22 yards of deceit continues………

I asked him to wait until I got clearance from my bosses. Now, the CBI is the sort of organization where the unwritten code of conduct for its officers is rather stiff. Meeting a shady person like MK Gupta, who admittedly was a bookie and a fixer, without taking superiors into confidence, was just not on. So I called on my immediate superior Special Director PC Sharma and shared the details of my meeting with the informant. On hearing of the offer he was quite excited. He took me to Director RK Raghavan where I put all cards on the table. I got the go-ahead without any hitch as, prima facie; the input augured well for the onerous task of solving the cricket match-fixing riddle the organization had been assigned.

The informant called up a number and then turned to me. He said: ‘Sir, M.K. is waiting for you in Room 650 of Hotel Oberoi. You can meet him right now.’ It took me ten minutes to reach Oberoi’s as the CBI Headquarters and the Hotel are very closely located. When I rang the bell of the Hotel suite, a fairly tall and wheatish, ordinarily dressed man, greeted me respectfully. He introduced himself as M.K. Gupta. There were two other men in the living room of the suite, who too were introduced and we all set down on the sofa. Soon, two other men emerged from the adjoining bedroom. For a moment I thought it was some kind of a trap I had unwittingly walked into. Even though I trust my instincts in most situations, I began to think that on this occasion I’d pushed the envelope a bit more than necessary. Why on earth had I not called the man to the lobby first? Why had I chosen to come all by myself?

To be continued.....