The Indus Quest

Book excerpt: 'The Indus Quest’, a pacy political thriller with a historical twist, from Ranjan Mitra. Follow the story of Subhadra Acharya, a 38-year-old archaeologist, as she reunites with her estranged friend, Dwip Ray, an ex-Indian Police Service officer, on a rain-soaked August evening in Kolkata, after fourteen long years. Their reunion takes a sinister turn as Subhadra is abducted later that night. The abductors are desperately seeking an artefact allegedly removed by Subhadra from a recently excavated Indus Valley Civilization site, near the Great Rann of Kutch. This object can solve a four thousand-year-old mystery, with explosive consequences for modern India. Walter Chacko, a Deputy Director in the Intelligence Bureau, is summoned to Delhi to unravel a bizarre conspiracy against Prime Minister Venkataraman's government. The unknown mastermind seeks to radically alter India’s political destiny. Subhadra, Dwip, and Walter navigate through ancient sites and follow the clues left in a thousand-year-old journal of a Chinese traveller. It becomes a race against time to unveil a mind-bending truth about India’s history—a revelation that may decide the future of the world’s largest democracy. ‘An edge-of-the-seat thriller, from the first page onwards’ Shirish Thorat, author & screenplay writer ‘Ranjan has created a fascinating world with compelling characters and a thrilling storyline’ Rahil Nadiadwala, writer & film director