Dr. Pralay Sarkar, IFS, having retired from the Foreign Services, decided to settled down in his home town of Kolkata although his wife Shibani was reluctant having heard of the decadence of the city. Their both children, son Indrajit and daughter Indrani are married and settled in Sydney and Dublin respectively. So far, the family hadn’t had a reunion for over 5 years…the last they all were together was during the wedding of their son in Sydney. Therefore, Pralay was insistent on settling down at their ancestral bunglow in Alipore which is currently under lease to a renowned corporate house. He was currently residing at his Type VII government quarters in Kaka Nagar, New Delhi but will have to vacate in 6 months time, so he sent out a notice to the Corporate House to vacate the bunglow giving them 3 months of notice as per the agreement. After a few to and fro emails, the tenant agreed to vacate the place within 3 months.

A month had passed and using his contacts in Kolkata, Pralay engaged the services of a contractor to do the renovation work immediately upon the vacation of the premises. So far so good but out of the blue, he received a call from a man who identified as Trilok Chand, a city property broker and asked Pralay if he would be interested in outright sell or collaboration for his house in Alipore. Pralay refused upfront telling Trilok Chand that he has decided to relocate to Kolkata and set up his residence at his ancestral home. The broker was insistent and finally hung up asking him to reconsider his decision.

Unknown to Dr. Pralay Sarkar, the bustling city of joy, Kolkata, with its vibrant rich culture and heritage, had a poisonous snake lurking beneath the surface ready to show its fangs. Deep within its alleyways and hidden corners, a silent war was raging between rival factions of the city’s mafia. These criminal organizations had thrived for decades exploiting the city’s underbelly under the patronage of corrupt politicians and police. Trilok Chand was very much part of this commanding his own gang and he has the blessings of the cabinet minister Joydeep Banerjee.

Joydeep Banerjee, a charismatic politician with a seemingly clean image was actually The Don having built an intricate network of connections that extended to the darkest corners of the underworld. He provided protection and immunity to the burgeoning mafia syndicates in return for their loyalty and financial support. It was no wonder that while the common men remain ignorant and slept peacefully, the Don’s empire grew stronger. Years ago, Trilok Chand as a young ambitious gangster had taken refuge under the patronage of Don Joydeep Banerjee who hadn’t then stepped on the political stage. Within a short span of time, Trilok Chand through his cunning and violence expanded his network. He was suspected behind two dozen murders but was never caught thanks to the Don…together they were a formidable pair that controlled the seedy underbelly of Kolkata, where drugs, prostitution and illegal gambling thrived; but their biggest game was grabbing prime properties from the unsuspecting individuals and depending on the size and location refurbish or rebuild and sell at a profit. The police and law enforcement agencies seemed powerless against their growing influence, often turning a blind eye due to political pressure.

Dr. Pralay Sarkar reached Kolkata and took up residence with his cousin at Ballygaunge. He was scheduled to take possession of his ancestral home and reached the spot sharp at 10 am as per appointment. There were few vehicles inside the compound and a gentleman came forward as he alighted from the taxi. The person introduced himself as the legal officer of the firm and were there to handover the keys to Mr. Sarkar after surveying the bunglow. As the reached the steps of the bunglow another person joined them introducing himself as Manoranjan Dasgupta, the contractor recommended by Dr. Pralay’s friend. The three of them surveyed the house and Pralay pointed out the renovation and changes that he wants to be done to Manoranjan who noted down the details and took photographs with his phone. It took almost two hours to complete the survey and the keys were handed over to Pralay and documents signed off.

Manoranjan and Pralay decided to go to Flurry’s for lunch and discuss the project work in details. However, their plan got disrupted when a black Scorpio blocked their car and three muscled guys alighted from it. The shorter of them approached Manoranjan’s car and said, “Namaskar Pralay Babu, I am Trilok Chand… I had called you the other day. Have you decided your price for selling this crap of a house? I am offering you a very good price, we will develop this as a multistoried luxury apartments, you will ofcourse get an apartment plus cash.” Dr. Pralay Sarkar had been a lifelong diplomat, doesn’t lose his cool easily. He stepped out smiling at Trilok and said, “Trilok Chand Ji, the very reason that you called my beautiful ancestral home ‘a crap’, I will never do business with you. Now if you will excuse us and move your truck from my premises… I have other businesses to focus on.” Trilok was livid with anger and said, “You are making a mistake Mr. Sarkar, nobody refuses Trilok Chand’s offer. We will see how you carry on with your plan.”

Once at the restaurant, Manoranjan asked Pralay what deal Trilok had offered him and hearing the details, laughed out saying that he was being duped royally as the price of the Alipore property would be 10-20 times more. Then on a serious note asked Pralay if he has any political clouts in the city or at least has any connect at the higher levels in police force because the Trilok character is shady one and go at any length to disrupt work at the bunglow. Pralay confirmed that he doesn’t know either of the categories of people in the state but has few contacts at the central govt. and would find out through them the right person to approach. Thereafter, they finalized the work schedule; Manoranjan promised to finish the work well before the festival season, so that Pralay can do the grihapravesh in the auspicious days of Navratri and celebrate the Durga Puja at his new home. That very evening, Pralay called his junior, also a close friend in the EAM, Tapas Mukherjee and narrated his encounter with Trilok Chand. Tapas assured him that he will find a solution and revert at the earliest.

Early in the morning, Pralay received the coveted call from Tapas who gave him the contact number and said that he has already spoken to him and the person is waiting for Pralay’s call. He called the number provided by Tapas and a deep voice answered, “DCP Rudro speaking” Pralay told him briefly about his encounter with Trilok and the advice/ caution he got from Manoranjan. They decided to meet later in the day to discuss in details the steps to be taken going forward.

The meeting took place in a non-descript café… Rudro took notes of key points and asked few pertinent questions and assured Pralay that he will set things right. From the café, Rudro went straight to meet the Commissioner and narrated verbatim his discussions with Dr. Pralay Sarkar. At the end he told the Commissioner, “Sir, this is our golden opportunity to finish both the Don and Trilok… with your permission, I can start the internal fued…there may be few bodies floating on the Ganga as a result”. The Commissioner thought for while and with cryptic smile said, “You need to keep 2 people in the loop and you know who they are”!! Rudro knew whom he has to call next so he saluted and left. Time was short and need to act swiftly. His first call was to Satyabrata Mukherjee, the leader of the opposition, a strong proponent for corruption free politics and close to the think tank of the central govt.; then he called up the home minister of the state, Tapas Roy Chowdhury and told him in details the plan to destroy the Don and his puppet Trilok Chand. The home minister TRC was no friend of the Don and wanted him out of his, so he gave his blessings to Rudra.

Rudra started his game plan immediately and through his trusted contacts in the underworld, he released a set of misinformation that soon reached the ears of Trilok Chand. He was livid with anger and somewhat fearful too… he, for some time now had become ambitious and wanted to break the shackle of the Don…aspiring to contest the next election on party ticket. His ambition and thirst for power led him to play a dangerous game of double-crossing the Don. He formed alliances with rival factions of the party alongside the corrupt police and judiciary to entangle the Don into a series of corruption cases leading to his downfall. However, betrayal is a double-edged sword and soon Trilok himself got entangled in a web of deceit and treachery. It was expected because Rudra had revealed the true intent and purpose to the Don through his trusted aides. The Don was not only prepared but ready with counter offensive.  

The city’s landscape became a battleground with each faction consolidating their gangs and unleashing terror and violently attacking each other. The media got its juicy headlines and few diligent journalists got into the act finding the depth of the allegations and counter allegations. In the fierce battle of supremacy, both side opted for no-holds bar tactic and in the process innocent bystanders became victim of bloodshed. There were uproars not just in the state assembly but even the parliament was perturbed by the intensity of the violence.

Rudra was playing his game of Devil’s Advocate well by feeding the rival factions with measured misinformation and letting them eliminate each other. The final moment has not yet arrived…

Battered and bruised, Trilok Chand managed to escape the onslaught and went underground determind to exact revenge on the Don, Joydeep Banerjee. He started gathering a new group of loyal followers and plan for counter offensive. The tables were about to turn and the city would witness an unprecedented clash between the mafia and the politician’s henchmen.

But only when Rudra plays his trump card… he arranged for a double barrel raid on the Don Joydeep Banerjee through a series of raid by the IT and ED and ensured that the Don is convinced that it was the handiwork of Trilok Chand, the betrayer. Huge unaccounted cash, jewelry and documents of illegal or benami properties were hauled from both his home and office. On the other side, police raided the dens of the gang leaders and arrested a few and eliminated more. As the tension reached the boiling point, battle lines were drawn… Trilok with his loyal gang members took on the henchmen of the Don in a fierce and relentless battle for control. The city once again became a war zone and the authorities asked the citizen to observe caution and avoid going out at certain time of the day. In this high-stake war game, survival was not guaranteed for anyone involved…

Trilok Chand succumbed to the gun wound on the third day of the battle putting an end to the resistance of the gangs who fearing being eliminated, surrendered to the police.

On the advice of Rudra, IT and ED spokesperson released selected but damaging piece of information regarding the raids conducted at Joydeep Banerjee’s premises. The media, which had long been suppressed by the Don, finally broke its silence, exposing the intricate web of connections between the politicians and the mafia. Media, as the voice of people demanded justice, demanded action from the authorities.  

Kolkata, as ever, started healing, the once thriving mafia families were dismantled, their leaders’ dead or arrested… Joydeep Banerjee’s political career came crashing down and his arrest was imminent.

DCP Rudra, finally got his go-ahead to arrest the Don named Joydeep Banerjee but in his book of law elimination is always better than arrest. He purposely leaked the information of Don’s imminent arrest. When the arresting party from Lal Bazaar reached the premises of Joydeep Banerjee, there were a posse of local police personnel. The Inspector came forward and saluted DCP Rudra, “Sir, Joydeep Banerjee has committed suicide early this morning. The guards at the gate heard gunshot and informed us…we found his body in the study which was locked from inside… we had to break in…” Rudra went inside to check on the scene, it was gruesome with his head in tatters and blood spilling all over the carpet. Rudra told the Inspector to send the body for postmortem and called up the Commissioner to inform of the situation. The Commissioner said, “Rudro, you wanted this end, didn’t you?”

All this while, as advised by Rudro, Dr. Pralay Sarkar and Manoranjan Dasgupta had concentrated in transforming the “Sarkar Villa” into a masterpiece where the old Victorian architecture mingles with the modern amenities. It was ready to move in and Sarkar’s decided to move in on the sixth day (Shashti) of Navratri and hold a grand party on the tenth day (Dashami) evening after the immersion of the idol of Goddess Durga. His Son & Daughter along with their family were coming for the great family reunion at their ancestral home. Rudra and Sravani were invited to the party as well…

Note: The above storyline is a work of fiction and created for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to any real life person is purely coincidental.