IOU - The Man Who Knew Too Much!

Vivek Sharma, a young and upright officer, working for one of the premier central police organization (CPO), stood in attention as he listened to his boss --- the Inspector General of police.  Vivek was the Deputy Superintendent of police and lived with his wife and six year old son in Rohini area of Delhi.

Vivek was mediocre in studies but was very good in sports. He always wanted to join the armed forces. Unfortunately he could not make it but got a lateral entry in a CPO. He had high ideals which he had imbibed from his father and grand parents.

“I have firm belief that only you can carry out this operation, though you have to stay away from your family till the mission gets over”. The IG looked to see the reaction of Vivek. He was in cloud nine as he could not believe that he has been included in such a secret mission. Yes, I have the ability and I can do better than others, he thought. Vivek was given the choice to choose his team members.

Vivek’s first stop was at Anupgarh in Sriganganagar district (Rajasthan). He stayed there for a couple of months and as decided his next destination was Bikaner in Rajasthan.  Vivek was given the task of finding out the nexus of government officials with the narcotics cartel operating along the Indo-Pak border. Vivek was not allowed to phone back home nor was he allowed to disclose his destination. He was strictly forbidden to use his official identity and stay at government buildings.  Vivek had also a cover name “Rajiv Dubey” which he often forgot.

In the last phase of his mission at Bhakasar (bordering town of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan Sindh province) Vivek was very happy. A sense of fulfillment and achievement had been accomplished. He did his work to perfection and had collected scores of evidence. He was startled by the fact that many of his own colleagues, famous politicians both at the state and union level were hand in glove with the narcotics smugglers. Vivek was depressed.

Back in Headquarters Vivek Sharma submitted the report to his boss. It was appreciated. The zeal in Vivek’s work went missing. A constant question kept hammering inside him. Am I working for these corrupt people who are not clean in their hearts?

The next day’s morning newspaper headlines read--- “DSP, Vivek Sharma shot dead while returning from office”.

 

Sitendu De is the author of this story.

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are fictitious and their resemblence to any actual character might be a strange case of co-incidence only.