Author's Note: Read part 1 first.
My heart sank. "I am right here," I said as I sheepishly moved forward from behind the HC.
"Right. Go ahead and find out where they are now and how bad the situation is." He then proceeded to yell more orders with so much gusto that I wished for an umbrella to shield me from all the spit that came my way. Anbu Valsan was hurt. He didn't care about the wound. He only cared about the rule of terror. What was the point in being a police man if the low-lifes didn't buckle at their knees on seeing us? How else could ten of us reign over a thousand of them? We all knew that the halo of terror was our best weapon, the scepter with which we subjugated the masses.
I was to go ahead as a scout and do reconnaissance. Meanwhile the rest of them would collect themselves, wake up those who were still sleeping, get the lathis, helmets, cane shields etc., to ready to take on a mob. I guess saar felt that I didn't need any of that extra protection. What a [synonym for cat]. So I left the station not knowing how much danger was on my way, only knowing that I needed to transfer to another station soon.
As I neared the Jaaravanahudi junction I caught the acrid smell of burning tyres. Several of them were stacked in the middle of the road and people holding [ruling party] flags were forcing nearby shops to down shutters. They held aloft banners that read "He ordered wine, he got swine", "Paid for pegs, served like pigs", "Gobi chilli good, piggy chills bad" and so on. But the centerpiece was a huge banner that read, "Justice to Mangappa. Gowda's liquor killed his ticker." In between the mayhem I saw that something else was burning. Top Star Bar.
"Nooooooo." But I couldn't get close. One of the miscreants spotted me and uttered a guttural cry that gave me the shivers. I turned my bike around and raced away with the sound of my rattling heart drowning all else. After traversing a safe distance I called the station.
"Yah we know there is a riot there. We got a complaint a few minutes back."
"Why didn't you call me?" my voice broke like that of a pubescent boy. Apparently none of those [hen drinker (drink like with a straw)] thought about me. I felt like tearing my uniform apart and joining the rioters. Just then two jeeps zoomed past me with sirens blaring. The cavalry had arrived. Normally when the ruling party instigates a riot we keep a distance. But this time it was personal; at least for the psychopath who ran the show.
My colleagues jumped off their jeeps with lathi's held high and the dozen and a half of them beat into pulp the lone rioter who had strayed too far away from the rest. Soon the other rioters saw this and attacked the police men with their sticks, tube lights, cycle chains etc. A bloody battle ensued and within minutes the men in khakhi were lying prostrate on the ground groveling and groaning. Some of them were trying to escape by crawling on all fours.
To my surprise one of the jeeps turned around and came towards me. It was him, my enemy. While his men were getting pulverised, the inspector had stayed back in his jeep. "He is probably worried about spoiling his complexion," I guessed.
"Stay here and make sure it doesn't get out of hand." And then he sped away leaving me gaping in disbelief.
The mob was getting bigger. It was no longer just party gundas. People had been intimidated by incessant news reports about the swine flu for months. They were desperate, but impotent. They would have grabbed any chance to get even with the invisible enemy, no matter how incredulous it was. The time was ripe for a riot. As more people gathered at the junction shouting slogans and blocking vehicles, Top Star Bar burned away in the background.
Then it got ugly. They pelted stones at a Maruthi car that was passing by and then pushed a middle aged man off his scooter and burned it. They were getting angrier and hungry for more violence. I knew I was in terrible danger. They had to be pacified somehow, I had to quell their rage or at least get out of their way.
continued in part 3....
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