Countdown to murder
BOOK EXTRACT
| Since all the gang members had been told that if they missed each other at the railway station in Delhi they were to proceed to the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan, it was decided that Karkare would be stationed at the Mahasabha during the day. The gang leaders had gathered in Delhi but their shooter had not yet arrived. Without Badge, their plan would be a non-starter. |
| That evening the three of them attended Gandhi's 5:00 pm prayer meeting. They mixed freely with the crowd and went around the grounds; they were sure that, as Gandhi had broken his fast, he would address the meeting from his regular spot "" with his back to the wall of the servants' quarters "" within a day or two. While they were surveying the prayer grounds Apte pointed out to the others the podium where Gandhi sat to address the crowds. |
| Right behind, barely twelve feet away, was a ventilator grill of a servant's room. Anybody standing inside the room and looking out of the grill would be able to fire a shot, point blank, at Gandhi. Why, he may even be able to push a hand grenade through the grill, to ensure that Gandhi did not survive. They now only had to figure out an access to the servant's quarter. |
| Pleased with how simple it was going to be for them to execute their plot, they went to Delhi railway station to receive Gopal who was travelling by the Punjab Mail, and Badge and Kistayya, who were to reach by the Frontier Mail. Both the trains reached Delhi within an hour of each other. The three of them pushed through the crowds searching for Gopal, Badge and Kistayya but they could not find any one. Unknown to them Badge and Kistayya had missed their train. |
| Gopal had jumped out of his train as it was nearing the platform and rushed out of the station, afraid he would be caught by the police with an illegal gun in his possession. The leaders, thinking all had missed their trains, started feeling despondent. The Apte-Godse gang had acquired a reputation of bragging; their schemes were always grand, but the end results never quite matched up. This had led to many of their financiers getting disillusioned with them. Apte and Godse always blamed their failures on fate and circumstances. |
| On this miserable winter evening in Delhi, this, the grandest of their plots, also seemed to be facing eventual doom. The three downcast men reached Marina Hotel. Nathuram ordered hot coffee for himself and Apte and Karkare, feeling more miserable than usual, ordered a double peg of whisky each. |
| As in every hotel, orders for alcoholic drinks left a trail. Every peg served had to be accounted for, so the name of the customer or room number was recorded in a separate "Liquor Register" maintained by the hotel. |
| Gopal, caught in the rains, returned to the station and lay down on the platform amongst the hundreds of refugees who had made it their temporary home. In Bombay, Badge and Shankar Kistayya reached Victoria Terminus and boarded the Punjab Mail at 2.30 pm. The train would reach Delhi after twenty-four hours "" chugging through the entire Central Indian plains and across the Vindhyas, the next evening. |
| Finally, the most vital cog of the gang was on his way. The second revolver and the shooter would be in Delhi by the next evening. |
| 'Let's Kill Gandhi!' A Chronicle Of His Last Days, The Conspiracy, Murder, Investigation And Trial Author: Tushar A Gandhi Publisher: Rupa Page: 987 pages Price: Rs 995 |