Maya's Revenge

THE PREY BEGINS THE HUNT

Maya started working for Kumud Singh, but instead of making her work at his bungalow, she was placed at one of his milk factories. She saw a lot of things there that were illegal, but then she understood that she had been put there purposefully. Kumud Singh wanted to convey a message to Maya and Nihal Singh that they were now a part of his illegal business, and if anyone dared to go against him, there would be consequences. Kumud Singh had also taken a risk, as he knew that Maya and Nihal Singh would not hesitate in going against him. But then he also believed that keep your enemies closer to you than your friends.

Maya witnessed cold-blooded murders, torture, flesh trade, and many other things there. Kumud Singh was running his opium trade and was using the milk business and vegetable trading business for transportation and movement. He wasn't involved in selling on the streets or the retail part of the business. It was only bulk transportation and movement of opium that he was involved in.

One day, when Maya was at the milk factory, there was a police informant who was brought to him. Maya was working on one of the milk packing booths in the factory. The informer was pleading and crying as he was dragged into the factory. His wife and mother were also brought. First, Kumud Singh listened to him as he admitted to his crime. He had been caught red-handed giving information to one of the Narcotics Bureau sleuths about a consignment delivery. Kumud Singh sat in the middle of the factory floor on a chair and was listening as the man caught his legs and was pleading for mercy. Kumud Singh looked at Maya and spat on the fellow on his face, as if he wanted to emphasize that Nihal Singh was also on his feet just like this.

There is a process in pasteurization of milk called "HTST," meaning High Temperature Short Time. Milk passing through this process is at very high temperature. Kumud Singh asked that man to go and fetch a glass of water for himself, his wife, and his mother. He consoled the wife and mother, assuring that everything was going to be normal soon.

A water filter was kept near the pasteurization machine on a table. As soon as the man reached near it, a thick spray of milk at very high temperature came out of the machine. The man was covered in milk at 150 degrees, started burning, and out of shock, he started running and scampering to avoid the spray of milk. He got confused, hit a pillar, and fell to the ground. Kumud Singh walked up to him, kept his foot on the man's back, and shot him three times in the head. The white of the milk slowly started to turn red. He killed the man's mother and wife also on the spot with his pistol.

The factory floor went silent. Maya got the message. They needed to flee Birpur as soon as possible. She did not have a plan, but she knew she could not tell what happened that day at the factory to anyone outside, especially her family members, as they would panic, and panic would lead to a mistake. Neither she could go back against Girish and the police department. She needed to find more people like her who wanted out of Kumud Singh's business. She started searching for someone like this. The only way to do this was to overhear the conversations of others silently and then judge the best, most genuine, and most courageous person to team up with.

She overheard many people who were frustrated there and wanted to leave, but they had impractical ideas. One fellow all drunk said how he would one day simply vanish. He said he would go and not tell anyone; just buy a ticket to someplace and leave. Someone cautioned, "Kumud Singh has informers all over the city, including platforms and railway stations, and if any of his employees were seen boarding a train without giving prior information, he was either stopped then and there or forced to get down at the next station and return. You could go out, but then you had to inform earlier, and you absolutely could not lie. If anybody left town, they had to leave someone who was a part of the family with Kumud Singh at his guest house."

She met one person who seemed determined. He was the guard at the entrance of the milk factory. He said there is only one way to leave. Get something in your hands, something that is of value to Kumud Singh, and bargain. The only way Kumud Singh was going to listen to anyone was if they had something that could harm his business, his trade, or expose him. But it had to be done in such a way that Kumud Singh feels the threat yet cannot do anything to mitigate it. The risk-reward ratio should be skewed against him so that he feels that the risk of being exposed or losing something should be greater than the reward of letting someone go.

Maya started thinking. What are the options? She asked herself. There had to be a way of putting a knife to his throat without him knowing who was holding the knife, yet bruising him whenever required to push him into a corner to make him toe the line and agree to something. She looked around and understood that anything related to business would compel him to weaken and come to the negotiation table, but then he could always find a way to re-grow that part of the business over a period of time, and so negotiation power could be lost. He could one fine day just leave a part of business if he was forced to, and so negotiating him with anything related to his business was dangerous. She had found an answer. It had to affect his personal life. Kumud Singh was attached to his son, especially the younger one, who was 15 years old. Someone could kidnap him and negotiate with Kumud Singh in such a way that Nihal Singh and his family get a window to free themselves. This was just the crux of the plan; she decided to work on the details. It was do or die. If she failed, she would get killed, and if she succeeded, they might get free from this rut.