UNDERWORLD

  • 05 Sep - 11 Sep, 2020
  • Nadeem Alam
  • Fiction

Jack Alfred was the most corrupt officer of Athen’s Port Authority. I found out complete information about him from Waqar Ali. Greece is not known for keeping up the good standards of Europe. Its politicians are no different from ours. Its bureaucracy is infested with mal practices and corruption. The human rights violations by its law enforcement agencies is worse than any other country in the region. They are very good at cover ups as well. Greece media has its own vested interests. Their judicial system is weak and incompetent. There are many strict regulations in place as required by every member of European Union. However, money can open every door. It was time to pay a visit to Greece.

I was received at the Athen’s airport by Waqar Ali. I had sent another deposit to his home and he was much obliged for the same. He had made my stay arrangements in a five star hotel near port. I wanted to meet Jack Alfred at a lavish place and set a good impression of my money. Waqar Ali had already met Jack and told him about me. I was supposed to be a millionaire from Pakistan who wanted to setup an import-export business in Greece and was looking for a good advisor. He had already received an expensive gift from me and was anxiously waiting to meet me. Waqar had told him about my arrival plan and as to where I was staying. He had already called Waqar twice to ensure that there was no problem.

Jack Alfred arrived fifteen minutes before time and was received in the hotel lobby by Waqar. They were now seated at the dinner table reserved by me at the most elegant dining room of the hotel. I deliberately kept him waiting for me. We had a good talk about the business environment in Greece and he was all set to get me going with my business plan. He was very open and blunt in telling me that every government department will take hefty amount for letting my file move to the next department. He will however ensure that the entire process is done with in the shortest time possible. At the end of our meeting, I invited him to my room as I wanted to give him some advance. He happily walked into my trap.

As soon as Jack got settled in my room, I hit his head with a vase and tied him up with the help of Waqar Ali. Jack Alfred was lying unconscious at the floor of my hotel room. His mouth was taped. This was the time when I asked Waqar to disappear from the scene. He had already arranged for my flight out of Greece which was due in six hours. Waqar had also managed to get my original passport from hotel reception and had proceeded to airport. He knew Athens well. I was sure he will merge with the environment.

I had two hours to extract maximum possible information from Jack Alfred and then catch my flight out of Athens. It took me almost half hour to bring him back to consciousness.

I did not want to waste time so I asked him straight away about the incident of Coast Guard five years ago in which a boat carrying two dozen boys from Pakistan was fired upon. Jack initially denied any information about the incident whereas I knew for sure that he was the main person behind the whole operation of human trafficking. What happened at the coast was not his fault but he could very well provide further leads. After a lot of persuasion with money and fist, he told me that ten boys had survived that ordeal. He did not know their names but they were shifted to some unknown place by Coast Guard. Greece government was successful in keeping this incident out of the media. They did not want to lose their EU membership, so the boys who had survived the encounter also disappeared with no trace. It was not easy to extract this kind of information from a government official so I had to apply various interrogation techniques which I had learnt and used in my line of work in Pakistan. I had also done complete recording of the statement of Jack Alfred without his knowledge. It was now time to leave Greece.

Back in Pakistan, I gave all this information to news channels and provided all necessary evidence to the concerned government agencies without directly involving myself into it. Human rights organizations took an immediate notice of it. Many international watchdogs jumped into it. The matter was finally taken up at the state level. International media also took deep interest in the case. European Union followed the suit and suspended membership of Greece. The boys who had survived were finally returned after spending almost six years in a detention facility at some island. Jamal was not amongst them.

Time passed by very quickly. My entire family was happily settled in Middle East. Both my sisters were married. My parents were getting all the care they needed in their old age. I also visited them once a month. Mohin Sufi was now aware of his real boss and he was much pleased to keep working for me. I helped Waqar get back to Pakistan. He also started working for me and proved to be a vital asset. I provided him with necessary skills and gave him a requisite experience. I sent him back to Greece after two years through legal channels. This time he was in charge of my EU cell. Within ten years of my first meeting with Sufi, I was distributing the product in almost half of the Europe besides many countries in Asia. The continent of South America was my next target.

The world is not as rosy as it seems. I am trying hard to keep my feet on ground which is filled with many skeletons of my own. My parents want me to marry and have children. I am however, too skeptical of my future. I do not want to produce another Faheem Khan who will eventually get killed while trying to take over my empire. Life without love is colourless. The underworld is already so dark and bleak that the only colour we see is black. There is no room for any change.•

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