An IB official tells an apocryphal story of how a coolie used to drive a Maruti to work. Nine others, set to be punished, are either dead or absconding. Nevertheless, the dealmaking continues. Rs 50,000 as duty, the official charges him only, say, Rs 10,000. To ensure that the passenger doesn't cheat, the official hands him a paper with a coded message only his agent will recognise.
Circumstantial evidence is fairly damaging.
In 1997, the Customs and Central Excise Commisionerate in Chandigarh was broken up and a separate commissioner appointed for Amritsar. In the summer of 1999, the 500-odd class IV security staff in Chandigarh went on a month's strike demanding transfer to Attari under a common cadre programme. The cosy existence has obviously fetched generous returns. Others are in Kotli and Ranjitbagh, both in Gurdaspur district. They could offer no coherent explanation as to why they left faraway Muzaffarnagar to lease out orchards on the Indo-Pakistani border.