Chapter 216 I am a good person
Anand walked into the passage and after a few steps he suddenly saw a right turn. His intuition told him that the road ahead was not easy to walk on.
Several prison guards poked him in the back with their batons, urging him to keep going.
He staggered into the archway and turned right. On both sides of the long corridor stood a line of about twenty people, each holding a bamboo stick.
Anand has never been to prison, but he knows what it means.
Before reaching the iron gate at the end of the corridor, the people on this road will try their best to torture him.
Whipping, beating with sticks, kicking left and right... the best way is to run fast to shorten the torture time.
Sadly, he now has numbness all over his body and even walking is painful.
Fear dries up the mouth and hatred suffocates the breath.
He walked slowly forward. The men were wearing white shirts and white shorts, white hats on their heads, and thick black belts around their waists.
The brass buckle on the belt was printed with a number and a job title, the job title being cell warden.
Warden, this is a police system inherited from the British colonial period.
Murderers and other serial offenders serving long sentences, sentenced to at least 15 years, spend the first five years as ordinary prisoners. During the second five years, they receive limited privileges, including work in the kitchen, laundry, prison property, and on the cleaning team.
During the third five-year period, they are often promoted to warden, given the hat, belt and bamboo stick, and then have the power of life and death.
Yes, these wardens in front of Anand are all prisoners.
Prison guards hardly interfere in the daily operation of the prison. Routine schedules, order, and discipline are all the responsibility of the warden, including beatings.
Two rows of murderers who had transformed themselves into prison guards were waiting on both sides of the corridor to serve Anand.
They raised their sticks, stared at him, and prepared themselves for Anand to charge forward and deprive them of the opportunity to amuse themselves by beating someone until he cried out in pain.
Anand did not run; he could not run.
He limped forward step by step.
The bamboo stick was swung down, crackling on the arms, legs and back, instantly tearing the skin and flesh.
Some hit him on the head, neck, and face, their strong arms whipping him with all their might, the bamboo sticks coming down on his exposed skin.
The pain was like being burned by red-hot metal and also like being stung by an electric shock.
The end of the bamboo stick hit the flower until it bloomed, leaving very fine cuts wherever it landed.
Blood flowed from his face and bare arms.
Anand was crying and mumbling to himself.
He continued to move forward, step by step.
He would twitch uncontrollably when the stick hit his face and ears.
He walked at a moderate pace, his hands kept at his sides, tightly grasping his filthy trousers.
At first the attacks were like a storm, but as he went further in, the number of sticks on his body became fewer and fewer.
Nearing the end of the corridor, the attacks almost stopped.
They were wondering why this guy didn't dodge or evade.
The people on both sides of the corridor stopped and looked at him.
"I'm a good guy... I want to be a good guy, Ron Baba..."
Sobs and whispers echoed in the corridor, and the blood blurred his eyes, making them blood red.
…
"Still no news?"
"No, sir, Alibaba has mobilized all its manpower to search for it," Rajiv replied.
"Let Ranjit help to explore the black market. They have the most up-to-date information."
"Yes, Mr. Sur." Rajiv left worriedly.
Three weeks have passed and there is still no news from Anand.
Ron tried many methods, including asking Edge at the police station, Johnny from the gang, the black market, and the slums, but to no avail.
If that group of people really came for him, or intended to demand a ransom, they should have contacted him earlier.
As a result, he returned to Mumbai for such a long time without receiving any hint or call, as if nothing had happened.
Ron had no choice but to take the initiative to find people, including asking people in the leprosy slum for help.
But he is not sure whether he can find Anand.
This is very unusual. If he was really kidnapped, even if he was transferred, there would be clues left behind.
For example, taking away his car, three meals a day, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating. As long as he interacts with this city, there will definitely be traces left.
But there is none of these. What kind of place can achieve this?
Unless that group of people has a complete system of living supplies and is independent of this city.
"Boss." Amor knocked on the door.
"Come in." He came back to his senses.
"The owner is asking for 10 million rupees."
"If he can get those tenants out, ten million rupees will be no problem." Ron sneered.
He wanted to buy the land northeast of Sur Electric, or to be more precise, those property buildings.
The planning of the Sur park has been approved by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Nawal.
It is expected that the licensing and approval processes will be completed soon.
In this case, Ron must find a way to resettle the slum dwellers on his territory as soon as possible.
Apart from being busy with Anand's affairs, he has not been idle during this period.
Ron is trying to find a way to buy the old office buildings that he and Amor and the others had visited.
It’s a pity that when the owner there heard that someone was willing to be a sucker, he immediately asked for a huge price.
He completely ignored the fact that he had been forced to use dilapidated buildings to fight against tenants over the years.
This is the way Mumbai businessmen behave, never missing an opportunity to rip off customers.
"Boss, do you want me to bring some people to teach him a lesson?" Amor's eyes were fierce.
He is not a good person. The Bania factory was destroyed in his hands.
"Don't bother. Just tell him 1 million rupees. Otherwise, prepare to be a landlord who never collects rent for the rest of his life."
"I'll do it right away."
"Wait," Ron called Amor back, "What are you going to do with the tenants in the building?"
"Boss, don't worry, they will move out in less than a month."
Amor whispered a few words, Ron smiled dumbly, waved his hand and let him go.
It takes more evil to deal with evil, and conventional means cannot be used to deal with deadbeat tenants.
That owner is a coward who only bullies the weak and fears the strong. Just because there is a law firm in the building, he doesn't dare to use force.
For so many years, those small companies paid him dozens of rupees every month and were able to occupy the building openly.
Even with this, you still have the nerve to ask for 10 million rupees for yourself?
It’s hard to say whether his monthly rent adds up to 10,000 rupees, but he really dares to dream of 10 million.
If it weren't for the Sur Park plan that would be reported in the newspaper soon, Ron wouldn't even want to give the one million.
He just didn't want to make things too ugly and become negative news.
Speaking of the Sur Park, this is also a big project.
According to the blueprint, it would cost at least 30 million US dollars to fully configure it.
Converted into rupees, it is roughly around 900 million.
Of course, this is India, so the employee community can be just so-so, and don't even think about sports fields or entertainment facilities.
Sewage treatment and environmental protection facilities can also be cut off, as this is in conflict with India.
By removing these bells and whistles, the project cost can be reduced to Rs 50 crore.
Ron doesn't have that much money. In October last year, the available funds in his account were about 60 million.
It is now early February 1994, and the total profit of Suer Electric Appliances in these three months is 50 million.
The profit margin of water air conditioners is average, and since it is winter, there is no obvious growth.
Sales of cheap electric fans continued to rise, with nearly 150,000 units sold in three months.
Since absorbing the Banya electric fan factory, the styles of Sur electric fans have increased and the quality is more reliable than before.
Although the selling price is only three to five hundred rupees, the profit margin is barely maintained at the level of 40 percent.
However, the market for this type of electrical appliance is mature and its sales are stable, making it a guaranteed product.
Last year, Soul Electric's profit was only this much, barely reaching 100 million rupees.
This was far from the Sur Park's budget of 500 million rupees, so Ron had to find a solution elsewhere.
Last year, travel agencies sent more than 5,000 people to work in the Persian Gulf countries, and most of the visas were issued for six-month periods.
On average, each person travels abroad and enters the country four times with the help of a travel agency.
The service fee alone is 40 million rupees. They also provide intermediary services for foreign workers, including housing, round-trip boat tickets and bus tickets.
After deducting employee salaries and operating costs, the net profit is about 50 million.
Forget about the travel company. The small amount of money was only enough to cover Ron's daily expenses.
Other smuggled drugs and drug testing make money in US dollars, which cannot be touched.
After a rough calculation, Ron's capital was only 150 million rupees.
What to do with the remaining 350 million? Loan!
With the endorsement of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, banks are no longer a barrier.
It doesn’t matter that the bank has already loaned 30 million. The bank has to listen to the minister.
Although India's banking and administration are two independent systems, bank executives actually have very little say.
With just a little pressure from local officials, banks will lend money.
Coupled with the lack of supervision in the banking system, corruption is rampant.
As long as the kickbacks are appropriate, the bank president doesn't care whether the borrower meets the requirements.
With Ron's current social status, it would be easy for him to borrow two or three hundred million rupees.
Look, most of the money he used to buy land and build the park was paid by the bank.
Mineral and cement companies in Uttar Pradesh also carry out similar operations.
Using money from state-owned banks to quickly acquire state-owned assets is an oligarchic approach.
Ron has already applied for these loans from Indian banks and will start construction as soon as the process is completed.
After careful calculation, he already owed the bank 400 to 500 million rupees, which was much more than his entire net worth.
It is completely insolvent and would have gone bankrupt long ago in other countries.
But this is India, and when the loan was granted, the bank didn't even check his assets.
It's outrageous, it's all a makeshift team.
What can he say? Of course he is enjoying the vested interests.
Well, Ron plans to use the money from the bank to buy another house for himself.
He still rents a house because the houses in the fortress area are too old.
The real wealthy area of South Mumbai, near Malabar Hill.
If it weren't for Anand's incident, he might have already been looking for a property.
Ron didn't know what was happening to Frieda's family, so he decided to go and see.
He had just stood up when the phone on the table rang.
"Ron, come to Bandera." It was Mary's voice.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"We found a clue to Anand's disappearance."
(End of this chapter)
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