Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 81: Catch Twenty-Two - 2

Brigadier Shahi suddenly commented… “Being a man of the law, I can understand your dilemma… I think we should not waste any time, proceed to meet them and make them understand… we should stop them from breaking the law.”

Before anyone could say a word Brigadier Shahi looked towards Sagar sir and asked “Captain… please get on the radio and try to contact Mr. Mazumdar”

"Yes sir..."

*** Sagar sir got busy trying to contact Tribeni Dadu. Brigadier Shahi, Nishi Jethu, Dad, Mom, J.P. Sir, and Major Annie came closer so that they can listen to the call together. It took them about 15 minutes before they were able to connect to Tribeni Dadu. ***

“Mr. Mazumdar, This is Brigadier Shahi here… Commander Christopher has detailed us about your plans… but we want you to at least listen to us before you make any rash decision…”

“Go ahead sir… we are listening…”

*** Brigadier Shahi suddenly waved his hands toward Nishi Jethu as if asking him to speak. ***

Nishi Jethu spoke up “Tribeni Babu this is Nishi Nath…”

“Yes, Nishi babu… go ahead…”

Nishi Sir continued, "I understand how you and your men are feeling at the moment, I am angry too. Even I feel that these men deserve something severe than a prison sentence. However, as a uniformed officer who has upheld the law throughout his career, I cannot let you guys take matters into your own hands…”

“However,… If I know you guys well… I know I cannot force you… but before you come to any conclusion, I just want you to at least listen to me…”

“Sure, Nishi babu please go ahead… we are listening…”

"I guess we all know what has been done to the three children was atrocious and deserves extreme retribution. There is no doubt about it. But I still believe going outside the bounds of the law is not the right course of action. These people should understand that if you hurt a child, you will be punished and no godfather of yours could protect you from it."

Tribeni Jethu replied from the other end, “Nishi Babu... I can understand your hesitation. To tell you the truth I don’t agree to this method too… I know it must be tough for a person who has been upholding the law for all their life and ensuring that others follow the same. Putting your life at stake every day for that very purpose, it is not easy to look the other way when a person close to you is doing something illegal."

"It screams against your very core to swerve from something for which you were sworn in, on the day you were commissioned. But trust me, I have not gone through the same dilemma although I had similar doubts as you are having." 

"But sir… don't forget that we are also somebody who has seen the Indian justice system in action for a few decades now. You know it very well that we started the uprising because, we felt, the Indian justice system couldn’t protect us… we took up arms to remind the authority that sometimes you need to fire a bullet to make the deaf hear your pleas… No offense to you sir, but you guys took 24 years to find me. And if I would not have decided to surrender, you would never have found me... that’s a fact, you cannot deny…"

"I can say with all confidence that the intensity of your efforts is not always fruitful to bring each criminal to justice and they hardly get what they deserve. There are a few corruptible people in the system and those few are enough to dismantle all honest efforts."

"Sir… I know, actually, a small correction, the whole of West Bengal knows you are one of the honest cops of the state, and you will bow down to none, but if my understanding is correct, I think you have been asked not to intervene in the investigation of the Banerjee family’s murder.”

“How do you know about that Tribeni babu…” Nishi Jethu asked.

“I have my sources, Sir…”

"Coming back to the main question, Nishi babu, you know it very well many criminals have been acquitted because of loopholes in judicial procedure or a bunch of unscrupulous corruptible people playing with the judiciary for their ulterior motive. Can you honestly put your faith in our justice system after knowing how many criminals have escaped through manipulation?" 

"For somebody who has worked in the system for so long, you know the repercussions of what you are asking me to do. Can you actually guarantee that if we hand over all our evidence, a criminal case would be registered against Mr. Banerjee and his band of goons, and then they will be sent behind bars without any chances of bail" 

"Forget about bail, don't you realize by now that Abhinu will be put on the stand or his journal entries which play a major part in the case, will be put to scrutiny and every sordid detail about what was done to Abhinu will be questioned, doubted and prodded. I wouldn’t dare to put that innocent soul through all that."

"We also know how lengthy these trials could be. We have heard about instances where witnesses are killed or tortured to change their statements during the trial by criminals. Can you guarantee that with your brand of honesty you will be able to protect Abhinu that long and from everyone?"

 "Have you not seen the full extent of Mr. Banerjee's power and his criminal network? You can put all your resources to protect Abhinu but for how long. If the law acquits his uncle, you know very well how he will react. He will hunt Abhinu down and either kill him or destroy him." 

"Can you risk that chance and put his life in jeopardy. The only person who deserves to be on the right side of justice is Abhinu. Trust me, we have weighed all the options. We might not be doing the lawful thing or choosing the moral option, but we are definitely acting in the best interest of the poor innocent soul because we want to give justice."

Everyone standing there went silent for a few moments after hearing Tribeni Jethu’s speech. They were all rendered speechless. Perhaps they knew all along whatever Tribeni Jethu just spoke, was right.

There were several murmurs of agreement and every face in the gathering reflected the same intensity. Nobody seemed doubtful anymore. There was a sudden surge of energy and spirit amongst all.

“l would not let you take matters into your hands. This is not right…” Nishi Jethu was still not fully convinced.

For some reason, my feeling states that Tribeni Dadu is a very patient man. He was still not willing to give up so soon. Before anything is added to the discussion, Mom spoke up.

“Guys… forgive me for interruption … but disagreement amongst us is not going to solve our purpose…”

Everyone looked at mom and Brigadier Shahi spoke up “You have any plans up your sleeve Major Akila”

“Of course, I do sir… but whatever plans I have… it will need all of you to play your part in the right way…”

“Please go ahead with your plan… let’s hear it out…” Nishi Jethu replied.

“Tribeni Babu… I hope you are listening…”

“Yes Mrs. Christopher please go ahead we are listening…”

“Ok… firstly I agree to the points raised by Mr. Mazumdar just now… however, if the three of us join hands together… we can make sure that the three children get justice without any bloodshed.”

“What are you implying?”

Mom looked at Nishi Jethu and asked “Sir… Do you think if we arrest this doctor, the police can make a non-bailable case against him?”

“Hmmm… I can do that… I can make a strong case which will ensure that he won’t get bail…”

                                                   TO BE CONTINUED...

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