'Travel untill you die' was our passion and motto since childhood, so we enjoyed the long drive from pathankot to jammu overnight. We had our dinner at military hospital jammu with a favour from our juniors back in college and halted in their guest rooms. Next morning we moved on along the spiralled climbs greeting up the sun across the jammu- udhampur highway amidst the thick woods.
We drove all the way to udhampur swiftly and then to patnitop to enjoy the midas touch of the first snowfall but we're there at the wrong time. Still we managed to enjoy the elegance of the pine woods and the mini European attire the place had presented before us. We had the spicy 'chowmeen' over there from a Chinese restaurant and carried on our journey uphill.
The gradually rising hills in their ascending heights, their transition from tall trees to shrubs and the ice lad peaks were new for my codriver, that she made me stop the car at every possible spot to click a good photographs of herself. Unfortunately it was my own proud privelege to tolerate her funny pouts and copy them exactly inside my DSLR to create future memes.
We rammed across the dhauladhar and ladakhi ranges, crossed few climbs through the heart of lesser Himalayas and had our evening halt at 'batote' before entering the true valley.
The cozy cold night in that single room within the field hospital arose a romantic environment, but we were more anxious about that tiresome drive left before us the next morning.
Before first rays could wake up the sunflowers bloomed in the lesser valley, we were up for our onward journey, covering 'Doda' and rambhan. In between we made a short halt at 'banihal' to enjoy the scenery with a black tea to keep us both awake.
Thereafter the roads were scary with dense woods over one side and deep gorges over the other with none to help us around if the ride end up in some mishaps. Military checkposts and forest check posts came up in sequence to make us realise the upcoming threats and security concern to the land we were entering.
A straight away drive for 4 hours through those vacant paths took us in to the town of Anandnag where we pretended to be two lame tourists and had our lunch. Being a district capital there were some shops around so that my better half could do some violent shopping
to cope up with upcoming winters.
I brought a 'pashmina shawl' and gifted her, as a reward of compensation for spoiling her adventures with seven sisters. The bribe seemed enough to keep her calmly follow me in our further march to aishmuqam.
Finally after our not so romantic trip through the valley, we landed up back in to aishmuqam, where tiger of my RR was eagerly waiting for us with some twists in the murder mystery
"Jai hind sir, this is Capt Shakti my dearest friend and medical officer working at MH Bagdogra." I introduced her to him and we shaked hands within the officer's mess.
"Sir we have some leads to discuss regarding the death of Maj Diljith and then Lt Col Ajay chauhan which we got from our trips at bagdogra and pathankot." Shakti expressed her concern so soon as she had a plan for Dal lake that evening.
"Yes, I know capt shakti. This boy had shared me few datas he had collected from their previous unit location at bagdogra. He is true that Maj Chauhan and capt Diljith were in the SIKH Li paltan together as Hav Khushwant back in 2009. So we held an internal enquiry in which he was totally non cooperative, thus ended up in a reprimand." Tiger explained us the advances they have done to solve the mystery.
"We tried third degree not letting him sleep for five days and he opened out some shocking things which makes this crime unsolvable."
"Sir, I don't really understand why this case cannot be solved. Please give me a chance to confront him myself, I shall make him confess." My blood glowed from inside to see the culprit and proove his guilt.
But I never anticipated our next meeting would be the last one and in which he would confuse me about the real face of justice.
I saw a tall man lying on the floor, with just enough clothes to cover his private parts and oiled from head to toe as I entered the cell inside the kote.
"Sir, he was oiled to induce sleep and was not allowed for the same for almost 4-5 days , then he admitted the crime." SM saab opened us the story we had missed in our travel enroute.
"Saab, if you don't mind could you please wake him up? I need to talk to him."
Following my lead he tried to wake him up with his hands from the deepest corner of his sleep, but it was quite difficult. But the blow from his lathi however lifted him up even though his heart was half willing.
"Jai hind sir, I have been waiting for your arrival from the moment sukhvinder told me you had visited our home. I knew you were the one behind my reprimand but you should know why I had to do all these." Khushwant singh started speaking up to me as soon as he could recognise me behind the bars.
"Yes, tell me why? What was your motive behind the murder of two decorated officers of this rashtriya rifles? Was it because that they were behind the suicide of your best friend Savinash at Bagdogra?" I shooted my questions without hesitation as I needed a clear motive to complete my investigations.
"So glad that you know him sir. He was more than a friend to me, more than a brother to this guy who loved men. It sometimes happened between us because we were living and suffering inside the same bunkers and lines while the privileged officers were enjoying shampaigne.
I can't admit that he would even imagine of raping his master's wife because he was a gay like me. So I went in to talk to him once and heard the conspiracy behind his abduction. Before I could do something for him he was brutally murdered inside that creepy cell and then forged it to be a suicide.
How could I forgive my partner's murder? How could harleen forgive the lady behind all these? So we waited for long to get the right opportunity and we got the same." Khushwant had a unusual smile in his lips of a successful man while he admitted his crime.
"Ok agreed. Killing Col Ajay, Maj Diljith and Mrs Ajay was a part of your revenge. What about the six month old kid you aborted? What was his mistake?" I asked to humiliate his confidence level but he didn't fall for it
"Sir, shall I tell you a long story? If you have enough time to listen."
"Yes, you may."
"At the end of it please tell me were the justice lies."
************************************************
Five years ago in the deep forests around silguri, the company commander of alpha company Maj Ajay was abducted by a group of maoists during LRP. But his brave buddy Sep Savinash saved him foresaking his own life and killing three of the militants hidden in jungle.
From that day Maj Ajay took him as his personal buddy to train him to make an officer.
He send him on special leave to complete his half halted graduation classes and started grooming him for CDS exams.
Everything was going smooth untill Mrs Ajay came in to live with him at bagdogra. They lived so happily, with Savinash serving his master and mistress so passionately.
One day while Ajay was away on some forward duties, savinash carried the household goods from their unit canteen for his madam. It took so long for Mrs Ajay to open her doors and when she opened she was wearing quite an objectionable dress as if she was fresh from her bathroom. He noticed an unexpected guest inside their visitors room and he got more suspicious about them.
The suspicious buddy started following her routines and one morning he found Maj diljith getting up from her bed naked. He locked the house from outside and entered inside through the back doors to confront them.
But he misunderstood the cunningness of the two people who dared to have sex outside marriage. They both caught him then and there and tied him to the nearest pillar. It was at the same time Maj Ajay had entered his house exhausted after a long patrolling.
On the verge of getting caught on their unilicit relationship diljith and the lady played a quick plan. They blamed savinash was frequent misbehaving with the lady and he tried to rape her while she was bathing in her toilet.
Hearing her scream from inside, diljith who was also their neighbour rammed in to the house breaking their back door and caught him wet handed.
They had tied up savinash in a pillar almost nude to convince their cooked up story. Soon the story spreaded in to the whole paltan and an enquiry was started against the boy.
Officers turned in to a gang and tortured , humiliated the young jawan. One fine night he was found dead inside the Kote with an INSAS rifle in his hand and its bullet inside his head. They said he had committed suicide out of his guilt, but only I knew it was a cold blooded murder. He had a few photographs of the lady with Maj Diljith and Col Ajay had planned the crime to get it from him so that his reputation won't go spoiled.
He spoke his truths only to one person, who was his buddy and partner since childhood. He handed me a copy of evidences which I presented before our then commanding officer.
I waited for long to get him justice , but the repercussions came in like threats to the life of his grandmother and sister. So I decided to take care of them and took them to my quarter in bagdora marrying harleen. He was always my partner's little sister for me and we were just married in papers.
Later I understood the depth of sabotage the officers of my unit had committed inorder to suppress the evidences which would spoil each of their carriers. I was punished for questioning my officers and was send out on deputation. I didn't give up, came up with more evidences before the higher commanders.But every one laughed at me, screwed my opportunities and tortured me many a times.
Even the fallen shall get a time to rise and I utilised it. I followed the men who had spoiled my only family, who were living happily ever after. I collected more and more evidences for the corruption they have committed in their professional carrier there after.
I worked under Maj diljith at nowshera, came to know about their dirty business of reaping militants. They won't report once a youngster go missing from their area of responsibility, even if they know he have joined a militant organisation. Wait for him to be a wanted criminal killing innocents and once government issues over one lakh reward over his hed, they had secret deal with J& K police.
They plan a fake encounter with them and kill the teenager, the price money for police and sena medal for the company commander. Col Ajay wasn't different from this so I tried to collect evidences against them and I was quite successful.
They sold the issued rations and FOL to local contacts and filled up their pockets. They were brutally corrupted and lived selling the nation's pride. Now my family have enough evidences to screw them all from the roots, but nobody wanted to listen to us.
There is a limit for patience in every human being sirjii. I tried my level best to bring them before law and order but the lady with the balance remained blind folded to them.
I waited for the right opportunity to complete my revenge and I did it well planned.
Now tell me what should I have done better than this to those ruthless bastards who were selling my motherland, killing innocents and shaming the ones who pointed out their mistakes??
***********************************************
His questions reverberated inside our hearts as we walked away from the kote, toward's the tiger's den. He is a criminal who committed four brutal murders including a foeticide but he was a wounded man who waited long for his justice. He never got it and he took law and order in to his fist. Whether we should punish him or not?
Our mind kept pondering his story just get a lead so that we could blame him for every thing. It was the system which made him a criminal, the corrupted officers who made him an animal. But now whom should we place behind the bars
"Maddy this will be getting more complicated and I think we can't except the tiger to punish him." Shakti whispered as we were about to approach tiger's den.
"Why do you feel that?"
"He says he have collected enough evidences against two late company commanders of this regiment. Won't that be interpreted as a failure of His command?
Like the CO of the SIKHLi paltan, he would also try his level best to save his ass. You just wait, he would definitely show up a helpless face before you inside. Don't loss your temper or enter in to unnecessary fight out of your rage to justice." She warned me before we entered the office which always maintain its secrecy.
"Look doc, I wish this crime shall remain with in four- five of us for the time being. I have reasonable evidences to start an enquiry on him and put him behind bars. But he has got enough poison to screw the image and legacy of this regiment and his parent unit.
So for the time being we are keeping him under reprimand and sending him back to his parent unit. Please co-operate with us so that you don't spoil your vacations, you shall remain our most memorable guest for ever." Col Tamanpreet explained his helplessness the same way shakti had predicted along with an indirect warning for us.
"That's alright sir. My duty was to solve the mystery and bring the real culprit before you. Now it's the responsibility of judiciary to punish him, if it fails more Khushwant singhs will be borne in this country." Hiding all my distress and agony I held her hands inside mine and we walked out of the premises peacefully.
"Maddy, how much hours to Srinagar?" Shakti who knew my internal conflicts asked me while I was driving the steering like a machine whom you would say well trained not well educated.
"Four hours, dear. Who do you think is right here? The officers who misused their integrity for cheap things and killed an innocent or the soldier who avenged the death of an innocent and exposed their devil faces though after four brutal homicides?" I slowly released the stress growing inside me in that hour expecting she could be a reliable shoulder to lean on.
" Truth and justice are many times much mysterious my lord. But natural selection is the truth and essense of evolution. So leave it to nature, it shall select the ones who need to survive and who need not.
We are just two clueless travellers going for a date together, lets think more about our sunset at Dal lake rather than something we can never influence. Will that be okay with you?"
She turned to me suddenly and kissed on my cheeks which melted the wax of hatred and deceit which was growing with in me.
Many a times our predecessors have told 'Life of a man is never completed without his woman and vise versa'. Nature rules before all and whatsoever can happen will definitely happen if you longed for it or not.
Just swim through the river like that leaflet which floated through 'lidder' being helpful to few antlets. Go with the flow being helpful to our fellow beings and it is ultimately called the line of demarcation between heaven and hell.
************The End*************
YOU ARE READING
TRUE LIES-PUZZLE FROM ANANDNAG
Misterio / SuspensoA JOURNEY BETWEEN TRUTH AND JUSTICE
