Mumbaistan Read Online Free PDF

country.'
    ACP Hani shook his head. 'No, my friend. You are paying the price for being a gangster who missed the nishana, and got caught by us. I'm paying the price for being in love with my job. And together, we are going to get these Pakistani terrorists who have invaded our country.'
    Tanvir now looked at the ACP with beseeching eyes. 'ACP saab, I don't want to die.'
    The ACP laughed. 'Are you afraid to die...the fearless Tanvir who attempted to kill three gangsters from rival gangs?'
    Tanvir shook his head, mumbling to himself, 'You're crazy...we both will die.' The ACP got up and opened the saloon door. He gestured to Tanvir to step out.
    ◉
    Tanvir stood lounging outside the Sultan-e-Hind Restaurant. Next to him stood a man who, by his attire, could be identified as an orthodox Muslim cleric. In fact, he was a retired clerk from the Public Works Department who had been summoned by the ATS to help out in the critical job at hand—performing a fake nikah between Tanvir and Rabia.
    ACP Hani had ordered Tanvir to go to the Sultan-e-Hind and carry out his promise of marrying Rabia. This ploy would force Aalamzeb's hand and make him come out in the open. The ACP had assured Tanvir that the entire area had been sanitized since the morning, and no one had spotted any rooftop shooters taking position. This meant that Aalamzeb and his men would come by road. The road was crawling with ATS personnel, who would swing into action as soon as Aalamzeb or any of his men were spotted.
    Tanvir had summoned up all his resolve and managed to muster a casual air, although inside, he felt ready to collapse with the tension. The fake qazi stood next to him, muttering something under his breath that seemed, to Tanvir, a spell to ward off evil spirits. 'Welcome to my world,' he thought, leaning against a street pole.
    Across the street, Rabia stared at Tanvir. She was a little taken aback by his nonchalant attitude and questioned her own sanity. A part of her wanted to run away. But the part that wanted to run into the arms of the man she loved eventually won over. She began to cross the busy road at the traffic signal.
    Across the road, Tanvir spotted her. His face broke into the open-faced smile that Rabia found so endearing. He raised his hand and signalled to her to come towards him. He pointed towards the qazi and smiled even more broadly. Rabia gave him a half-smile and stepped onto the zebra crossing as the signal turned red.
    All of a sudden, two nondescript Ambassador cars pulled out from the traffic in unison on both sides of the road. One stopped in front of Rabia and the other one in front of Tanvir. Their doors were flung open; strong hands emerged and both Tanvir and Rabia were pulled into the respective cars. The signal turned green and before anyone could respond, the cars sped away in opposite directions.
    On the rooftop across Sultan-e-Hind, ACP Hani screamed into his walkie-talkie, 'Hold your positions! Don't fire. They are policemen!'
    ◉
    'I work for ACP Hani of the ATS!' screamed Tanvir. Before he could say anything further, a hard open-palm slap hit his bare body. He had been subjected to these slaps nonstop for the last fifteen minutes. They stung hard as they made contact, and yet, hardly left a mark. A few dozen of these at the right spots on the body caused immense pain to the recipients internal organs, so much so that he would collapse in agony. Yet, to the casual observer, there would not even be a scratch on him. The police used these specially designed slaps on criminals so that they could not, in the future, have an opportunity to yell 'Police brutality!'
    Tanvir was not alien to blows and knocks. Throughout his criminal career, he had received quite a few. But this was different. This was a virtual barrage. Just when he felt that he would pass out from the pain, a police officer, who appeared to be senior to the others, entered the small backroom of the Robert Circle lockup where this 'interrogation' was