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Shoot at Sight

Shoot at Sight

10 mins
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Members of the Black Puma Order weren't exactly surprised when the cipher message came in their smartphones. The message read, "shoot at sight." A script scrambled as usual in the ancient writing citing the gravity (not Einstein) of the event, location, and the likely non-state actors who would take part.


Seetha, with her brilliance, decoded the script and briefed the other members of the team over a cup of coffee. Local daily headlines mentioned about the event also. There was news of the other Seetha trying now to coax the consumers to spend more and take loans from banks, not worried about wasteful spending.


The event to be was related to a massive protest to be organized by the citizen's group against the destruction of trees in the Cubbon Park in the heart of the city. An earlier protest when the ex-chief minister had attended had put the project in the back burner for a couple of years. But the itching palm of the politicos and their contractor friends had revived the project. Added to is the newly developing geopolitical situation.


The supreme leader was leading a team to negotiate petrodollars for the mega project with technical collaboration from the trumping nation. The idea was to make Bengaluru like Singapuru with mega skyways and skywalks so that the citizens can get on the fast track. It was a significant investment worthy of the headlines and diversion from other pressing problems.


The citizens' group thought otherwise. Bengaluru was already on the list of water-scarce cities of the world. It was high in pollution with traffic jams and the slowest of the cities when it comes to traffic moments. The metro expansion already meant almost the entire city dug, lakes have turned into infernos with frequent fires due to chemical sewage. The focus was on one of the last of the lung spaces. Somehow the protest has captured the city's imagination. A massive rally got scheduled on the 3rd Sunday of the month. The citizen's group got encouraged by the fact that in Mumbai, the protest against the cutting down of Aarey forests was successful, and even the High Court had struck down the proposal. A PIL got filed in the High Court of Bengaluru

.

Somewhere in a dingy office, ACP, Kabir Khan, was reading the intelligence report. Khan was known for his no-nonsense approach when it comes to security matters. The youth of the nation were in some unrest situation due to the current economic slowdown. The periodic dosage offered by government intervention wasn't doing any good. There was palpable anger against the state. The report further mentioned that some communal organization was trying to take advantage of the situation, and the proposed mega protest rally was a case in point. Some key members of this outfit, called the Apple Brigade, had already arrived in the city. Both the state and the center was going soft on this group because of its communal colors. He reached out to his smartphone and messaged his friend, leader of the Black Puma Order.

3rd Friday morning.


Anant Job, the leader of the Apple Brigade, was a bomb expert. He can make explosives with a mix of chemicals readily available. The geopolitical situation has made his outfit somewhat jobless. Terror factory from next door has more or less closed shop. With the petrodollar coming in, India was looked upon as a big market for investment, although in reality, the economy was moving at a bullock cart speed. Some action was needed to keep his outfit going. The event provided the opportunity. Although ideologically, he wasn't against the protest.


As he landed, he could feel the dust and chemicals in the air, and the lungs craved for oxygen. So, he had decided for a low-grade bomb that would make much noise like politicos but would not kill or maim. He, too, had assembled a quintet of members. He was well aware of Kabir Khan's prowess and had decided to dress up his men like 'Krishna' gang with their typical shoulder bags, shaved nut, sporting an orange caste mark on their forehead. He had assembled the materials and sat down with his quintet to make the bomb, which looked like the apple from the valley. They had made a few bombs and went out to the outskirts to test out their bombs. The idea was to create panic, and the fear itself would take care of the rest.

 

3rd Saturday, Cubbon Park, Forenoon

Seetha and her team were seen surveying trees ostensibly for documentation purposes and recoding bio-diversity too. They were identifying suitable trees for vantage sighting of the crowd through surveillance. Her outfit, as she was fond of referring to as the Pandavs consisted of 5 men all in their twenties. They were well trained in crowd management, proximity defense techniques and can handle their equipment as well as Arjun and Karna of the Mahabharat fame. Unlike the Draupadi of the epic, Seetha believed in self- reliance. She was well versed in all these techniques and technology, and the team respected her for this. They had got the map of the venue of the protest, where the octogenarian Chief Minister would come and make an announcement. The CM was reputed to be a puppet of the center but at times shown his mettle like when he took a firm stance on the language issue. Will he go against the mega project and the supreme leader? Seetha wondered.


She also wondered about the Apple Brigade. Why apple? It didn't make any sense to her. Was it to do with the valley in the north of India?


Afternoon

Kabir Khan was with his team of women SIs. They were well trained in handling weapons, disguise, close combat, and crowd management. But this was their first real operation after intensive training. There was a palpable sense of nervousness. But Khan was unruffled and provided sustenance to the team. Do your job, success

, or not is not in your hands as he explained a quote he was fond of from Gita. As part of their training, they had together seen the film 'Chak De' and often discussed the movie for inspiration. He was no Kabir Khan from the movie, and he had not betrayed anyone except for the name and the faith he had followed. But like the Sufi saint Kabir he had conviction in the tolerance of all religion. He wanted to prove that this country was as dear to him as it is for anyone else of a different faith. The undercurrents of society today often brought him pain.

 

3rd Sunday, Cubbon Park

Seetha already arrived in her well-equipped van fitted with the latest surveillance technology, including AI. She set up the equipment and sipped her favorite filter coffee. She, too, had taken part in the citizen's protest movement an earlier occasion. She had fond memories of the park, the toy train ride she had taken when young. The jogging sessions in her teens, picnic with friends, and an occasional outing with her mom and dad. It was indeed a citizen's park and provided the needed lung space for the bustling metropolis. It had something to offer for everyone, irrespective of class. She would find a man sleeping whom she thought perhaps to be a homeless migrant resting after a hard day's night. One time she saw a group of drummers beating in their rhythm and a group of young corporate executives, perhaps doing a team-building exercise. Someone was meditating under the tree, hoping for Buddha-like enlightenment. A couple was romancing not being able to find some private moment or space. Budding naturalists doing some close observations and taking notes like she used to do herself. How could anyone propose such a destruction of this park?


Some blip from her equipment disturbed her reverie and brought her to senses. The Pandavas had already taken a position some in trees like the 'vanars.' She was the first one to note the 'Krishna' volunteer as he passed by her van. Something in his appearance stuck as odd, but she could not place it. Anyway, her camera had taken a shot of him. Over the next hour, she had also observed that a few such 'Krishna' volunteers had entered the venue. Then in an epiphanic moment, it struck her that their typical tuft of hair was missing. She punched some keys and brought the mouse on to one of them. AI was already on the lookout for these people. She alerted her team and messaged Kabir Khan and sent one of their photos. Within minutes the 'Krishna' members were under watch by ten pairs of eyes.


It was 1000 hours in the morning, and as expected a 10,000 energetic crowd had assembled with their posters, badges, and sing songs protesting the skyways were in full rendition. A local band was belting out meaningful lyrics tuned to several hit songs from Hindi, Kannada and even Tamil. Suddenly a hush fell as the news reached that the octogenarian Chief Minister had arrived at the venue and would address the assembly. The chief minister was keen to keep the government going. In his earlier stint, he lost power. He got jailed also. His time was running out. From both within and outside the opposition forces were gaining ground. Therefore it became imperative that he get the direct support of the people. He had made up his mind before he came for the meeting.


Job had noticed the arrival of the CM to the venue and signaled to one of the members of the quintet who was to ignite the bomb. It involved a simple operation of taking the apple-like object open the subtle cap and join the red and blue wires and drop the bomb and leave the place. The AI beeped the signal as it caught the hand movement of the Krishna gang member. The SI closest to the gang member got the message, but before she could move towards her quarry, the apple got dropped. In the meantime, other SIs had taken custody of the rest of the Krishna gang and removed the apple-like objects. As the first member of the group ventured out of the park, he was greeted by no less than Seetha herself.


At the exact moment when CM stepped on the dais, the bomb exploded. Before panic could set in, Khan had taken the mike and announced it was a tire burst, and there was nothing to worry about. Khan oozed sincerity, and the crowd took the news calmly. CM went on to make the big announcement that the project would get reviewed along with representatives of the Citizen group.


As he ushered in the octogenarian in his car, the CM thanked Kabir Khan and said I owe you double. Khan smiled and said, we are part of this land and not immigrants. CM smiled as he patted Khan's back.


Black Puma Order Head Quarters

Mohammed congratulated his team for their first and successful field operations. He was heading the start-up 'Eagle Eye,' which specialized in high-security surveillance and worked with both private and government needing such monitoring. He was pleased with the clarity of visuals of the digital shots from the sight and could see the trickle of sweat on the brows of the Krishna gang wiping out the caste marks. A 10-minute film of the operation would wonderfully pitch his offering. He wondered who was behind this aborted job?


Meet with the Press, 6 pm.

CM had called for a hurried presser. He announced that there was a bomb threat earlier in the morning meeting, which was successfully handled by Kabir Khan and his team of Lady SIs. He also announced that there was no need for Registry for the Nationalization of Citizens in the state. With that, he joined the chorus of southern states against such a registry. Khan bowed to the CM as the CM turned towards him.


Anant Job was seen taking an evening flight to the capital. His job got aborted. He wondered when again he could use the apple. The days of the apple seem to be over.



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