Thursday, 30 January 2020

The Present - Chapter 24

          Hello! Your late latif writer is back with an update! Was busy in some college stuff. Isilye late hogaya. Sorry. But iske pehle ki aap dab meri band bajao for being so late mai bhaag rahi hu. Chappy ke baad aaugi! Bye bye...

                             Chapter 24

*Next day, morning*

              Daya by now had already enquired with all the officers who had ever worked on Taipan gang's case. Except for one... That is ACP Prayduman! As he was also one of them who had worked on the case of Abhay and his gang for a few days. And in those very days he had gone for that encounter getting the information about a deal that was to take place. He couldn't talk to ACP sir and as it is even if he could, ACP sir were unlikely to tell him anything about it. Hence he decided to meet Insp. Rathore. Insp. Rathore who was a close subordinate of ACP sir and was also assisting him on that case. (He was also ready to give a statement in court ACP sir's favour, Refer Chapter - 18)
              He reached Insp. Rathore's house and rang the doorbell. Soon Insp. Rathore came and opening the door welcomed him inside.

Rathore - Aao Daya... Kya baat hai? Achanak subah phone kiya ki milna chahte ho?

Daya - Ha Rathore ji. Woh kuch puchna tha.

Rathore - Aree pehle baitho toh sahi. (Daya settled down on the couch) Kya loge? Chai coffee?

Daya - Thank you... Par abhi kuch nahi.

Rathore - Acha toh phir batao kya baat hai? Pareshan lag rahe ho?

Daya - Ha woh mujhe apse Taipan gang ke bare mai baat karni thi. Uss din, app log unhi ko pakad ne gaye the na?

Rathore - Ha... Gaye toh unhi ko pakad ne the. Par achanak?

Daya - Nahi woh bas aise hi. Apke paas uss gang ki jo bhi information ho kya app please mujhe de sakte hai?

Rathore - Information... Kuch zayada khabar nahi hai mere paas. Actually woh case kuch dino pehle hi liya tha ACP sir ne kudh ke under. Humne uss case pe kaam chalu hi kiya tha ki sir ke khabari ne woh information di ki uss gang ki koi deal hone wali hai. Khabar pakki thi toh hum waha raid karne chale gaye. Aur ussi mai Mr. Arun aur Miss Gayatri ki maut ho gayi, toh woh case toh baju mai hi reh gaya. Aur uske baad authorities ne as a departmentmental action uss case se hume hata diya tha. Uske baad humme se kisi ne bhi kabhi uss case pe kaam nahi kiya. Toh information toh humare paas bhi bas utni hi hai jitni ki case files mai!

Daya - Hmm... Par phir bhi aisa koi baat jo case files mai mention na ki gayi ho? Kisi bhi reason se? Koi information, koi secret?

Rathore - Aisi toh koi baat nahi...

              And stopping in mid sentence he suddenly got up from his place and walked upto his bookshelf that was present in the same room. He started removing books one by one and was randomly shuffling its pages as if searching for something that was kept between them.
              Daya kept looking at him in confusion but maintained silence letting him continue with his work. While Insp. Rathore after desperate searching of 10 minutes came back to where Daya was sitting with a book in his hand and removed one small folded paper from it. Handing it over to Daya he said...

Rathore - Yeh lo!

Daya - Yeh hai kya?

Rathore - Yeh uss gang ka ek coded message hai. Jo woh ek dusre ko bejh rahe the aur mere khabri ne bich mai se nikal liya tha. Actually jab hume yeh case mila tha tab hum sabne, sabse pehle apne sare khabriyo ko iss gang ke piche laga diye tha! Ab case milne ke kuch hi dino baad yeh sab ho gaya! Hum sab toh phir Mr. Arun aur Miss Gayatri ke matter mai involved the. Hum mai se kisi ne uss gang par dhayan nahi diya. Par uss encounter ke agle hi din mere ek khabri ke haat yeh letter laga. Usse pata tha ki mai abhi inn chizo par dhayan nahi de sakta! Waise bhi hum sabko suspend kar diya gaya tha. Toh usne yeh letter mujhe tabhi nahi diya. Jab hume court ne clean chit di uske baad usne mujhe yeh diya. Par ab woh case humare under nahi tha toh yeh information mere kaam ki nahi thi. Jis officer ko yeh case transfer kiya gaya tha usko maine contact bhi kiya tha but he was not even interested! Yeh letter mere paas hi reh gaya!

             Daya now opened the small piece of paper that had now turned yellow with time and found written inside as 'Imprint 26 10'. After gazing at the paper for a minute but not being able to make out what it meant Daya looked at Insp. Rathore who nodded his head in 'no' indicating he had no idea what this was about.

Daya - Apne iske bare mai ACP sir ko bataya tha?

Rathore - Nahi Daya. Actually mai sir ko inn sab matters mai involve nahi karna chahta tha wapis. Tumse behtar kon samjh sakta hai ki unko koi aisi cule mile aur woh uske aage koi action na le aisa toh ho nahi sakta! No matter woh tabhi hi suspension se wapis aaye ho! Woh ajj bhi aise hi hai ajj se 27 pehle bhi aise hi the! Toh woh phirse iss case pe lage yeh mai nahi chahta tha isilye maine iss letter ke bare mai kabhi unhe bataya hi nahi.

Daya - Sahi kiya

             Said Daya smiling lightly. Knowing it very well that what Insp. Rathore said was absolutely correct.
             Thanking him for the help Daya soon left his house and drove to a nearby park. The park was a silent one and settling down on the soft grass, Daya got to the work of decoding the letter...

Daya - (in his thoughts) Yeh 'Imprint' ka kya matlab ho sakta hai?

             Searching for half an hour he came to a conclusion that 'Imprint' was actually the name of a magazine. A French magazine named 'Imprimer' that is the translation of Imprint in French. With lots of struggles he then searched for the March edition of the year 1991. The year and month of the encounter. He came to a conclusion the magazine has to be same month and year edition because the date was not mentioned in the letter, as it should have been, if it was some other date. After getting the soft copy after calling the printer's headoffice in France, he checked out the 26th word of every page for first 10 pages and wrote the first letter of all those words together. He was just trying different ways in what '26 10' could be. By checking the lines, pages, words etc and finally understood that it was actually coded this way. It came out as 'kaamhogaya' meaning 'kaam hogaya'.
             So one of the goons, of the gang that was encountered and lost its 12 people along with failure of the deal, just a day ago sends a message of 'kaam hogaya'? It did ring a bell in Daya's head.

Daya - (to himself) Kya kaam hogaya? Inki deal toh fail ho gayi thi aur saath hi inke gang ke 12 log bhi mare gaye the! Toh phir agle din issi gang ka ek admi yeh message kaise bejh sakta hai ki kaam hogaya? Kahi koi dusra kaam toh nahi? Par usually aisi gangs koi bhi 2 deals yaa koi 2 important kaam ek saath nahi karte. Just in case raid ho jaye yaa unki information leak hojaye... Toh phir? Ek minute! What if woh encounter unke plan ka hi jissa tha? Ho sakta hai ki Mr. Arun ko dhamki dene wala yeh Abhay hi ho! Waise bhi woh picture dekh ke pata chalta hi hai ki Abhay Mr. Arun ko kafi kareeb se janta tha. Toh phir ho sakta hai ki unhe dhamki dekar uss raste par bulane wala bhi wahi ho aur apni hi gang ko waha bejh kar uska encounter karwane ka plan bhi uska hi ho? Par uski Mr. Arun se kya dushmani ho sakti hai? Kyu itna bada plan banaya hoga unse Mr. Arun ko marne ke liye? Akhir yeh Abhay ka rishta kya hai Mr. Arun ke saath?

               So after so much of hardwork he was once again back to the same question. 'What was the relation between Mr. Arun and Abhay?'
               Sitting in his car he left a sigh and turning on the ignition left towards Pune... He did not have any other option and had to search through The Malhotra Mansion to find out the relationship between Mr. Arun and Abhay. And no matter he had got a warning from IG today itself he decided to go there and search through. Cause for him... Life of his brother and the pride of his father was far more important than the job that earned him both of them.
               After a drive of three and half hours he reached in front of Malhotra Mansion. It was already evening by then. He stared at the lost glory of the mansion under the faint sunlight of the setting sun and then making sure he was not being followed or seen by anyone, made his way inside. Searching through the living room first he then moved towards Mr. Arun's bedroom. He searched throughly but again failed to find something of interest. Soon he had gone through almost whole of the mansion and at last entered the store room. In the store room filled with spider webs and dirt. Coughing at times he slowly moved in between the shelves that were filled with some unused items like registraters, some utensils, big containers etc. He looked through all of them but couldn't find any important thing. At last he went near the small wooden cupboard that was kept in one corner. The cupboard shuddered as he pulled it open with and quickly Daya started searching through some files and papers that were kept inside. First going through the top two shelves he came to the third one and there he found few albums kept on his right hand corner. He opened them and saw that they were family albums of Mr. Arun. There were various pictures from all phases of his life but what was important to Daya was that there were few pictures of Abhay in those albums. Once again where Mr. Arun and Abhay seemed very close. He kept the albums aside and searched through the old documents kept on the bottom shelf. There, he found one old marksheet, with its sides worn off with time. The markesheet was of standard 2nd. The name of the student being Abhay Malhotra! But it was the middle name that shocked Daya. Abhay and Mr. Arun shared the same middle name... That is Arun Virendra Malhotra and Abhay Virendra Malhotra. So both of them were brothers! Real brothers!

Daya - Toh Abhay, Arun ji ka bhai hai! Wohi bhai jiske bare mai Raghuveer ji ne bataya tha! Itna bada gangster... Jiske khilaf murder, kidnapping, extortion, drugs, smuggling na jane konsa charge nahi hai woh Arun ji ka bhai hai!

               Daya took a few moments to get out of the shock of this strange discovery that he had just made. And then collecting all the evidences he made sure that he didn't leave any mark of his presence in the mansion, left. He sat in his car and turning towards Mumbai started driving lost in his thoughts...

Daya - Ab chize kuch kuch samjh mai aa rahi hai... Arun ji ko dhamkiya milna... ACP sir ka Abhay ki gang, Taipan ke piche jaha... Arun ji ka ussi waqt ussi jagah par hona, jana woh encounter hone wala tha... Encounter ke agle hi din woh note ka milna jisme likha tha kaam hogaya! Jo sari link ab tak bikhri hui thi woh sari jakar iss Abhay se judti hai! I am pretty sure ki Mr. Arun ko dhamkiya yeh Abhay hi bijhwa raha tha! Aur yeh sab isilye kyuki Abhay shayad chahta hi yehi tha ki Mr. Arun mare jaye! Ussi ne Mr. Arun ko dhamki dekar uss raste par bulawaya hoga aur ussi ne apni hi gang ka encounter karwa diya information leak karke taki Mr. Arun ki mauti ho jaye aur koi uss par shak bhi na kare! Par woh aisa kyu karwayega? Usse isse kya fayeda ho sakta hai? Akhir apne hi bhai aur bhabhi ko marwane ke piche uska motive kya hoga?

             In the same thoughts Daya reached back Mumbai. It was about midnight by now and as he drove on the almost empty roads of the city he stopped at a nearby restaurant and grabbed something to eat as the last time he had food it was yesterday's dinner at Abhijeet's house and he required energy to be working the whole night after working for 24 hours, nonstop, already.
             He took not more than 5 minutes to finish the frankie he had brought and once again got back to his work. Tonight, he researched deep about Mr. Arun and Miss Gayatri. He studied every information available about them since their childhood. Basically he removed their 'kundli' in their words. He wanted to find out why could have Abhay made such a big conspiracy against his own brother. He could figure out only two possible reasons for the same. One, cause maybe Mr. Arun was also involved in Abhay's illegal activities and because of some disagreement Abhay got them killed. Second, maybe Mr. Arun was innocent and came to know about his brother's crimes and hence Abhay got him killed. Daya, even talked Advocate Raghuveer and got him to send him details of Mr. Arun's business. But he couldn't find any out of the business money or any out of proportion income or anything else that indicated towards part one of his two assumptions. It took him another two hours of research into Miss Gayatri's past which again led him to the same conclusion.
             Daya finally looked up, rubbing his eyes from the papers he was straining his eyes on, in the dim seat light of his car when he realised that it was already morning. He looked at his watch to see the time and said...

Daya - 7:30 baj gaye! Ajj toh court ki hearing hai. Chalo bhai Daya... Its going to be a long day ahead. Bas court jane se pehle ek kaam aur karna hai. Rahul se milna hai!

              He got down of his car and splashed some water on his tired eyes. Wiped his face clean and then called Rahul who was himself shocked to see Daya calling him...

Rahul - Hello...

Daya - Ha woh... Mujhe tumse milna hai. Kaha mil sakte ho?

Rahul - Apko mujhse milna hai? Kyu?

Daya - Kuch kaam hai tabhi bula raha hu na

           Daya couldn't hide his anger that came out as rudeness... But after a moment he took a sigh and said in a low voice...

Daya - Arya ke bare mai baat karni hai. Isilye bula raha hu. Zaruri hai!

Rahul - Kab milna hai sir? Aur kaha par?

Daya - Wahi milte hai jaha se yeh sab shuru hua tha. Marine drives pe...

Rahul - Theek hai sir. Shaam ko milna hai? Hearing ke baad?

Daya - Nahi nahi! Abhi milna hai! Tumhare ghar se 40 minute ka rasta hai na. Toh 1 ghante mai milo!

Rahul - Abhi? Sir ajj hearing hai. Apko bhi toh jana hoga na! Late ho jayege!

Daya - Rahul please baat ko samjho (once again anger controlling his tone) Its urgent!

            While Rahul replied thinking after a moment...

Rahul - Aata hu sir.

*After an hour and half*

            Daya was sitting on the concrete slab with his face in his hands. His eyes were closed being tired but still sleep was far away from those exhausted eyes. He was already having a severe headache but was jusy not ready to rest. He spread one hand in his hair messing them up and sighing he rubbed his eyes. He got up and buying one hot tea from a nearby vendor started waiting for Rahul as he stared into the depths of the ocean. He was lost in his thoughts when Rahul came there and called him from behind...

Rahul - Sir?

            Daya turned to face him and said

Daya - Aa gaye...

Rahul - Ji sir. Kya baat hai apne achanak bulaya?

Daya - Ha woh kuch baat karni thi.

Rahul - Hmm... Boliye...

Daya - (after a silence of a moment) Dekho mai baat ko ghumauga nahi. Arya ki jaan ko kathra hai!

Rahul - What? Yeh... Yeh apko kisne bola?

Daya - Woh sab chodo tum. Bas uska khayal rakhna. Aas paas nazar rakhna! Agar kabhi bhi kahi bhi koi bhi kathra nazar aaye toh turant mujhe inform karna!

Rahul - Par... Par yeh app... (After a moment he said with little doubt) Mai kaise maan lu ki app sach bol rahe hai?

Daya - (in angry grave tone) Behan hai woh meri! Bhale hi hum court mai ek dusre ke khilaf khade ho. Ek dusre se agree nahi karte par phir bhi woh behan hai meri! Aur nahi bhi hoti toh as a CID officer its my responsibility to make sure she is safe! Waise bhi mujhe kya fayeda hoga tumhe yeh bolke ki uski jaan ko kathra hai? Tum mujhe bas itna batao ki matter sambhaloge ki mai Purvi ko bolu uske saath rehne?

Rahul - (averting his gaze) Mai... Dekhta hu sir.

Daya - (nodding his head in a stern yes) Agar kuch bhi doubt ho toh turant mujhe inform karna.

Rahul - Par kathra hai kisse sir? Apke ACP sir toh lock up mai...

           A glare that he received from Daya's red eyes was enough to shut him up in mid sentence. While Daya pressed his fist on the concrete slab brusing his knuckles and noticing his action Rahul actually got a little scared. While Daya said gritting his teeth in anger...

Daya - Belive nahi hota mujhe ki Arya tum jaise cheap insan se dosti kar sakti hai! Aur tumhare sawalo ka jawab mai court mai dunga!

            And he crushed the paper cup in his hand spilling some of the left over tea on his own hand and then throwing away the cup in dustbin walked back to his car leaving Rahul standing at his place. Soon Rahul walked off to his own car and drove off.
            As Daya leaned on the bonnet of his car and took a few breaths to calm himself down he noticed something stuck on the front glass below the viper. Removing it he looked around to see who must have kept it but couldn't find anyone who he could keep a finger on and hence opened the note... What he saw inside shocked him to the core and mumbling 'Abhijeet' he instantly sat in his car and speed off like a bullet!

To be continued...

            Why did Daya sir utter Abhijeet and speed off? What happened to Abhijeet sir? And so many revelations... Where will they the to? Keep reading and reviewing to know more. Yes this one was a boring chapter. But i promise next would be very interesting! It would be full of duo and trio moments! So agar yeh sab chahiye toh jaldi jaldi review karo!

Wednesday, 1 January 2020

The Present - Chapter 23

               Hello everyone! First of all wishing you all a very happy new year!!! May this new year bring lots of happiness and success in your life! Waise wondering mai itne jaldi kaise aa gayi? Woh do mahina exams ke wajh se gayab thi na so compensate karna padta hai na! Isilye jaldi aa gayi. Chalo ab sab log jaldi jaldi chapter pado...

                              Chapter 23

                And closing his eyes Daya rewinded back his memory lane to the day when ACP sir called them for the dinner and for the first time told them about his daughter Arya... 'Aur phir maine ne uss bachchi ko adopt kar liya'... 'Haa toh mai bhai bulaugi ok!!!'... 'Arya yeh lo! And all the very best for your exam'... 'Dekhiye Arya ka accident ho gaya hai'... 'Lekin dhyan tha kyu nahi? Soch kya rahi thi itna deeply tum?'... 'Acha toh phir Rahul bhaga bhaga kyu aa raha hai tumhare liye?'... 'Arya ko... Dhundo'... 'Daya gadi roko! Woh dekho... Waha koi baitha hai!'... 'Aree jake apke ACP sir se puchiye na ki unhone kya kiya hai! Apni hi beti ke saath akhir kar kaise sakta hai koi aisa?'... 'Mai... Mai pa... ACP Prayduman ke ghar nahi jaugi'... 'Uski aakhe bilkul khali thi... Mano na kuch soch raha hai na kuch samjh raha hai'... ' Mai apse wada karta hu sir... Apki begunahi sabit karke rahuga'... 'Arya ne sir ke against writ petition file ki hai'... 'Mera koi lawyer nahi hai your honour'... 'The court orders Maharashtra police to form a SIT for this case'... 'Chalo phir bhai Veer... Karao mujhe law ka crash course!'... 'Miss Gayatri ka cousin bhai, Vinay, Prayduman ka college friend tha'... 'Tabhi sir ne phone pe kaha ki, "Tum chinta mat karo... Kaam ho jayega. Aur kisi ko pata nahi chalega"... 'is it not impossible for ACP sir to get Mr. Arun with his family there at the spot of encounter along with the gang at the same time?'... 'Sach kahu toh he didn't adopt me but is only my legal guardian'... 'Arya ke 18 hote hi maine Arun ki sari property Arya ki naam kar di thi'... 'Sach sach bataiye... Apne meri sign unn property papers par, dhoke se, li thi yaa nahi? Ha... Li thi'... 'court orders IG Shrikant Pandit to suspend ACP Prayduman from immediate effect and also take him in custody for further investigation'... 'Sir please... Ab toh bata dijiye 27 saal pehle hua kya tha?'... 'Mr. Arun ne will banwai hi kyu thi?'... 'Unhe ek, ek number se bar bar phone aata tha'... 'Jo upar dikh raha hai... Woh iss case ka 1% bhi nahi hai!'... 'Sir yeh... Yeh toh dhamkiya hai. Kisne bejhi hongi yeh Arun ji ko?'... 'ACP sir ko toh kudh sirf 5 ghante pehle hi information mili thi! Toh phir yeh dhamki dene wale ko pehle hi kaise pata chal gaya ki encounter kis din, kis waqt aur kaha hone wala hai?'... 'This is ACP Arjun Singh'... 'Mr. Vijay ka suicide letter. Isme saaf saaf likha hai ki unhe zindagi bhar iss baat ka malal raha ki unki help se ACP sahab ne 2 begunaho ki jaan le li'... 'Jis insan ke character pe app ungli utha rahi hai na ussi insan ne apko ungli pakad kar chalna sikhaya tha!'... 'Your honour, Prayduman nahi janta tha ki Arya Mr. Arun ki beti hai! Woh kaise usse, property ke liye adopt kar sakta hai!'... 'Defense, SIT aur prosecution ke paas 2 din ka waqt hai. Tab tak koi na koi pukhta saboot pesh kare!'... 'Usne mujhe dono ke passports bijhwaye with life time visa aur maine unn dono ko bijhwa diya US'... 'Beta mai nahi janti ki kyu bejha tha'... 'Dai maa par nazar rakho'... 'Woh mujhe... Arjun ji se milna hai!'... 'Woh galat hai! Par woh ghunegar nahi hai'... 'Chai piyege sahab?'... 'Tum log yeh jo chup chup ke investigation kar rahe ho na... Band karo isse'... 'Abhijeet aur Arya ki jaan kathre mai hai'... 'Parso waise hi mai court mai kudh ko guilty accept kar lunga'... 'make sure nothing of this sort happens again! Nahi toh suspension is the minimum thing that you both will face!'... 'Bas woh seedhi se pair slip ho gaya tha'... 'Tumhara phone hacked hai Veer!'
                 Keeping his elbows on the table Daya leaned ahead and took a few uneven breaths, picked up a glass of water and gulped it down in one breath. And then said to himself...

Daya - God!!! Mai ab tak samjha kyu nahi! Sir agar kudh ko guilty accept karna hi chahte hote toh Insp Dev ke samne hi kar lete! Woh court ki hearing tak rukte hi nahi. Sir chahte the ki mai iss case ko investigate karu! Aur sach tak pohchu! Par saath hi Abhijeet aur Arya bhi safe rahe. Aur meri information leak na ho. Isilye sir nr bulaya tha mujhe! Sir ne itni badi hint di thi aur mai samjha hi nahi! Woh ladka! Jisne mujhe chai di thi! Socha kyu nahi maine ki uske paas sir ne kuch information chodi hogi! Nahi toh usse kaise pata ki mujhe kab aur kaha aake chai deni hai! Mujhe abhi jana hoga usse dhundne. Beach pe chai di thi. Wahi se start karte hai!

               Getting up he changed quickly and grabbing his phone, gun, wallet and car keys left the house after writing a small note as 'Kuch kaam se jaa raha hu. Aa jauga' for Abhijeet who was sleeping as of now. On the way he first called on of his trusted informer and told him to keep an eye on Abhijeet and to call him on his secret phone in case he sees any threat lurking around him. Next he switched off his usual phone and the GPS of the car so that he couldn't be tracked just in case.

*Car*

Daya - (thinking) Ab tak ka kaha sir ka har ek alfaz sahi tha aur har alfaz ke piche koi wajah. (Smiling at himself) Mai unse sach puchta raha aur woh jab bhi bole sirf sach hi bole! Itni sari broken links hai iss case mai! Kyu banwayi thi Mr. Arun ne will? Kisne dhamki dekar bulaya tha unhe uss raste par? Woh encounter ussi waqt, ussi jagah par kaise hua? Yaha tak ki ab 27 saal baad Arya ko sach pata kaise chala? Sir ki chuppi ki wajh! Abhijeet ki jaan ko kathara se yaha tak ki Veer ka phone kisne hack kiya! Har baat sirf ek chiz se jake judti hai! Uss ek link se jo missing hai! Yeh sab kuch karne wala woh ek insan! Jo iss case mai 27 saal pehle bhi involved tha aur ajj bhi involved hai! Jisne 27 saal pehle Mr. Arun ki jaan li aur ajj phir ACP sir ko chup karwa rakha hai ab tak Arya aur ab Abhijeet ke naam ki dhamki dekar. Par usse kya pata... Ki ACP sir kis mitti ke bane hai!

            Soon he reached the beach and looked at the small shops and few stalls that were located around it and were closed now as it was almost midnight. But then looking at the opposite side of the road he located a small 'chai tapri'. He went there and found the same boy who handed him over the tea that day on the beach... Looking at him for a few seconds Daya said...

Daya - Ek chai...

              The boy looked at him and then called out as

Boy - Baba! Sahab ko chai... Kadak wali

              And hearing 'kadak wali' a man came in front from behind the tin back door of the small tapri. Seeing the man, Daya was shocked and said...

Daya - Tum! Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho?

Man - Andar aayiye na sahab... Thandi hai. Andar baithiye mai chai banata hu

              And without actually answering his question the man once again disappeared from the same tin door but this time leaving it open for Daya to enter. Entering inside Daya found himself standing inside a small room now. The room was small but neat. With some utensils kept on one side of the room and a cot kept just besides the door. So it was a living room + kitchen + bedroom. As Daya looked around the man said...

Man - Baithiye sahab. Mai chai banata hu

Daya - Chai wai chodo. Tum mujhe yeh batao ki yeh sab chal kya raha hai? Tumhare paas sir ne kuch hint chodi hai mere liye? Aur tum kudh hi court mai sir ke khilaf gawahi dene aaye the Prateek?

(Prateek, Vijay's son... Vijay who was ACP sir's informer and gave him the information of the gang that ACP sir went to do encounter of, 27 years ago. Prateek in court said that Vijay commited suicide and showed his suicide note in which he had written that he was guilty that ACP sir killed 2 innocent people because of him. Also wrote that he gave information of the gang's whereabouts 3 days ago while ACP sir said he came to know about it only 5 hours ago. Refer - Chapter 19)

Prateek - Baba ki tarah mai bhi ACP sahab ka khabri hu sahab. Arya madam ke sahab pe case karne ke baad ek din achanak ek unknown number se unhone mujhe phone kiya tha. Aur bole ki woh samne ke beach pe hai... Mai mere bete ko ek kadak chai ke saath bejhu. Shayad unn par koi nazar rakhe hue tha. Isiliye woh mujhse nahi milna chahte the. Chai ke paiso ke saath unhone ek chitthi bhi di. Jisme sahab ne sab likha tha ki mujhe kya karna hai. Agar koi bhi police wala iss case ke bare mai puchne aaye toh unhe kya bolna hai. Yaha tak ki unhone mujhe joothi gawahi bhi dene kaha.

Daya - Par kyu?

Prateek - Pata nahi. Mujhe unhone kaha ki court mai unke khilaf gawahi du. Maine mana bhi kiya tha. Par unhone kaha ki woh jo bhi kar rahe hai soch samajkar kar rahe hai. Mai bas utna karta jau jaisa unhone kaha hai

Daya - Phir toh woh suicide letter bhi nakli hi hoga?

Prateek - Ha sahab. Nakli hi tha.

              Saying so he got up from the chair he was sitting on and opening the small wooden cupboard that was kept in the corner, removed an envelope and handed it over to Daya who opened it and found a photograph in it. A photograph of Mr. Arun, Miss Gayatri and another man who Daya knew nothing about. Showing the picture to Prateek, Daya asked as...

Daya - Iss admi ko jante ho?

Prateek - Nahi sir

Daya - Aur kuch bola tha sir ne?

Prateek - Nahi. Aur kuch bhi nahi

Daya - Theek hai. Chalta hu.

             And handing him over his share of money for the information Daya left and sitting back in his car said to himself looking at the picture...

Daya - Jis tarah se yeh photo li gayi hai lagta toh koi karibi hi hai yeh Mr. Arun ka. Kon ho sakta hai yeh? Mr. Vinay! Unse puchta hu iske bare mai. Gayatri ji ke cousin bhai hai woh. Unhe toh pata hi hoga phir.

              And then calling Mr. Vinay he asked him to see the picture he was sending and tell him about the man who was standing besides Mr Arun.

Vinay - Ji nahi. Mai nahi janta inhe.

Daya - Dekhiye yaad karne ki koshish kijiye. App kabhi kisi family function yaa kisi party... Kabhi bhi mile ho ya dekha ho?

Vinay - Gayatri ki shaadi ke baad meri toh usse bhi zayada baat nahi hoti thi. Woh Pune mai rehti thi aur mai Banglore mai. Mera waha aana jana kuch khaas hota nahi tha. Gayatri se nahi mil pata tha... Arun ji ke kisi karibi ko kaise jaan sakta hu?

Daya - Acha theek hai. Thank you. And sorry maine apko itni raat ko disturb kiya.

Vinay - No problem sir. Its ok.

              Cutting the call now Daya called advocate Raghuveer to see if he could help him recognize this man...

Raghuveer - Nahi maine iss admi ko pehle kabhi nahi dekha.

Daya - Apko koi andaza bhi ho ki yeh kon ho sakta hai? Picture dekh kar toh lagta hai ki koi karibi hi hai. App toh unke family friend the na! App toh jante honge unke relatives, friends yaa close associates ko.

Raghuveer - Arun ke sare employees aur friends ko toh mai janta tha. Yeh unme se toh koi nahi hai. Aur rahi baat relatives ki... Toh uske koi khaas close relatives nahi the. Yaha tak ki toh woh apne bhai ke bhi zayada close nahi tha...

Daya - Ek minute? Bhai? Mr. Arun ka koi bhai bhi tha?

Raghuveer - Ji ha tha. Par usse toh mai bhi kabhi nahi mila. Aur na hi Arun ne kabhi mujhe uske bare mai zayada kuch bataya. Par app yeh sab kyu puch rahe hai?

Daya - Nahi bas aise hi. Acha Arun ji ke saath jo kuch bhi hua iske baad bhi unka bhai nahi aaya? Kyuki maine kahi bhi, kisi bhi case file mai unka zikar nahi dekha!

Raghuveer - Jis tarike ka case tha na. Media involvement... Police enquiry... Court... Zayada log iss case mai involve hona hi nahi chahte the. Shayad isiliye woh bhi nahi aaya.

Daya - Acha theek hai. Thank you.

             And lost in his thoughts about the same Daya cut the call and wondered who this person could be. Someone who not even Miss Gayatri's cousin brother knew and not even Mr. Arun's family friend Raghuveer did!

Daya - Kon ho sakta hai yeh? Friend, family yaa koi business se related! Par phir Raghuveer ji yaa Vinay mai se kisi ko toh pehchanna chahiye tha na. Itna important admi iss case ka ki ACP sir aur kuch nahi bas yeh photo chod kar gaye mere liye aur koi isse janta hi nahi! Iss case se kya relation hoga iss admi ka? Koi witness? Yaa victim? Yaa... Yaa phir koi suspect! Agar aisa hai toh iska koi record ho sakta hai police records mai!

               And then opening his laptop he started searching in the police records about the unknown man. But there was no match found. Thinking about what to do next Daya took a closer look at the picture and then felt like he had actually seen this man somewhere before! He once again opened the laptop and using aging software found out how this man would look almost 25 years later. Also removed the beard the man had in the picture. The result shocked him!

Daya - Yeh toh Abhay hai! Woh wanted gangster! Taipan gang ka head! Par iska Mr. Arun se kya rishta tha? (After a moment) Ek minute!

               And remembering something he removed the file of the 27 year old case and checked out the details of the gang for whose encounter ACP sir and his team had actually gone to that place where Mr. Arun and Miss Gayatri got stuck accidentally. And as he had expected the gang that ACP sir went after was this very gang Taipan! Reading out the other details he found that 12 members of this gang died in that encounter... None of them who were there actually survived. But then this gang was a lot more bigger than only 12 people and name of Abhay was no were among those 12. And however Daya already knew that Abhay was still alive and his gang still functional. At a even bigger level now! Police was behind them for a very long time but could get nothing else except for small successes here and there in some of the raids. But Abhay still seemed to be beyond their reach.
               The rest of the night Daya spent researching about Abhay and his gang Taipan. By talking to various police officers who had ever investigated this case. But still couldn't find out the relation between Mr. Arun and Abhay. He had now also started suspecting that maybe Mr. Arun was also involved in some illegal activities. Maybe that was his 'business' unofficially?

*Morning, Abhijeet's house*

             Abhijeet woke up and freshening up first went to check out on Daya. But when he didn't find him in his room it shocked him and he wondered

Abhijeet - Yeh Daya ajj itne jaldi kaise uth gaya? Mere ghar pe toh janab ki neend majhal hai 8 baje se pehle khul jaye toh! Kaise kaise toh ready hota hai beauro ke liye! Iske dimag mai akhir chal kya raha hai!

               At first he tried calling Daya but as it was ment to be, it was switched off. Thinking about the same stuff he went downstairs and saw a note kept for him on the dining table. The note with 'Kuch kaam se jaa raha hu. Aa jauga'. Staring at the note for a minute Abhijeet left a sigh and deciding something picked up his phone and called someone.

Man - Good morning Abhijeet! Ajj itni subah subah kaise yaad kiya? Ek minute! Abhijeet ne yaad kiya ki Abhijeet 'sir' ne?

Abhijeet - Yaar tum bhi na Vishal! Ek kaam tha. Karoge?

Vishal - Bilkul! Bol na kya baat hai?

Abhijeet - Daya ko dhund sakte ho?

Vishal - Dhund sakte ho?! Kaha gaya hai woh? Is he fine?

Abhijeet - Ha ha. Hua toh kuch nahi hai... Par pata nahi kyu kal se bada ajeeb behave kar raha hai. Aur subah se pata nahi kaha chala gaya. Kisi musibat mai na phasa le kudh ko. Tum please usse dhund sakte ho kya yaar? Unofficially! (Vishal was a police officer and a common friend of duo)

Vishal - Acha theek hai. Mai dekhta hu. Par achanak ho kya gaya usse?

Abhijeet - Jis tarah se woh behave kar raha hai mujhe toh lagta hai ki meri jaan ko kathra hoga... Yaa phir kisi ne mujhe lekar dhamki di hogi usse...

Vishal - Aur tum yeh itne relaxed hokar bol rahe ho?

Abhijeet - Aree yaar kuch nahi ho raha mujhe. Faltu ka tension lete rehte hai janab. Ab tum bhi shuru mat ho jana aur please usse dhund kar lao. Mere naam pe toh koi bhi usse kahi bhi bula sakta hai. Bas apne app ko kisi musibat mai na phasa le

Vishal - Mai dhundta hu. Aur tum khayal rakhna theek hai. Bina matlab ka superman mat banna

Abhijeet - Ha ha. I will take care. Kuch pata chale toh batana mujhe.

Vishal - I will. Chal bye

Abhijeet - Bye

               And disconnecting the call Abhijeet got busy in preparing the breakfast and then left for beauro getting ready. On the way he did notice Daya's informer following him but knowing that it was obviously Daya who would have told his informer to follow him, he nodded his head in a no and wondered who it was who had threatened Daya with his name. Also made a silent prayer in his heart to keep his brother safe who according to him was sometimes overprotective when it came to him... But he had no idea that Daya wasn't overprotective this time but the threat was indeed real. Also he didn't let the informer know that he knew he was being followed thinking if Daya wanted it that way, let it be that way...

To be continued...

               Ho gaya!!! Dekho iss baar maine jaldi update diya toh app log bhi jaldi jaldi review do! Tabhi hi jaldi se next update milega app logo ko!