General AS Vaidya, Sanjay Dutt, Syed Modi, Ameeta and Sanjay Singh, Harshad Mehta, S Venkitaramanan, V Krishnamurthy, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Yakub Memon, Jayanti Dharma Teja, Kalpnath Rai and the former Nizam of Hyderabad – these names are well known to most Indians. One was a decorated senior officer of the Indian Army who was brutally murdered near the Pune Cantonment. Another was a film star who was jailed for illegally possessing a weapon. One was a badminton champion who was murdered after he got embroiled in a sensational tale of passion and infidelity. The others included a disgraced stockbroker, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, a former Member of the Planning Commission, all of whose names were connected to the country’s biggest-ever financial scandal that took place in the early-1990s. One was a so-called gangster who was killed in an ‘encounter’ with the police, one who was hanged to death and another was a shipping tycoon who could be described as India’s ‘original Vijay Mallya.’ Yet another was a minister in the Union government who was arrested for his links with criminals, while one was suspected of taking away from the country most valuable antique gold mohurs.

Is there anything common among these persons who come from completely different backgrounds and circumstances? Yes. He used to be one of India’s top scam-busters and investigators into crimes of all kinds. These are his memoirs. Shantonu Sen worked in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for more than three decades. This book is not just a compilation of some of the most amazing factual stories of crime and punishment (or the absence of it). Based on his first-hand experience, it documents how the criminal justice system in India works (or does not) and the infamous nexus between politicians and criminals in the country over the last several decades.