It’s a long long day – While at Narayanpura

The most challenging part of a Spy’s job is that he never gets detailed information neatly printed on a paper in a file. All that a spy gets is just a skimp of information and his job starts on calculating the information, gathering the clues and then piling up an entire file of information based on that skimp. In short, a Spy always has to start his mission with a black cloth covering his eyes!

The only information I had got while I was driving back to Herangadi Bus Stop, to be on time as decided with Praveen, was our missing RAW Agent had left the bar in hurry after an heated argument with guy wearing green T-Shirt who had been stalking him since few days.

Something had definitely spooked him off from his scheduled meeting with Ram and he had left the bar in hurry but what was it? It either had to be a danger for the scheduled meeting or something that needed his attention in priority. In either ways he had left the bar and then instead of meeting Ram or updating him about anything, he had straight away headed towards Narayanpura. It had to powerful enough to drive him off from such an important meeting or it had to be that unsafe.

All the way till Herangadi Bus Stop I had been thinking if the guy in green T-Short was a kidnapper or was he someone who brought in some information to the agent. With one thought, my brain had heated lot more than the engine of the car. Finally I had decided to wait for Praveen and Ram’s inputs before jumping to any conclusion and more importantly the information from Narayanpura was much more important than what I had got. It was 3:20 when I reached the same spot where we had parted our ways and had decided to give a break to my brain and calm my nerves and had played songs. But not even the first song had complete when I saw the same white ambassador come out from that same small road into which it had disappeared 2 hours back. Switching off AC and the player, I got down from the car and walked towards the ambassador.

After another round of quick discussion, which not even lasted for more than five short minutes, I walked back to our car, started the engine as Praveen sat beside me and we started driving towards Narayanpura.

We were busy getting ourselves ready, both mentally and physically, for the next actions that we would be taking but still, like you readers now, I was unaware of what I was getting ready for and more importantly what had happened in Narayanpura and what information they had collected. The only thing that I had come to know in that small discussion of five minutes was there was something fishy going on in Narayanpura and we had to be on the lookout and had to be ready any time for any action required as per the conditions.

I too did not bother to put on any more questions on Praveen until we reached Narayanpura but I won’t let that suspense eat up your heads until we reach Narayanpura. So here is what had happened in Narayanpura while I was enjoying a bottle of beer in Honnavar, as told to me by Praveen on our way back to Bangalore the next day –

The coverid for both of them was perfect, Ram was a well known shopkeeper in Honnavar and Praveen would be his business partner. Ram would walk in with a business proposal to a local shopkeeper, whose information he had already gathered, and let him to talk into anything strange that had happened the previous night.

As they reached Narayanpura, a typical village of Western Ghats on the banks of Sharavathi river with not much houses and shops not more than three and one and only one restaurant which looked more like a hut than a well built restaurant building and a small government school, they directly drove to the shopkeeper that Ram had decided earlier.

Introducing themselves as shopkeepers and businessmen from Honnavar, interested in investing some money in local farming areas near the village, they approached a local shopkeeper. Within few minutes of their talk, Ram had already impressed the local shopkeeper with his ideas and his knowledge about local politics and how to benefit from them. Ram had given him a colorful picture of how the Sharavathi river irrigation projects and the nearest Gerusoppa Reservoir project would be giving a new life to the local farming around that area. Ram had made it clear that he and his business partner were interested in investing huge in buying local farmland but they needed a local support that would help them maintain the farming and the workers.

As the shopkeeper got into Ram’s business proposal so deep that he could not get out, Ram brought out the main topic, “Has there been any other business party that has come down here looking for this opportunity?” With that one question, Ram and Praveen had got the most important information they had been craving for. A new group had come down to the village to setup some Paper Mill around the village giving Gerusoppa Reservoir project as their main benefiting factor. They were a bunch of men who had come down, look around the village, purchased a house at the end of the village and had been staying there since two months but there had been no sign of any factory or any construction or any advancement in that area. The only thing the villagers had noticed was, they would go into forest in their jeep scouting the area, come back and stay unto themselves, use local boats sometime and very seldom get of the house. Though no one knew how many of them stayed, there were a bunch of them who kept to themselves and never mingled with the villagers. They owned a jeep and sometimes another jeep and only twice an ambassador had come. But never was there any contact between them and the villagers and since none of their activities looked suspicious no one doubted on them, in fact the whole village was anxious about the upcoming Paper Mill near their village and the job opportunities that would bring.

With this information it was clear that something was wrong and the next step would obviously be visiting the one and only restaurant in that village. Again Ram had used his hold on the local language and his communication skill to talk to the owner of the restaurant and had given him the same explanation and picture that he had given to the shopkeeper. Then he had said that he knew about another business party that had come to setup a Paper Mill in the nearby forest and they got their food supplied from this restaurant. With a small friendly talk and another business proposal, Ram had got more information out of the restaurant owner. The persons who stayed in the house used to get both lunch and dinner from the restaurant but it was never the same quantity. Always one person would come to pick up the food but he never talked much and even the restaurant owner said that they always kept themselves busy and never mingled with villagers.

As the time was ticking, Ram and Praveen couldn’t spend more time in the village waiting for some action or couldn’t even risk going near that house. Instead they had decided the collected information was worth confirming that this group and their recent activity in and out of the forest had to do something with the missing agent and pushing out for more information would only put their coverid’s in danger and might trigger a suspicion around the village.

Still nothing was clear and nothing was sure but this was all what a spy gets as a start in any of his mission. There were many questions to be answered, many suspicions to be cleared, many clues to be straightened, many blanks to be filled and one life to be saved but it still was a start of the mission and it was a long long day…

Come back next week to join us in Narayanpura as the action starts…

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Honnavar Bar

It took a little more than half an hour drive to reach Honnavar but before I could head to the bar where the missing agent had scheduled an appointment with Agent Ram the previous evening, I had to drop off Ram’s all-in-one who was busy chewing his tobacco and spitting it all the way till Honnavar, almost marking a red line to the side of that road. If it was not for my cover and the mission critical to the level of a life hanging in midst of the air, I would have had him either stop spitting or get down from the car.

To gather information, in many cases, spies use advanced microphones and cams that are smaller than a house fly and are hidden in places where it is impossible to imagine and in some other cases spies just stick to their places holding a high power binoculars doing lip reading. But there are few times when all that a spy needs to do is just blend into the environment, act a bit, get the information and skip away.

I had learnt from Ram that he could gather no information from the bar where the meeting was scheduled neither the police were involved to interrogate anyone from the bar in fear of blowing up any cover. It was now time for a small spy act to gather any information I could. I strongly believed that if the missing agent had scheduled his meet with Agent Ram in that bar then he knew the bar and its safety completely and if he felt the place safe it meant only one thing – he had visited the bar multiple times and scouted it for its safety. If he had visited the place multiple times then he must have left some scent to be picked up, it only required the right nose to smell it.

As soon as we reached Ram’s shop, I turned to his assistant and said, “I need your T-Shirt and a tobacco packet”

“What?” he yelled shocked by what I said.

“Yes, I need your T-Shirt and a tobacco packet and also your slippers” I repeated.

“But why?” he asked.

“Don’t ask. I have some work locally. And don’t tell your boss that I took it. Here take this 500 note” I said and winked at him.

Seeing the Rs. 500 note his mouth opened so wide that not another word escaped through it. He quickly removed his T-Shirt and gave it to me along with a tobacco packet from his pocket then gave his slippers.

Before he got out of the car he again said, “Sir I don’t know who you are and why you need my shirt and slippers but you are mad” and grinned.

“I know that. I am so mad that I will take back that note if you stay here for a minute more”

As soon as he walked into the shop I drove towards the bar. Within a few meters away, I quickly changed into his greasy and oily T-Shirt and his slippers. Though a percentage of the scent of the deodorant I had sprayed was still there, the extra smelly T-Shirt cleanly defeated it with no doubt. Putting the tobacco in my mouth, spoiling my hairstyle to look like it was never neatly combed, I put on his slippers, got down from the car and locked it. Taking a bit of mud, I applied it randomly on my jeans. Within seconds, I quickly walked into the local bar that Agent Ram had mentioned, chewing the tobacco as quickly and as wretchedly as I could.

Even though few things in the life of a spy depend on the type of the mission, the place, the undercover lifestyle he has chosen, there are few habits that he keeps to himself and finds most comfort in doing few things in his own way. Ways of communication and choice of meeting places are one of those.

The entrance of the bar was a narrow passage with only the light from the door lightening it. Once inside, it was as dark as it proved to be night anytime of the day. I saw two aged men standing at the counter and talking to a person who seemed in charge of the whole bar. None of them cared to look at me. I walked straight, passing the counter, and into a hall that was separated from the passage by a curtain helping the room to gain more darkness. The sudden darkness and a strong smell of local alcohol gave me jolt with few hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Slowly as I got habituated with the bar and its environment, I saw few zero watt bulbs were glowing at the corners. Most of the tables were open except for two that were kind of lonely separated from other tables by a wooden compartment. I bet the agent used these tables and walked to them. Both of them were empty and I sat on the corner one that gave view to the whole of the hall. Even before I could take a neat look at the whole room, a boy, no more than 20, walked to me and shouted, “What you want?”

“One kingfisher beer”

He left not even waiting for my next order and within minutes I heard the sound of a bottle thump onto the table as I was taking look at the hall. It was not so big hall and had two tables separated into compartment, one out of which I was sitting. There were six more tables neatly spread out in two rows of three tables each, one behind another. The wooden pane that separated the two tables from rest was till my shoulder when I sat, that left a clear view to the entire hall from corner side of the table. Almost every part of wall below my ankle was either painted in tobacco splatter or something else. All my worry of the deodorant smell giving up my cover as a local worker went away with the strong alcohol smell that roared in the air.

I was still busy taking in the environment and studying three more people, two together and one alone, busy drinking local whiskey and another bartender when he asked if I wanted anything else. I signaled him a wide NO and got busy in serving myself. Time was running away and with it taking my chances of gathering the info. I yelled again for the boy and he came in few minutes with the same frown on his face.

“You don’t give any free chips?” I yelled, behaving a bit drunk, already.

“No”

“I don’t care. Bring me a chips packet. I will pay today.”

He went away and came back in minutes with a plate and a packet of chips.

“What’s the hurry man?” I asked

“I have other customers” he said and almost had stepped away blabbering, “Why do people drink when they can’t handle, that too at noon”

“Hey come here brother” I yelled again.

“What?” he asked in a tone that clearly showed his frustration and a hint of anger.

“What did you just say? Do you know why I am drinking today?” I asked him taking few continuous gulps of beer.

“I don’t know. I have lots of work to do” he quickly stepped back, sensing something wrong.

It’s always tough to act and it’s always toughest to act a drunkard. You act too much drunk and you scare people away; you show you are not too drunk and people don’t have interest in you. The best thing to do is start a friendly conversation on a local topic that gets people interested in what you talk or exchange a few heated words that can start off a battle of words and might even involve some hits and punches but will get people involved.

“Hey come here. Who the hell did you call drunk?” I yelled and thumped the bottle loudly on the table.

While I heard a few murmurs I did not care for anything. Spilling a little beer on the T-Shirt, I stood up and again started yelling for the boy. He came out of the kitchen door and walked towards me.

“What the hell is your problem man? This is the same attitude you showed to my brother? And when he asked you to behave properly you hit him with beer bottle?”

“I dint hit anyone. You are drunk, sir” he said.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You call me drunkard?” I raised my voice and stepped out of the table almost to reach his collar but stumbled a bit at the edge and took support of the wooden pane.

“You are drunk. I will call the manager.” The volume of his voice had come down and now he was on the edge of deciding either to get involved in a fight or to settle everything calmly.

“Haha. Call anyone. I am calling the police. My brother is in hospital. I will put you in jail. Who the hell do you think you are?” I yelled, taking a few hiccups.

That was the final brick in the wall. Hearing the word police his eyes turned big and he turned silent. I saw the second bartender walk out of the kitchen door and before he could turn the things worse I yelled at the top of my voice, “Manager. Manager. I want the manager. I will call police now”

No matter what place it is and no matter who and where we are dealing with, managers or owners always try to keep police out of their business places, especially when customers are present and especially when a sight of few policemen can obstruct the business. The first thing that they try to do is calm down the situation, and then try to calculate the situation and the benefit of supporting the sides. If it is not serious then they scold their own side and wrap up the scene. If it serious then they take the matters in their hands and turn everything upside down.

The manager walked in quickly and by now the other customers had gathered beside my table. The other bartender was ready to pick up a fight and I was trying my best to steal the attention of manager on my side before something worse happens and I turned up with few punches on my face.

“This boy from your bar beat up my brother yesterday and now my brother is in hospital. He hit him on his head with a beer bottle” I said to the manager, trying to walk towards him.

“No sir. It cannot happen. This is the best boy we have in our bar and moreover there was no fight in our bar yesterday” the manager said, calmly.

“No. You don’t know sir. This boy, yes this same boy who was yelling at me few minutes back hit my brother with a bottle on his head. He is bleeding in hospital. If you don’t take action now I will call police”

“No sir. You are drunk and not able to identify the right person I guess. There must be some misunderstanding I believe. Please sir, do not shout and calm down” the manager said to me as already the boy was pleading not guilty to the manager.

When I realized I could no longer drag the scene peacefully, I took the shot. Taking out the photo of the missing agent from my wallet given by Ram and showing it to the boy I asked, “Ok then tell me who hit my brother? You serve him beer daily right?”

“Do you know this guy?” Manager asked the boy.

“Yes this person comes daily and sits in this same table” the boy was saying when I interrupted, “See I told you sir. Someone hit my brother. This boy hit my brother. I will call police and get you arrested.”

“I did not hit anyone. He just comes here and drinks a beer daily and sits quietly. Only sometimes he comes with someone.”

“Oh so that rascal hit my brother. Thank you thank you” I said trying to hold the hand of the boy but slipped again and he too moved back.

“No. He was alone yesterday. But from last few days another man was coming and sitting in that table” he said pointing at a table exactly opposite to this one, but in the far end of the hall, and continued, “yesterday I saw your brother go up to that table and talk to him and then he scolded him something and walked away. I remember because he had still not completed his drink”

“Oh so that rascal hit my brother. I won’t leave that bugger. He won’t see tomorrow’s sunrise. Who the hell was he?” I yelled carelessly.

“I do not know but he was coming since few days and sitting in the same table. He was wearing the same green T-Shirt all days. He is long and has thick beard. I do not know anything else” the boy blabbered out quickly.

“Sir, now that you know our boy has nothing to do with this, please doesn’t create a scene here” manager added.

“Yes yes. Sorry sorry” I said turning at both of them as the customers walked back to their tables.

Quickly exchanging few more apologies and trying to hug the boy, I paid my bill with some tip and yelling loudly that I would take revenge on the person walked out of the bar.

Finally there some information about the missing agent but yet it was nowhere near the unraveling the mystery and yet it was just middle of the long long day…

To be Contd…

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Part ways

Good Morning Readers,

Let’s wish A Very Very Happy Father’s Day to all those Idols and Superheroes of our lives!!!

I read my last year’s blog today again to take a moment and feel what this day meant to me - http://sundayreaders.blogspot.com/2013/06/happy-fathers-day.html

Unlike others, when it comes to meetings, spies don’t have hours and hours inside a Conference room with cushioned chairs, projectors, AC and other comforts. They also lack the opportunity of cancelling or rescheduling or continuing the meetings. Their meetings have to be quick and no matter what, decisions have to be taken, be it either in a car parked on side of a road or under disguise in a busy fish market or while combating in a dense African forest.

Our meeting was also very quick. Lesser choices provided better chance of ending it quickly and we had carved out a plan and had already started preparing for it by the time Ram’s all-in-one returned with buttermilk for us. The best option was to go by his suggestion of gathering some information using his local contacts and his highly mastered local language. And it was also true that our car could call a strange attention from villagers and the spreading word may trigger any suspicion among the kidnapers, in case the agent was kidnapped there. And it took just one short sentence for us to convince him that we cannot separate from our car – ‘we have a sniper and two submachines in our car’.

Drinking the buttermilk not only helped us drench our thirsts but also provided a little more fluids for our system and soon enough Ram started giving us information on the missing agent and Narayanpura, a small village on the banks of river Sharavathi with a population no more than couple hundred, most of them either farmers or fishermen. He gave most of the information regarding the missing agent verbally except for his photo. Like us, he too had no clue in what brought the missing agent to this village on that day. We had contacted our Chief and updated him with our position and further plans. Though he had no information from INTERPOL, he knew one thing for sure; their team was getting ready to fly down to Honnavar.

With all the facts and information we had in our hands we finally decided to part our ways. Praveen would go with Ram to Narayanpura as his business partner and they would try talking to the villagers and gather as much information as they could while I would drive to Honnavar with Ram’s all-in-one and scout the local bar where Ram and the missing agent were to meet.

We both set the timers in our watches for 2 hours with a decision of no matter what meet here in 2 hours and walked apart into two cars.

Then, leaving no time, Praveen and Ram started towards Narayanpura in his ambassador while I started driving as fast I could towards Honnavar with Ram’s all-in-one sitting and chewing tobacco beside me.

I was not sure if the option was right and if it was the best option but I knew it was the one option that was apt for what present situation called in and no matter what it was going to be a really long long day.

To be Contd…

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Acts or Arms?

Other than few vehicles and few pot holes scattered randomly on the road we came across nothing on that Ghat road after crossing Sagara. Our eyes had been keenly looking at any signs of Herangadi Bus Stop as well as the Odometer to check upon the 70 km mark. I had even lost track of which song had been playing on the tape since last few kilometers. Even Praveen had remained silent the entire journey which I was sure that his brain too was now occupied with the Mission and was getting ready to face any situation that might come in.

It was during our training days that we had learnt about a very famous mission of a drug bust in this area. It was a team work but still it was one of those missions that became a ‘must study’ for spies and became ‘nothing happened nowhere’ for the rest of the world. Spies call their missions successful not when the mission is successful but when the mission is successful behind the curtains and no one ever gets to know if actually anything had happened.

Other than that drug bust this area there had been very few arms smuggling. The local ports had been an easy access to the smugglers getting in arms in small numbers and then spreading them out into the country. But once the coastal guards caught few of these and tightened up the entire water entry of Karnataka with a major base in Karwar, this place remained calm, a scenic place with abundant places to visit and savor the beauty of nature until the recent Naxal infiltrations and few bad incidents involving them. There never had been anything that involved any major security threats in this area and now this incident somehow involved INTERPOL with their lips sealed.

Both of us were sitting upright with our eyes popped out carefully watching any signs of Herangadi Bus Stop. My Casio watch displayed 1:05 PM by now. The speed of our car had slowed down a lot than what was really required. Suddenly after few minutes, we saw a white ambassador parked on the opposite side of the road under a huge Jackfruit tree. A man, wearing greased up jeans and shirt, waved hand at us to stop. I slowed down the car a bit.

“Do you think this is our stop?” Praveen asked.

“Yeah. I feel so and that car is for us.” I said

“Let’s see” he said getting down from the car as soon as I took the car to the other side and stopped it just behind the ambassador.

“Are you coming from Bangalore?” he asked Praveen

When Praveen nodded in positive, he quickly ran towards the ambassador, put in his head into the rear window and talked to the person sitting inside. Within seconds, I saw his head come out of the window and he yelled, in the local tone, “You are going to meet Ram sir?”

Praveen again nodded a yes. That sent the guys head again into the window and within seconds came out. The door of the ambassador opened and a middle aged guy wearing black trouser and pure white shirt got down from the car. For a second, I was amused guessing if it was his shirt or his car that was whiter. He got down, stroked his shirt to settle it neatly on his body, and smiled at us holding his right hand at his chest, saying, “Namaskara”

I was bowled out by his behavior, his dressing, his fluent local language. No one could ever guess this Ram sir owning a grocery shop in Honnavar is actually Agent Ram. Spies are better than chameleons when it comes to blending into surroundings and situations but Agent Ram, he had made this his life. It seemed that he was really a grocery shop owner who was working for Indian Intelligence wing as a part time job. Though it was starting of my career, I had made it to two National Level conferences of Intelligence specialists and had seen and heard many stories but this was more than experiencing a true dedication of life to the team of spies.

We both glanced at each other and then stared back at Ram, still blinking in little surprise on what a life of spy can turn into. Leaving behind his family and settling here taking up a life which was never his. I wish I could sit with him and discuss his life and many moments that passed by, each of them winning his ardent decision to choose this life.

“I am Ram. I have a grocery shop in Honnavar. I heard from my friend staying in Bangalore that you guys are coming here for some trip and need to take care of your stay. How was your travel?” he said in a sweet tone of the local language.

“Travel was good. Thanks. Yes we wanted to plan a trip in Honnavar for 2 days. We thought of meeting you at Honnavar” I said quickly stretching the lie he started.

“Yes Yes. You are right. But I had a small work in a village Narayanpur today. I had to go there for half day. You see that road; we take that small road to Narayanpur”

“Can we also join you?” Praveen asked.

“Yes why not. But you people come from Bangalore city and these are small villages. Will that be fine for you? If you want he can take you to Honnavar and wait until I return” he said pointing to the person with greased up clothes who seemed to be his all-in-one assistant.

“It will be fine. We want to enjoy these villages and it would be great to enjoy this weather rather than sitting in home waiting for you sir” Praveen continued.

“Okay. That’s fine. If you both want to enjoy then join me” he said walking towards the car.

He then turned to his all-in-one and said, “Get Butter Milk for all of us from that shop near the stop” and opened the door of ambassador.

As soon as his all-in-one walked a bit far, he called us to get in his car.

“So you are the guys on this mission. I had thought it would be a team, but you guys came in with high recommendations at being real bad asses in this.”

“Good to be appreciated” Praveen said.

“So what’s the plan?” Ram asked.

“We still have no details on the missing agent. Once you give as much info as possible on him we should start searching for him. By the way we dint know you would be joining us to Narayanpur” I said

“Yeah. I don’t do these field ops these days but since I am involved somewhat directly into this along with that agent I took up some responsibility and it’s like I am co-coordinating this mission with you. And moreover speaking to these people in local language will help get better information on our missing agent.”

“So what will be your plan?” Praveen asked.

“Simple. We will just go to Narayanpur, gather as much information as possible until we get a clue and then I will leave you both for your actions” he said.

“Thanks Ram. That will be helpful” I said

“Ok then let’s get started. Are we taking your assistant as well to Narayanpur?” Praveen asked.

“No. He is my local assistant. He has no clue on this. He will be going back to Honnavar with your car”

“No” we both exclaimed at once.

“What happened?” Ram asked

“He can’t take our car. We need it for the mission.”

“But this car would be better to go to Narayanpur and what is so special about that car. It will be safe with him. He is more loyal than you can think of” Ram said

“But that car is fully loaded. We need it for the mission. It has all our arms” Praveen said.

“Wait. Are you guys planning something already? This is just to gather information. We will be going there undercover. One of you would be my business partner and another would be my driver. We will be only and only gathering information for now. Then once we get anything at our hand, I will return back and leave you both for your mission.” Ram said

“But Ram that cannot wait. We have less than a day to rescue the missing agent. We need to act fast” I said.

“I know but at any cost I cannot have my Cover ID blown. It will be either I leave you to take up the complete mission from now and return back or else join you, help you get some more clues and then you can start your actions. No arms when I am involved”

“But that would again stretch the mission. Atleast we can carry our arms and once we get the info we need, we can just start what is needed and at any time you can return back to Honnavar” Praveen said

“Yes that’s true” I added.

“No arms when I am involved guys. I can’t risk my Cover ID. Its taken years for me and the whole team to settle up here. I prefer we go to the village, do a little act which I have planned and then come back here and take a suitable decision. It would be better for contacting the base as well” Ram said.

It had to be either his plan of enacting a small act to gather information which often helps a lot in such situations, come back and then start a hunt or our plan of carrying arms and continuing his plan with whatever hunt that mission needed. The small talk on discussion was now turning into a serious discussion with multiple options coming onto the table.

Whatever the choice we would make, one thing was clear, it was going to be a long long day!

Which option, do you readers think would be better? Acts or Arms? Suggestions welcome…

Vishal…

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