Jasoos Narayanan Kutty grills cricket team owner

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I got the call last night. The central investigation agency needed Jasoos Narayanan Kutty's expertise in questioning an owner of a National Cricket League team suspected to have a role in betting, fixing and money laundering. The agency had picked up the tycoon who was flying to his vacation home for a weekend away from the flashlights and family. For two days his absence won't be missed. So I had a window of 48 hours. The suspect was kept in a dilapidated building near a dam in Kerala, which would make it easier to dispose him if, god forbid, something nasty happens. The 100X100 room had enough space for two chairs and a table. A glass wall separated me and the suspect, who was known in cricket circles as Dollar Damu. The billionaire NRI was pacing up and down the room, he looked tired but resolute. "Let....

Jasoos Narayanan Kutty and the mystery of Advani's resignation

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Why did Shri Lal Krishna Advani resign? It's a perfect mystery. A challenge worthy of Jasoos Narayanan Kutty. Nobody has hired me to find out why. It is quite possible certain vested interests may have paid off certain other vested interests to not hire me. Some mysteries are better left unsolved. But these things don't deter me. I often take up pro bono cases, for public good and for the thrill they give me. Especially, when the work doesn't involve much leg work, but only analysis of evidence at hand. I start with a puja of all the prime ministers India has had, and all the prime ministers India narrowly missed. To understand what is going on in the mind of a potential prime minister, one needs to know what went through the minds of those who fulfilled that potential. Like Charan Singh, Deve Gowda, IK Gujral. ....

Jasoos Narayanan Kutty busts cricket betting ring

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The betting shop is in the basement of a highrise on Barakhamba Road in New Delhi. Once upon a time it was the office of a stock broker, later it sold lottery tickets, and after a ban on lottery, the owners turned it into a betting shop. It is run by a Dubai-based group, I thought, but later I have come to know the operations are managed from London. I have come here for a specific purpose. Today is the final of the Akhil Bharatiya Gend-Balla Pratyogita or the National Cricket League, a championship that features top clubs of the country. Kerala Jumbos are playing Chandigarh Cobras. I had often wondered why cricket teams are named after tigers, lions, cobras, elephants, dragons, vipers, kings... Why don't we have teams called Gandhi XI, Raja Harishchandra XI, Laxmibai XI, etc? Then I found a reason for that. The....

Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of IPL fixing

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Why would an Indian cricketer who is assured of an income in the range of Rs 1 to 10 crore per annum, even when he doesn't wear national colours, choose to underperform? Nobody knows. The courts will take their time deciding if he and his friends in his IPL team were involved in spot fixing, but my clients don't have that luxury. Time is priceless in their business. Who are my clients? A set of bookies, the ones who have no role in the current spot fixing mess but want to make up for lost business. They don't know if the fixing bit actually happened, but if I can decode why multi-millionaire cricketers could be interested in tarnishing their hard-earned name and fame for a few lakhs of rupees, work will become easier for them. They could use the info to recruit 'fixers' - of both the....

Gandhigiri: Munna's experiments with truth

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(Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagarpalika Puthaakalaya is Munna's favourite haunt. In times of trouble, this is where he takes refuge. He buries himself in books by Bapu and on Bapu for guidance and help. The guidance bit comes not from the books, but from Bapu himself. First the lights dim, then comes complete darkness, which later is illuminated by a halo, that of Bapu, who comes in a one-piece cloth and a lathi.) Munna is seated in the middle of a heap of books, Bapu takes the seat across the table. Munna: You are late today Bapu, I have been waiting for you. I need help, your advice. Bapu: Advice on what? What have you done that troubles you so much? Munna: It's something I did 20 years ago. Long before I discovered you and your message of ahimsa. I kept an AK-56 for my safety. Now....

Kerala minister in sex scandal: a detective's diary

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DECEMBER 17 6.00 am Shocking news from Delhi. A young woman is raped by four and left to die. It happened on a chartered bus. Hard to digest it could happen in the Capital. Will call chechi first thing. 8.00 am Called chechi. Told her to avoid chartered buses. 8.20 am Got a call. The caller wanted to know how a perfect murder can be executed. Told him I am not an assassin, only a detective. 8.25 am The same caller again, changes tack. Wants to know if I can destroy evidence if he commits the murder. Said no. 7.00 pm Not a productive day. Lost some money in the markets. Need to look for better gambling dens. DECEMBER 18 1.00 pm Woke up late. A big hangover. Newspapers picked by neighbour. Watch news....

Daasan Kapital and Chidambaram's budget

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The best of political debates in Kerala, and perhaps India, happen not in television studios or our legislature, but in Karunan's barber shop and Kuttan's chayakkada (tea shop). And there is a reason for that, rather many reasons. Karunan, Kuttan and their customers are avid readers of Junglistan blogs, most of them written in that rare moment of hallucinatory exuberance shedding new gyaan on any issue under the sun and moon. Two, 92% per cent of them are literate- they can read and write. Three, Kuttan feeds his clients a diet enlivened and enriched by some 20 newspapers from Deshabhimani to Panchajanya, from Manorama to Mathrubhumi, and television channels of all hues and shades. A menu that caters to all - Left, Centre and Right. Wednesday began with Comrade Naanappan lighting a candle in memory of Venezuelan president, or was he a dictator, Hugo Chavez. He prodded others in....

#Suryanelli Trends on Junglebook

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A rape that happened 17 years ago has animals of Junglistan up in arms. #Suryanelli is today the most trending topic. @ChikkuTheCricket Can someone tell me? Did he do it? #Suryanelli @Mayilamma Did who do what? RT Can someone tell me? Did he do it? #Suryanelli @ChikkuTheCricket Suspense killing me. Please someone tell me. Did he do it? #Suryanelli @DubaDubathecrocodile @ChikkuTheCricket I know the answer. Aaati kya Khandala? #Suryanelli @ThathammaTheParrot I doubt. He had many options to choose from. Could have got the Miss Junglistan if he wanted #Suryanelli @BigBrother I am watching you. This is libel. You will be booked under Section 66 #Suryanelli @AchuTortoiseKunhiraman, Leader of Oppn Order a probe. Let Justice Prevail #Suryanelli @ParappanangadiPappan Achu is jealous of anyone who has sex. Give him old age pension #Suryanelli @ParappanangadiPappan Have you seen the guest house - the....

Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of Afzal hanging

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I looked at the envelope carefully. It's a habit I formed after a parcel bomb attack a couple of years ago. The packet that time was meant for someone else, and I had unwittingly become a victim of terror and mistaken identity. The mail I had in my hands had come through Speedpost, the seal on the postage stamp suggested it came from Srinagar. The address of the sender I am sure is fake, but the currency notes inside are genuine. An advance of 10,000 rupees and a promise of 5 lakh more if I were to crack the case. It advised me to read the newspapers to get the details of the case. One Mr Afzal Guru, convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case, had been hanged to death on February 9, 2013. The question before me: Why was he hanged? Most of the cases I have....

Free speech zones in Junglistan

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Mallan's bar was relatively quiet. The junglistan liquor baron had fallen on really bad times. He had made several bad investments, and now he was paying the price. A few months ago, he was told to make his choice. What does he want to keep, wine or women? Mallan is yet to answer that one. All it means is things aren't quite the same at the bar. It just got messier with the new unwritten law added to the Junglistan Constitution: the right to take offence. Citizens of the jungle republic are yet to know if it is a fundamental right or a fundamental duty. Do they have the right to take offence or are they duty-bound to take offence? "This new rule will be historic," said Kittunni vakil, sipping his single malt, "Never before has a democracy experimented so much with free speech." "But....