Terror on the Divine - Part 1 : Behind the mask

Chapter - 6, Drug Mafia

Jobin Jose was reviewing his resignation letter before pressing the send icon, and I again interrupted him. "Sir, I need to exchange some information with you. It's regarding the drug mafia." The words 'drug mafia' made Jobin raises his eyebrows and he seemed to be enthusiastic to know every inch of information about the drug dealers. He showed his curiosity by lending an ear to my words, pushing his laptop to his left and leaning a little forward on the table. He whispered, "This case has taken my sleep. If you give me a piece of perfect information, I will definitely reward you."

"Sir, we are a team of four and obedient students of a great social worker, Mr Adyapak, an ex-army official settled in Goa. Being his students, we don't work on helping people for money. I am sorry, I might be rude. But, this is the fact." Sitting comfortably on a wooden chair in front of the inspector, I said, "I have heard about you, Mr Jobin, you have been awarded by your department for effectively closing your cases. I believe whatever I have heard about you, and I know you are not corrupt. Well, shall we continue on the main subject? Or shall I move?" I acted smartly in understanding his eagerness to capture the criminal behind drug mafia.

Glaring at me and picking up an almond from his pocket, he said, "Good, and you can proceed"

"As per the report provided by an NGO – it's my home trust, which works on de-addiction pan India - drug addicts in the states are massively growing day by day, in fact, the major business for drug dealers are school students. It was a known fact that adult drug addicts were huge in number; it has been passed on to school children too. If this is the case, the whole of Goa, irrespective of age will suffer from drug addiction related diseases, which could lead to uncontrollable deaths." I paused for a second to sip water.

"In the recent past, we have also noticed that drug addicts are also from well-educated family backgrounds; unfortunately, the maximum is females. My home trust claims that the police are lethargic in finding out the roots of all these drug mafias and it looks like the police are allowing the drug dealers a smooth flow." I observed his face turning aggressive.

"I apologize, Mr Jobin. I mentioned earlier that you aren't corrupt and I believe you." Saying so, I tried my best to calm him down.

Looking deep into his eyes confidently I said, "As per the investigation and the report given by the NGO, fresh drug addicts use a drug named 'Weed'; they also mentioned that they require police intervention."

I stood up, leaning front towards Jobin. "The NGO has done so much of investigation, providing a complete report on drug abusers in this state. Why are the police sitting blind, closing their ears and eyes?" I said, pointing at Jobin, and my eyes turned red; I was still emitting a bad smell of alcohol.

Jobin, glaring at me, said, "I appreciate the concern you have, but do you think we haven't taken any initiative in finding out the root cause for all these drug abuses? Look, we are on it seriously, it even disturbed my peace of mind. I took the initiative in cracking the code. Every time, we failed. Moreover, I took initiative on this case even though I haven't received any complaint particularly about it." Saying so, grabbing his laptop, he pointed at the desktop. "This is the resignation letter I have typed, and this is because of the failure in finding out the drug dealers. No one in this state could claim a case on this, and no drug addict will come forward and do the needful; if such is the case, I can't take up this case officially. Still, I am on it, and I want to find out the criminal unofficially. However, we are going to the places once the information is received, but the sad part is we haven't got anything except the beer bottles and cigarette packs."

"Exactly, you won't get anything else other than beer bottles and cigarette packs," I added with confidence.

"What do you mean?" Jobin Jose didn't understand what I was saying.

"Jobin, it's straightforward, allow your brain to be free and think about it. Have you ever sent the beer bottles and cigarette packs to a forensic lab?" I asked daringly.

"No, but why should I send them? I don't find any logic in it," he said, looking at me in confusion.

"You need to send it for testing because being a smoker and after hearing the story about what happened with the prisoner in cell number 02, I believe the cigarettes aren't filled with tobacco; instead they are filled with weed and supplied, which becomes easier for drug dealers to supply their goods." I put forward my point very carefully but clearly.

"Tobacco is more addictive but keeps you more active. Weed looks very similar to tobacco in appearance, but it slows you down and alters your mind. After hearing about what happened with Nanditha, it confirmed to me that she was under the influence of weed unknowingly; she believed that she was smoking tobacco, but she wasn't. Going into the influence of weed, she had lost control of her mind, which affected her mental behavior. Because of this, she was forced into prostitution. I mean, weed controlled her, and the desire to have weed unknowingly pushed her into prostitution. I strongly believe, considering the increased prostitution rate in this state, that these women are influenced by weed without their knowledge. This has given an easy platform to the drug mafia to start prostitution as their profitable secondary business. Because of which, the rate of prostitution in the recent past has increased in this state." I explained it very clearly, and I am pretty sure that my words had convinced Jobin and also has given him a way to look at the disaster that was unfolding.

Convinced, the inspector pointed at me and then voiced his doubt. "It's convincing that weed was being filled inside cigarettes instead of tobacco, but what do you think about the beer bottles?"

I was expecting this question, and I replied to him immediately, saying, "The forensic lab could give a better picture of that."

Calling the head constable's name, the inspector asked the constable to send the beer bottles to the forensic lab. The head constable, without delay, replied, saying, "Sir, we haven't collected any bottles till now from the places we raided. Do you want me to collect some? If so, I will right now go to the last place we raided and collect them. Shall I?"

"Yes, probably you should do the needful, which could help us solve the case. It could take us to the main criminal dealing with all these." Jobin stood up and said, "Ask the driver to bring the vehicle to the main gate. I will join you." He was holding a police cap in his right hand. Before leaving the place, he ensured that his gun was loaded with bullets. It was quite late in the night – almost 9:30 PM – but that did not deter him; it showed his interest and enthusiasm in solving the case as soon as possible.

I interrupted him again and said, "Jobin, I have one more thing to share. Shall I?" I asked him hurriedly as he was about to leave the station.

"After hearing Nanditha's story, I strongly believe that there are many drug addicts who are victims of the strategic ideas of these dealers. So like you did with Nanditha, I request you not to rush towards them violently. Me being a social worker, I will ask the doctors to help those victims in helping them to give up their addiction. Let us conduct a program of awareness on drug addiction," I said.

"Let us conduct a program of awareness of drug addiction," I repeated my words. I had a headache now, and I think I might have consumed excess alcohol, over my usual limit.

"Yeah, I understand your concern. I won't go against the drug addicts; instead, I will try to catch the criminal as soon as possible. And, well, thanks for the help - for showing me a way to start my investigation. After the forensic lab report, I will surely prepare a report on the same and will claim a case with my self-interest in the High Court of Goa. It will help me to move officially," he said.

"Yeah, that's true. Why can't you use Nanditha's help for the same? Why can't we arrest the hotel manager and start an investigation on him?" I put forward my opinion. Even though my opinion seemed to be better, it was Inspector Rambo Jobin Jose's call at the end of it. He looked happy with the idea I had given him.

He nodded his head, and said, "That seems to be a good idea, I will think about it."

He seemed to have a positive approach towards my idea, and seemed to have got used to the lousy smell emanating from my mouth.