I run through the news channels
impatiently to know the proceedings of a court case in relation to the verdict
of a drug selling racket in India. It’s been nine years since this case -this
case that shook an entire nation and changed my whole life. The report that
might be on the judge’s desk right now has my name and a whole lot of papers that
support my identity as a journalist assistant from Norway who has contributed
significantly to the investigations. I could have been inside the court today
waiting for a life imprisonment or crueller verdict- but no, I am here -sitting
in my home in front of the television as a completely different person. Isn’t
that what I had asked for in return for my favour?
Over these years my hair has
turned from black to grey. I am now a middle aged woman working with a
government bank and my name is Agnes Brekke.
I have two children, a husband and none of them know anything about my
connection with the biggest Norwegian drug import to the Indian sub continent
in the 1990s.
I had been to India with my then boyfriend in the February of 1991.I had
befriended him through a university exercise on cultural journalism. He used to work with a magazine that published
articles on various civilizations and life in different countries across
different continents. Each student was assigned a journalist. And I had thanked
my stars when I was assigned to the green eyed, unusually handsome man, Ethan.
Ethan was in his mid thirties, usually dressed in his typical khakis and linen
shirts. He had sported a beard that made him look intellectual. We continued
seeing each other even long after I had graduated from my college and was
interning with a local newspaper. Over my seventeen months of courtship with
this man I never had a single moment of discomfort. Had the situation in India
been little different I would have even sworn on my life that this man was
innocent. I had really thought I knew everything about him. He had been
travelling a lot around that time for different assignments in Africa, Canada
and Cuba. So, when he mentioned that his magazine can sponsor an assistant for
his new assignment in India – “Indian Fisherman-Their life at the borders” I
jumped at the opportunity. I was to
realise much later that this single decision was going to throw me spiralling
down into the dark underworld of India and had it not been one opportune moment
I would be there today in the Indian court listed as one of the accused facing
potential life imprisonment in a foreign land.
“Breaking news:
Ethan Aspen, the Norwegian journalist to serve life imprisonment over drug
import and peddling charges in a nine year old case”
I am not sure if it is Ethan who is being walked out of the
court into a police van. His face is covered with a bag. He looks much thinner,
weaker and older. The news channel
displays the quick facts about the case for the viewers.
·
Ethan Aspen – a Norwegian journalist assisted
seven major drug imports into the Indian subcontinent.
· The Nether dope was stuffed into waterproofed
and gas filled barrels underneath cargo ships. These barrels would be dropped
at a specific location by letting the gas out before the cargos reached the
port. These barrels would then be picked up by an Indian fisherman who would
coordinate the whole activity by a local drug peddler.
Ethan interacted with these fishermen on the
account of article coverage for a Norwegian Magazine and passed on critical
information about the import. He communicated the Nether Dope sea hide spot destinations
to random drug dealers operating through small unnoticeable retail kiosks only
identifiable by a specific pattern of coca-cola advertisements painted in a
coded fashion on their walls. The
peddlers would in turn get in touch with the fishermen. Over 17 such outlets on Indian Highways were
shutdown and the owners were prosecuted in connection with the most intelligent
drug scandal. The information communicated was usually the
nautical miles into the sea from the border and address of the fishermen who
would assist in fishing out the Nether Dope barrels from the sea hide spots.
He had aided three such imports from South Goa,
Gokarna and Kovalam before the CBI was tipped off by an internal resource of
the Norwegian Govt. Over 1500kgs of raw Nether – Dope was collected
from various spots along the Indian Border during the course of the
investigation.Af ter long drawn political and underworld
conspiracy Ethan is finally sentenced for life along with 13 other key accused.
After this summary they flash a
photo of him at an outlet with coco cola painted on its walls. And highlight
the coca- cola ads to display the pattern. I shiver because I was sitting right there about four feet
away from Ethan when this shot was taken. I look at a photograph I had pulled out just
hours ago. A photograph of me resting my
head on a board painted with the coca-cola logo. A photograph that was the logical extension of
the area photographed in the image that was being shown in the news. I light a cigarette to calm my nerves and
continue to watch the news as the sweat drenches my t-shirt. I switch to multiple news channels covering
the same news- they all show the same photograph, display the same pieces of
information and like the first channel they too don’t mention a Linda Schwartz
in association with this case. The
photograph on my table fails to appear in the news. I let out a sigh of relief
and switch off the television. My body
is still shaking with disbelief. I light
one more cigarette and draw the smoke deep in till every inch of my lung is
filled with it. I breathe the smoke out slowly realising for the first time
that my worst nightmare is over. I flip
the photograph on my table. It reads
Name: Agnes Brekke
Norwegian Govt. Internal Resource
ID: 8080NGZP
Cover: Linda Schwartz
Cover Profession: Assistant
Journalist
Case ID: INDNDPO190383
My real identity had been made my cover and a new identity
had been given to me.
The End
