Mistaken Allegiance: Action Thriller

By Mr Srinivasan Raju and Mr. Srinivasan Raju

In the 1990s thousands of Kashmiri pundit families living for generations in Kashmir Valley were uprooted by the insurgents who infiltrated from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Ironically, their properties were usurped and they were driven out of their own land to other parts of India, such as Jammu, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, etc. Having been caught in a political maelstrom in their own land and forced to migrate, the Kashmiri pundits strongly resented their refugee status and found living conditions in other cities harsh. Some educated Kashmiri youth failed to get jobs in the cities and towns where they took refuge and were forced to become deviants. Whatever privations they suffered, they had no alternative but to eke out a living in the cities of refuge. The poignant story, which has a strong domestic flavour, mainly focuses on one such deracinated family that settles down in Hyderabad and the challenges and torments faced by the protagonist, Shyam Kumar, the eldest son of his parents. By a freak of fortune, his name was changed to Shoab Akthar and he is inducted into ISIS to join militants in India and cause death and destruction. Being a staunch nationalist and patriot, his allegiance to his country is paramount and he does maximum damage to the network of militants in India. As a result, his personal life is in turmoil because the militants are on the prowl to liquidate him physically. Shyam frustrates their evil designs by exploiting his versatile combative skill. By virtue of profound knowledge and skill acquired by Shyam from the extensive and rigorous training in Iraq and Yemen, the protagonist becomes an expert combatant and proficient at military warfare. He is absorbed as Intelligence Officer in National Investigation Agency by Government of India to pursue the militants and eliminate them. Shyam is not after wealth and fame but wants absolute peace of mind, having experienced the bitterest side of life. His young wife, Kalpana, too is not desirous of accumulating wealth and looks forward to raise a small happy and contented family. The story unfolds a metamorphosis in Shyam's life. Here are some excerpts from the book: "Kalpana saw the two men were outside the van and she looked around for her bag which she found on the floor of van. She quickly took out the pepper spray can and held it tightly in her right hand. It was ominously dark and she was frightened as there was no traffic movement on the road. She suddenly leapt up and sprayed the fume copiously in the eyes of one man and held the other man tightly to his seat and sprayed with full strength in his eyes too, howling, 'You bastards, barbaric scoundrels, both of you deserve death.'" "Before they (the militants) neared, they slowed down the bike whose headlight was eerily dim. Kalpana and Shyam ran across and hid behind the bushes without noise. Shyam quietly pulled out the pistol and as the bike inched towards them, he shot them rapidly. The men didn't even have time to get down the bike. The bike veered sharply and ran into the bush. Both of them slumped to the ground and holding his new revolver, Shyam kicked them hard with his right leg. The pistol from one man's right hand flew off. Shyam and Kalpana didn't look back and scurried towards the main road." "As soon as she entered the van, the other sleuth stuffed her mouth with a morphine laced cloth and a moment later she lost consciousness. They hurtled down to a remote, decrepit house on the outskirts of the city. There the lusty young men stripped her, wildly pounced on her, like sex starved dogs, and savagely raped her that caused intense bleeding from her internal genitalia. Namrata, who was not fully conscious, writhed in pain and agony. She moaned, groaned and even wailed. Fearing that they would be caught and arrested, they strangled her with her mustard dupatta. She wore yellow printed salwar kameez. The two rapists abandoned her haphazardly almost naked.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1548406341
• ISBN13: 9781548406349
• Release Date: June 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"