The Gang of American Colony- Bedant's gun & the Pandu ghat

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction and any relevance to anyone is purely coincidental.

Chapter III

On their way back to American Colony, only one thing lingered inside their minds, “He will bloody kill you, all of you! Me, Fensghu and Abhijeet also. Everyone!” Did Shreya mean it? The trio were baffled. “Kya soch raha hai bey Bihari?” asked Prince, to which Bihari replied, rather disgustingly.

“Humko latrine laga bey baal, yeh TREKKER bahut dheere chal raha hai.” he looked tensed.

“Oye Bihari, darr humko bhi lag raha hai, par dekh bhai, pant mein matt karna bey” said Roy seriously.

The trio decided not to go back home until they decide on a concrete strategy on how to move forward with this already mind-fucked case. It was 11 PM, half of American colony was asleep and the other half was watching ‘ETV Bangla’, including Roy’s parents.

“Shotti koi? Darr to humko bhi thoda lag raha hai, lekin jab case liya hai to piche nahi hatt sakta, kya bolta hai Roy?” Asked Prince.

“Bechari Shreya,itna sundar ladki ko kaun marega, uska mann kaise Karta hai rey?” Asked Roy.

“Maaka shreya re chaar, tumko ko bhi wo marega.” Bihari shouted from inside the loo.

“Ladho mat saalo, Bedant ko call karo.” said Prince.

“Paagal ho gaya kya? Usko kyu call karega bey? hum nahi karega!” said a terrified Roy.

“Haan baal woh tumko phone mein ghuske marega toh, ro hum karta hai.” Said Bihari, as he came out holding a stained bucket.

Bihari called Bedant and very calmly told him that they have a lead in the case and regarding that they wanted to meet him, without mentioning anything about the incident that happened at the club.

“Woh apna ghar mein bula raha hai bey, I said we will come.” said Bihari.

“Pagol niki?? Hum nahi jayega. Goli maar diya toh?” Said Roy.

“Mat jao baal tum. Saala fattu. Detective bhi banna aur gaand bhi fatt ta hai” Said Bihari angrily.

“Janos ekta kotha, Fear is temporary, Pride is forever.” Said prince.

“Hoisey, chance milne se hi dealing deta hai yeh, usko yahaan kyu nahi bulaya? Kyu jayega hum log uske ghar, kyu?” Said a hyper Roy.

Roy gave in, he had no choice, the trio reached Uzan bazaar, they carried a bottle of pepper spray and had decided that if they feel anything suspicious they will spray it on Bedant and run for their lives.

“Sir asey ney?” enquired Prince. The door of Bedant’s 1BHK apartment was open. The trio could spot guitar cables, amps, processors, a drum pedal. Sure the room looked like a rock artist’s messed up night fall.

“Ki pocha gondho!” said Roy covering his nose.

They heard the strumming of acoustic guitar from the bedroom.

“Saarrrr!!” shouted Roy from the top of his voice. Bihari and Prince passed a ‘what-the-heck-happened-to-him’ glance.

“Marenge toh saath marenge, baal! prince tui amaar best friend cheeli bey, love you baal and Bihari I love you too, magar tum thoda paaka hai bey.” hurriedly said a super nervous Roy, whose legs had started shaking.

"Chup thaak bey, please!" said an equally nervous Bihari.

“Oii bhitorot aa.” ordered Bedant.

“Joi Maa kali” said Roy, gulping down his fear and holding Prince and Bihari’s hand.

“Calm down, remember fear is temporary...” Prince couldn’t complete.

“Bhakk baal!!!” shouted Bihari.

The trio entered the room. Unwashed sport socks, clothes on the floor that hadn’t been worn in ages, wafer packets, an unfinished red bull can which was stinking like an expired cough syrup, scattered cds, and a GUN!!!

The trio spotted the gun together, and exchanged a ‘Spray-THU-hai-na?’ glance.

“Oii ki sai aaso bey?” Bedant Charged Roy.

“Sir aise hi maney thoda....oi bolo Bihari kya dekh raha tha tum. Bolo? Hain naughty? Sir won’t mind.” said Roy, Prince and Bihari were convinced that Roy had smoked pot.

“We were watching the gun, beautiful it is, which made sir?” continued Roy.

Smart move indeed.

“Ha Ha, isn’t it sexy? It’s a .44 magnum. I am going to kill you guys with it...GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!” said Bedant and started laughing loudly.

“Sir is so funny, isn’t it prince, joke maarise ne sir?” said Bihari as he became more nervous.

“I am not joking you fools, tell me why you came here, you got to know about that Abhijeet? Where does he stay? Shoot kori dim taak, kela!” said Bedant turning violent.

“You know about Abhijeet?” asked prince, he wanted to take command. They have had enough.

“Yes, I do. You have a problem with that?” replied Bedant

“Yes, I have a problem with that, why didn’t you tell us about him earlier? I want to know.” asked Prince confidently.

“Look kid, I just know that she is with him, and she is not safe with him, I just want Shreya to be safe. He is a dangerous Man.” replied Bedant.

Hearing this Bihari jumped across Bedant’s Bed and quickly grabbed the gun before anyone could figure out what is happening.

“Baal bahut ho gaya natak, she is saying you are dangerous, you are saying, Abhijeet is dangerous, I will tell you who is dangerous?” asked Bihari holding the gun.


“Who?” replied a rather calm Bedant.

“We baal! And mind you billa we are NOT kids, never call my friend a kid again, otherwise I will shoot your mouth off! Now tell us everything. ” demanded Bihari, still pointing the gun towards Bedant.

“Usme goli nahi hai, relax! Sit down!” said and smiled Bedant.

“Oh!” exclaimed Bihari, looking inside the nozzle of the empty gun.

‘Kya Thaassi khaya bey!’ thought Roy smirking.

“There is no point of being angry with me; Shreya is madly in love with that criminal. He has brain washed her. And I also know she met you. She was mad at me because I contacted you.” explained Bedant.

“Criminal?” asked Prince.

“Yes, a criminal, he smuggles drugs, mainly cocaine into Guwahati. Shreya has also become an addict, I want to save her, rescue her from the hands of that monster, he is using her.” Said Bedant, as he broke down and started crying.

The trio was amazed to see the tough Bedant weeping like a 4 year old.

“A big consignment is going to arrive tomorrow night at PANDU GHAT; Abhijeet is surely going to be there and may be even Shreya.” Said Bedant, controlling his emotions.

“Why don’t you inform the police?” asked Prince.

“I can’t. Shreya is involved. I want you guys to go there and somehow take that package and run away, I will pay you anything. Abhijeet will definetly come looking for you, and then we will call the police. ” said Bedant.

A crying Bedant, a beautiful Shreya in despair and a lofty sum of money was sufficient for them to say yes to Bedant’s risky plan. Next night they were at the infamous Pandu Ghat. It was 12:15 AM.

Pandu Ghat, was a notorious little bank, beside the mighty Brahmaputra. It was just a 5 minutes’ walk from American Colony. Though extremely dirty and neglected by the Government, it was still somehow thriving because of all the illegal trade. Oil, antiques, tea, poached items etc, illegally made their way in and out of Guwahati via Pandu Ghaat.
It was pitch dark and there was not a single living soul at the Ghat.

“Oi hum mazaak nahi kar raha hai, but hum suna hai ki yahaan bhoot woot hota hai bey.” said Roy.

“Oye please Roy, Shut up yaar. They will come here any moment.” Replied Prince.

Almost an hour had passed, and there was no sign of any consignment, Bihari was tensed as he took out one joint from of his shirt’s pocket and just when he was about to lit it, they saw a light approaching the bank.

“Baal, kuch aa raha hai bey, seems like a boat. maaka, itna chota boat?” said Bihari puffing out the smoke.

"Ya, so that no one doubts. hey use these small fishermen from nearby villages." explained Prince.

“Who will come to collect it? Nouka toh pahuch gaya.” Asked Roy.

There were two almost naked boaters, may be fishermen who came with a bag in a small wooden boat. They dropped off the bag at the bank and rushed off.

“Abbey yeh to bina signal ka hi maal daal diya, 3 baar torch on-off, fata note, kuch bhi nai kiya. Kaun aayega isko lene?” Said Roy.

“Tera naam ka.....Shala yaha pein filam ka shooting ho raha hai,laath khayega tum?” Replied Bihari

“Thik hai jhagdo mat, hum jaake uthaye? Koi nahi dikh raha hai, it’s a good chance.” said Prince.

“How do we know, it’s the same bag? Kisi aur ka hua toh?” questioned Roy.

“Teeno saath chalte hai!” suggested Bihari.

The trio moved towards the bag, slowly walking and keeping a watch at their surroundings.

“Sach mein cocaine hai kya bey baal? Let just take it and give it to police, Bhaad mein jaaye Shreya, Bedant...” said Roy as he saw Prince slowly moving his hand towards the bag, but before he could lay his hands on it, they heard a familiar noise.

It was a Siren!

“Ambulance?? Itna raat ko?” asked Roy.

“Prince, just pick it up and run and ensure its safe, Roy you come with me, POLICE aa gaya baal!” said Bihari with horrific calmness.

Prince picked up the bag and ran at the opposite direction. Bihari and Roy also ran, they were spotted by the Police jeep and were followed; it did not take the old police jeep from the nearby Jhalukbari Thana much time to catch the two. That is when Bihari whispered into Roy’s ear.

“Mera 1st time hai thana mein, tera?”

Prince knew that the policemen did not see him, but he was worried for his two friends and more than that he was tensed about the 2 kgs of cocaine he was holding. He had to hide it safely. As he reached the residential area, he saw a bike approaching him in full speed. A biker doing stunts at 1 AM was not a common site. He held the bag tightly. The biker was rushing towards him as if he was going to hit him.

The biker crossed Prince, through the helmet only his eyes were visible, they looked familiar. He had a huge built. Prince turned back to see if the biker had gone. NO, he had stopped and was turning the bike, which is when Prince started running. The biker rushed to hit Prince with the bike, he was badly hurt.

Prince limped and tried to chase him as he snatched the bag from him and flew away. The tail light of his bike vanished slowly into the dark alley.

Who was that biker? How did he know about the gang being there? What will happen to Bihari and Roy at the police station? Stay tuned and keep visiting this blog space as the mystery unfolds in the coming chapters.

........................................................

We would like to thank everyone who painstakingly read the initial drafts and suggested us essential changes.

Sketches By- Shubhadeep Sengupta

Written By- Varun Varghese & Shubhadeep Sengupta

You can also read this story here