The jail superintendent knew the case had been made up, that it was a fake case. He had seen the Gond villagers when they had been put in his jail for two weeks. Every government official and most people in Balangir knew the case was false. But the superintendent couldn’t say this to Patnaik.

‘So that is what I have heard. If I hear anything more, I will tell you.’

Patnaik thanked him and sat back in his chair. This was unexpected news. It could actually be just a rumour. But, equally, it could be true. A big Maoist leader visiting Deogan. Who? He didn’t know. When? ‘Soon’. That is what the jail superintendent had said. ‘Soon’ could mean anything. This afternoon, the day after tomorrow. Next week.

What should he do?

Patnaik called Ghosh. He didn’t want to. He would have preferred to handle things on his own. But just in case the matter was as big as he thought it was, it would be good to ask Ghosh. He would know what to do.

So he called Ghosh’s number, but couldn’t connect with it. Patnaik sat back in his chair once more, and thought about what to do.

Finally, he called his junior officers and held a meeting. It was a long meeting, and they asked for tea and samosas. Patnaik told them what he had heard, and asked them if they knew of anything. They said, no, they hadn’t heard of anything about Maoists so far.

Then he asked them the big question: were the Gonds in touch with the Maoists?

His junior officers, speaking very carefully, said: the Gonds had been arrested for contacting Maoists.

Patnaik lost his patience and told them, ‘Of course I know about that! I arrested them, didn’t I? But are they really in touch with these terrorists?’

The police officers said they didn’t know. One of them said, what if, after being arrested, the Gonds had actually decided to ask for help from Maoists? The villagers had peacefully protested against the government, but what if they had lost patience and were going to fight with weapons?

Patnaik said, yes, this was possible. In fact, it could actually have happened. The more he thought about it, the more he realised this must have happened. The Gonds had gone to court, and were about to lose the case, so they must have contacted the Maoists because they had nothing to lose.

His officers agreed. This was nothing new, because they always agreed to whatever Patnaik said. He was the biggest police officer in Balangir, after all. The officers said no top Maoist would leave the forest and walk into a different state unless something big was going to happen.