The Honeybee Conspiracy

Untitled Part 26

Chapter 24

Tamara Resort was spread over 14 acres of lush greenery with swimming pool, a club house, gym and a mini golf

course, 8 km from the hill station Coorg, in Karnataka. It had 26 cottages spread over a well maintained landscape with palm and banyan trees. Each cottage was at a fair distance from the other ensuring each had its own privacy and at the same time a great view of the majestic western ghats. The cottage were well furnished, a luxurious spread of antique furniture, wooden flooring and a fireplace for the romantic couples, just as long as they had a romantic partner. Anwar had a shower and a disturbed nap for an hour. So many things were running in his mind, the thought of being branded a traitor was now looming large in his face.

As much as he hated Tarique and himself for getting involved in all this, but again, involved in what? He thought to himself. He had no answer to that question. Or was all this about to change.

The door bell rang. Anwar's heart stopped. His mouth and throat went dry. He felt his heart to be pounding like a sledge hammer. He took a gulp of water from the glass lying on his bedside table. He walked to the door and took a deep breadth and opended the door.

"Good evening Anwar. I'm John Kuruvilla, head ATW of RAW.

Anwar thrust his hand forward as they shook hands. From the minute they shook hands, he had a gut feeling that John was a man who made you feel that you could depend on him. His handshake was firm but yet subtle, and, his smile made you feel comfortable and at ease. John walked in and complimented the choice of room they had allotted him. He seated himself on the lush leather sofa. Anwar closed the door and took the other sofa opposite John.

"Anwar, I know you have a lot of questions and I'm here to answer all of them for you. But first, lets have a drink."

John went to the cabinet and took two glasses and opened the Black Label Scotch which he had brought with him, poured a large in both the glasses with a couple of ice cubes, had a sip and said

"Cheers Anwar". Anwar didn't know how to react. Normally people said cheers before having a drink, he thought to himself. Never the less, he said, "Cheers" and had a sip.

John opened the windows before lighting a cigarette and retrieving the ashtray from the table.

"Guess your not in a mood for sweet talk so I'll get down to business.You see Anwar, I head a special unit within RAW called Anti Terrorist Wing you may not have heard of it because we work in the shadows. Well, to make it simple, my unit has super flowing powers in intelligence gathering and we are not bound by rules and government regulations. We or rather I report only to the President of India on a need to know basis.

We have tracked your progress mmm, well, let's say for a pretty long time. You are on a first name basis with almost all foreign secretaries around the globe, a remarkable achievement for the youngest Asst. Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. But unfortunately, the political brass does not allow you the privilege of walking your talk. I'm sure you would find this very irritating?"

Anwar didn't say anything. He had another sip.

John continued, "Now let's come to the point. For sometime now, there has been a mole, I mean an ISI agent inside the government, perhaps within RAW. The identity of that agent was supposed to be revealed to us by our CIA contact who was on SQ 5319 which you are aware was shot down. I believe there is a larger conspiracy to this which we are investigating.

However, there are certain sections within the Intelligence agencies that are working at the behest of Bharat Shah and they are wanting to appease the PM in apprehending this agent at the earliest. Since Tarique had met you in Teheran, they suspect you and that's why you are under surveillance. I know Tarique very well and we have worked together on many assignments, so I personally don't attach any importance to this theory."

Anwar took the whisky glass and gulped the remaining. He fixed another drink. He was at last relieved to know why he was under the scanner.

"Well John, thanks for clarifying things and for your reassurance. I was beginning to lose my nerve on this surveillance crap. There is an incident which happend when myself and Shukla were in Ukraine on a fact finding mission. One of the army officials, Major Ubor Kostov who was stationed near the crash site told me that the rebel forces had shot down the plane with a surface to air missile . But what he told me later when I was about to leave was very interesting. In his own words he said the rebels belonged to a group who were primarily thugs who claimed allegiance to the ISIS but were used by different governments to do their dirty work. The Major believed that ISI had a hand in this though he didn't have any proof. The rebels fled to the Russian border to give the impression to the outside world that they had a hand in this crash, but two hours later they crossed the border back into Ukraine close to Crimea and disappeared."

John was staring at Anwar. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This information was very vital.

"Who else was near you when he told you?" asked John.

"Nobody. Shukla was talking to the Indian embassy attaché who had accompanied us to the army outpost close to the Black Sea where the plane went down." replied Anwar.

"Did you disclose this to anyone else?" asked John.

"No. Why? Is there something deeper to what the Major said?" asked Anwar.

John got up and refilled his glass. "Anwar, do not disclose this to anyone else." said John. His tone was more of an order than a request which Anwar picked up immediately.

"Sure", he replied.

"And Anwar, till the surveillance on you is called off, kindly don't contact your beloved girlfriend, Sureya. We don't want her to get entangled in all this mess", said John.

Anwar looked at JK with a surprised look. He was surprised, surprised at how John knew about his girlfriend of the past ten years. She was a Psychiatrist, a Gold medalist from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences who worked for fifteen years at the same hospital before starting a home for the mentally challenged in Hyderabad. Anwar's mother in her later years was diagnosed with Schyzophrenia and Dr.Sureya was her Doctor. Over the years as Anwar took his mother for her regular consultations, they gradually grew fond of each other and fell in love. It was then that she confided in him that she had a a violent and abusive husband during her initial years at AIMS which finally resulted in a divorce. He respected her decision of not wanting to rush into another marriage.

"We know everything about you, Anwar. So please do as I say, it's in your best interests." said John.

"Sure. Thanks John." replied Anwar.

"You can check out whenever you want, Anwar. The bill will be paid by my office. So take care and we'll be in touch. ", said John as they shook hands and closed the door.

Anwar had another large and slept till 10 am the next day.