Every Dog Has Its Day

History has a problem with start dates. There are always precursors. At times, we have to enter the story in the middle and move on.

What do you remember about May 1991 – the assassination of the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, right? Do you remember a story which fought for print space for a day or two, the case of Roy? Try to jog your memory.

Roy was a district-level government employee, age around 40, a sincere chap in charge of giving licenses to small-scale enterprises and monitoring their activities. From a FIR of May 1991, we learn about Roy’s problems with a businessman called Das. The latter owns a chain of budget hotels with a dubious reputation. There are various allegations against him – illicit liquor, sex racket, money laundering, real estate and sand mining mafia, income tax evasion, extortion, murder and blackmail are some of the charges. Roy alleges that, following a few confrontations between the two, Das abducted him, his wife (age 35) and two daughters (ages 15 and 13). Roy recounts the following details:

‘…He (Das) told his men to ‘remove wife and daughters after using’. To me, he said ‘Spoils of war, huh?’ He and his assistant then thrashed me but kept me alive. ‘If you die, who will tell the story?’ he gloated…’

The police searched for Roy’s wife and daughters but they could not find them, dead or alive. There was no evidence to support Roy’s complaint. Roy tried to pursue the various charges against Das via the judicial system. For 17 years, he followed postponed and prolonged cases in front of bored judges. The files got thicker with irrelevant details year after year while the relevant sheets and evidence got misplaced or expunged. The lower court ordered psychological evaluation of Roy and he was found to be ‘mentally fragile’.

Before the end of 2008, Roy decided to take matters into his own hands. Through a black-market dealer who had once been his informant, he managed to procure a long-range rifle with telescopic sight and a silencer. He had learned shooting in school as a part of NCC. After joining government service, he had continued to practice. He could have competed at a high level but an early marriage and kids prompted him to relegate this passion to a mere hobby. In 2008-2009, though rusty, he was still a very good shot. In the months that followed, he practiced with great discipline.

During that time, for nearly two years, he also tracked and followed Das. In January 2011, he had finalized his plans. He decided to target his victim from an empty flat opposite Das’s office.

On last Friday, he waited for the arrival of Das. At 8 am, he saw Das enter his office. He smiled while he centered the crosshairs on his victim’s skull. He hardly felt the touch of cold steel against the base of his own skull. Before he could squeeze the trigger, Roy’s world went black or blank.

Das received a call on his cell-phone from his assistant.

‘Done?’

‘Yes.’

‘These idiots – from where do they get such ideas? It must be the senseless violence in today’s movies.’

Das then realized that his assistant had ended the call after the ‘Yes’. The assistant, a sincere professional, had kept track of Roy’s activities and he was cleaning up the killing area of any evidence.

Roy’s photo is in the ‘Deaths & Other Engagements’ page of today’s paper. Poor chap. Well, he is not the first to think that every dog has its day.