting skills. The offensive against the naxals are so ill-coordinated that they can afford the time to regroup, rearm and replenish their ranks. Plus the unimaginative top brass ensures that the forces are always two steps behind the naxals.
The Maoists are now evolving their tactics...they are cutting off communication in and around their stronghold...blowing up railway tracks, telephone lines, power lines and even going after the power installations like the thermal Power plants in order to isolate these places and secure their fortifications. What next?? We can expect them going the way of the LTTE and the Chechen rebels i.e. to go after soft targets...schools, hospitals plus organize suicide squads...The only thing stopping them from doing so is the ideology factor that seems to guide them some what. But, if cornered and under the leadership of radical elements, the ideology will soon wane making way for an all out offensive against state. What will the government do then? Keep pondering over whether it was a ''law and order'' issue or a war against a sovereign state?? Only the time will tell...
*Strategy : This is how the para-military and state police machinery functions...you attack a small stretch of naxal occupied area with full force, force the Maoist to retreat and then set up outposts to act as a base of further action. The plan sounds good and effective but...Without secure supplies, high security perimeters, regular troop rotation and quick further action to grab the initiative of the outpost establishment renders this plan toothless. Add to it the fact that the terrain is jungle where its possible to about move about undetected by the outpost and the sentries. The naxal mingle with the locals to cloak their movements and strike at an unwary security unit. While the forces could hardly spring traps, the naxals pull off one massacre after another. How do the naxals to escape the heat? Simple! They keep crisscrossing into the adjoining states thus making the mockery of the jurisdiction of different states where the police is left in a lurch trying to figure out whose jurisdiction is it to go after the get-aways. And please, sharing information of deploying fancy elements like ''greyhounds'', GPS TRACKERS, Mine resistant vehicles, automatic weapons may add to the vanity of the high ranking officers and catch the imagination of the public but it hardly has any impact on the operational effectiveness of the combat forces. The troops haven't even got personal communication radios and to talk of high tech gadgetry is such blasphemy.
*Night combat tactics: The combing operations are halted at dusk. The night combat option has not been used yet for reasons best known to government. The naxals do not have the capability to negotiate attacks by night. Using Night Vision devices, sniper units can take out the top Maoist commanders thus leave the rag tag groups without leadership + motivation and that might force them to give up arms. Why not embed electronic chips in the rifles of the forces? The naxals are known to salvage arms and ammo after attacks, so they can then be traced revealing their hide outs. Instead of trying to outgun the Maoist, simply outwit them.
*Local intelligence : This is indispensable. You cannot venture out into naxal heartlands without solid intel. Instead of depending on half baked report provided by IB and CID its best to arrange for double agents and plant your own informers among the sympathizers. You have to pay to gather info. Publicly announcing awards on the heads of the targets ain't gonna work because through well connected source in the administration, the Maoist will come to know about the informer and then make them pay dearly. The IB should directly payoff naxal comrades to divulge information. This shouldn't be much of a problem considering there are always some Indians who have the tendency to defect from their side as evident in the Madhuri Gupta case.
* Air Support : PC doesn't want to use air power (i.e. Armed forces on Indian nationals). Fair enough! But at least issue a directive regarding proper use of air support. Don't bring in those choppers only to ferry the dead and the wounded. Have those choppers conduct patrol over sensitive areas and let them escort the convoys and the patrol parties which pass through dangerous zones. Timely patrol will check Maoists from planting bombs at will.
* Seal the porous borders: Arms are being supplied to the naxal by arms rackets operating near the international borders of India and Nepal, from north east and substantial amount being manufactured locally. The supplies to naxals must dry up to exert pressure on them. The effort should be more on boxing in the perps than spearheading into their territories. The noose should be tightened gradually waiting for them to make mistakes.
* Tag and gag those mother*ucking pro-naxal sympathizers : Kindly book those bastards who make their living selling the plight of the naxals to the public. An ideology which doesn't mind bloodshed shouldn't be allowed to spread into schools and colleges poisoning young minds. We have already witnessed student outrage and violence during the Naxal era...hundreds of lives lost, thousands of careers destroyed. Yet, these morons think that by rooting for the Maoist they can become the favored child of revolution...even if their designs are not that great still they are milking this issue to get footage. The disturbing thing is that the buddhi-jeevis are the ones justifying Maoist mayhem whether in open or in proxy. They should be made to hear what the widows, parents and children of the fallen jawans have to say. Maybe the rationals they give on TV can pacify the mourners.
The Maoist/naxals may not be wrong in opposing the suppressive policies of government on the downtrodden outcasts of society but that doesn't give you the right to dismantle the governance all together and take over sovereign parts of this nation by killing innocents as well as the custodians of law and order in this country. The Maoist movement may have been a good cause gone bad but its high time to see an end to it. Enough said!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Behold.....The Justice League Of Electrical Engineering
The order of JLEE ...SKM, GB, ANS, DR, ASG, MSG, AR, DSu, AKM and JP...To keep their identities a secret, Super-zeroes like KM, AS, SP, BRB did not furnish their photographs
" Who needs villains if you have them, Zeroes, watching your six..."
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