CID short story Abhijeet - Flashback

FLASHBACK - 2

 

 

 

Scene : Restaurant


The whole team minus ACP were out for dinner on New Year's eve. They were waiting for ACP to arrive.


Freddie: Abhijeet sir, ACP sir ke aane mein itni der kyon ho rahi hai?


Abhijeet: Main phone karta hoon. (phones ACP) Ok sir...Nahi sir, koi baat nahi...hum intezaar karenge.


Freddie gives a frustrated look.


Abhijeet(disconnects): ACP sir ko Chitroley saab ne rok liya hai. Agar is waqt ACP saab niklenge to Chitroley saab bhi saath mein aayenge. Kya tum Chitroley saab ke saath dinner karna chahtey ho?


Freddie: Nahi sir!!!!!


Abhijeet: Toh intezaar karo.


Daya: Jab tak ACP saab nahi aate hum kuch starters order kar lein?


Abhijeet: Seedha kaho na tumhe bhi bhook lagi hai.


Daya: Haan boss, mujhe bhook lagi hai. Chalo starters order karte hain.



Abhijeet: Theek hai order kar lo.


Abhijeet and Sachin started looking at one menu card and started deciding what to order.



Daya: Freddie, menu card dikhao.


Freddie didn't seem to hear. He looked too serious. He was looking at a couple seated some distance away.


Purvi who was seated beside Freddie shook him. 'sir, kya hua?'


Freddie only looked at Daya and pointed towards the couple with his eyes. Daya followed Freddie's eyes and saw the couple. He too seemed uncomfortable. He looked at Abhijeet, who was busy discussing the menu with Sachin. He had not noticed the couple, especially the guy. Daya signalled to Freddie not to mention anything. He knew that if Abhijeet and the guy there saw each other, there would be fireworks and the evening would turn into an unpleasant one.



Purvi, Shreya and Nikhil noticed the silent communication between Daya and Freddie.


Nikhil finally asked 'kya hua sir, aap unhe jaante hain?'

Abhijeet and Sachin looked up. Daya almost slapped his head in frustration.


Abhijeet: Kise jaante hain Nikhil?

Nikhil: kuch nahi sir. Daya sir aur Freddie sir us table par baithe couple  ki ore dekh rahe the jaise unhe jaante hain.


Abhijeet turned back and saw the couple. He didn't know the lady. But he remembered having seen the man long ago - 14 years back. Abhijeet had come a long way after the accident which destroyed his memory but there were a few raw wounds remaining. Daya and Freddie noticed it.


Abhijeet: Daya, tum log dinner karo, main ghar chalta hoon. Sorry and good night.


Daya: Lekin ACP saab...
Abhijeet: ACP saab ko meri ore se sorry kehna.  Bye.


Abhijeet got up and walked out of the restaurant. Once outside, he didn't immediately go to catch a taxi. (They all had come in the CID vehicle. He alone couldn't take it and go home since the others needed to be dropped off at their homes)

There was a small garden and a fountain in front of the restaurant. He went towards the fountain and sat on its edge, recollecting the last time he had met Anirudh.



Back at the table...

Purvi: Daya sir, Abhijeet sir ko achanak kya hua? Aur woh kaun hai?

Daya: Woh...Abhijeet ka bhai Anirudh hai.

Everyone was shocked.


Nikhil: Abhijeeet sir ke koi bhai bhi hain? Unhone kabhi unka zikr nahi kiya...


Daya: Haan...un dono ka jhagda hua tha. 14 saal pehle.


Shreya: Kis baat par sir?


Daya: Batata hoon.


At the fountain, the same scene was going through Abhijeet's mind's eye.



Flashback (1997):

Abhijeet was brought into the room where an elderly lady was waiting. She was in tears and Daya was telling her maaji, hum log hai na, aap royiye mat'.


As soon as she saw him, she rushed towards him and said Abhijeet, tu theek hai? bhagwaan ka lakh lakh shukr hai tu bach gaya'. But Abhijeet didn't remember her. He didn't remember anyone in the room. Everyone seemed like a stranger. The man who called himself ACP Pradyuman tried showing him photos of his past but trying to remember gave Abhijeet a severe headache. Finally the doctor asked everyone to leave Abhijeet alone and allow time to take its course.


That evening the tall guy who called himself Sub-Inspector Daya brought him to a house. The old lady who was at the hospital was waiting for him at the door.


Abhijeet: Yeh kiska ghar hai?

Daya: Sir yeh aapka ghar hai.

Abhijeet; Aap mujhe sir kyon keh rahe hain?

Daya: Sir, main CID mein aapka junior hoon. Aap mujhe aap' mat kahiye.

Abhijeet: Hmmm...(thinks for 2 seconds)...Daya...yehi tumhara naam hai na.

Daya: Sir, aapko yaad hai?

Abhijeet: Haan, hospital mein woh...ACP (thinks again) Pradyuman...tumhe isi naam se pukar rahe the.

Daya; Ohhh...

Abhijeet: Anyway... Thanks Daya.

Daya: Thanks kisliye sir...yeh sab meri wajah se hui hai...

Abhijeet's mom(comes in with a cup of tea and offers it to Daya): Chai piyo bete.

Daya: Nahi maaji, main chalta hoon. ACP saab ne ek case ke silsile mein mujhe bulaya hai.

...and walks off, feeling guilty about his own role in the whole incident.

Several weeks passed, Abhijeet couldn't recollect the old lady. She kept showing him pictures of him with her, mostly childhood photos. Unfortunately there was no recent picture of Abhijeet and his mother, which might have helped Abhijeet remember her better. Abhijeet had left home after 12th. He stayed in a hostel during college days and then had gone into police training. He had visited home once a year, but it never occurred to anyone to take a photo together.


Abhijeet started getting frustrated. He started going out, trying to remember the places he might have visited and people he might have met in the recent past. His mother's' presence at home was actually depressing him. He respected her and appreciated her for being nice to him, but he wanted to find his bearings on his own. She seemed to be in tears most of the time. He didn't have the heart to ask her to leave, so he started staying out of home most of the time.

One day when he returned home, there was another guy standing at the door - Abhijeet's brother Anirudh. He was studying in the US. His mother had initially avoided telling him about Abhijeet's accident. Finally one day Anirudh phoned her and found something amiss. He pressed her to tell what was wrong and his mother told him everything - about Abhijeet's accident and memory loss. He hopped on to the next flight and reached Mumbai.


Anirudh: Aa gaye aap?

Abhijeet: Aap kaun hain?

Anirudh: Main aapka bhai Anirudh.

Abhijeet: Dekho Anirudh, mujhe kuch yaad nahi aa raha hai. Dimaag par zyada zor diya toh sar dard hone lagta hai. Meri baat mano...maa ji ko yahan se le jaao. Main kuch din akele rehna chahta hoon.


Anirudh: bhaiya main US mein padhai kar raha hoon. maa ko nahi le jaa sakta.

Hearing the conversation, Abhijeet's mother comes out with her suitcase.

Anirudh: Maa, aap kahan jaa rahi hain?

Mother: Abhijeet nahi chahta ki main yahan rahoon. mujhe gaaon mein Kishan mama ke ghar chod do.

Anirudh: Lekin...

Mother: Tum apni padhayi poori karo. Uske baad mujhe le jaana.

Abhijeet, bhagwaan tumhe khush rakhein.

And she left towards the gate. Anirudh gave Abhijeet an angry glare and followed her.

Abhijeet was not sure how to react. In a way he was happy to be free. He thought if he was left alone for a few days, he might be able to remember something...and maybe bring her back if she was  indeed his mom. At the same time, he was sad to see her go. Mother or not, she was a very affectionate lady.



A year passed. Abhijeet couldn't remember anything about his past, but he enjoyed the company of ACP Pradyuman, Daya, Asha, Fredricks and Sudhakar. They  often came over to his house. Instead of trying to make him remember his past, they chatted about various crime cases and how they solved them. Abhijeet found this discussion interesting. It gave him happiness and peace of mind.


One day he had gone out for dinner with Daya and when he came back, he saw a furious Anirudh standing at his doorstep.

Abhijeet: Hello Anirudh...kaise ho? US se kab aaye?

Anirudh: Pichle hafte.

Abhijeet: Aur...maa ji kaisi hai?

Anirudh: Woh ab is duniya mein nahi hai!  

Abhijeet: Kya!! Yeh kaise hua?

Anirudh: Woh har pal aapke baare mein sochti thi...aapne unhe na phone kiya, na gaaon mein Kishan mama ke ghar jaakar unse milne ki koshish ki! Kaise bete hain aap!

Abhijeet felt a pang of guilt...he really hadn't tried to contact her. he was living in his own world, trying to discover himself.

Anirudh continued: sharm aat hai aapko apna bhai kehte hue.. Aaj ke baad mera aapse koi sambandh nahi. Main jaa raha hoon!

...and walked off angrily.  

Abhijeet stared blankly after him. Daya who was witness to the whole scene said, sir, aap theek hain?'

Abhijeet; Daya, is waqt mujhe akele chod do. bye.

...and walked into his house.



Later Abhijeet joined CID and made a successful career for himself. ACP taught him not to waste time thinking about his past...and this worked well for him. Abhijeet pushed Anirudh away from his mind and moved on in life.



Back to present:


Daya concluded the story. Everyone was silent.

Freddie: Daya sir, mujhe lagta hai Abhijeet sir ko ek baar Anirudh se mil leni chahiye.

Daya: Tum jaante ho na Abhijeet ko...woh kisi ki baat nahi maanta...uska bhai bhi waisa hi ziddi hai.


By then Anirudh and his wife had finished dinner. They got up and left.


Freddie: sir, aap jaakar Anirudh ka phone number lijiye...kisi tarah Abhijeet sir ko manaakar phone karvate hain.

Daya: Theek hai...

Daya gets up and goes out hoping that Anirudh had not gone too far off. When he reached the entrance, he was surprised to see Anirudh walking towards Abhijeet who was seated near the fountain. Abhijeet had wanted to talk to Anirudh after all!

Anirudh shook hands with him and gave him a card. He then got into an airport cab and left.


Daya walked towards Abhijeet and asked, kya boss, tum ghar nahi gaye?'

Abhijeet: Nahi, main...

Daya (smiled understandingly): Kya kaha Anirudh ne?

Abhijeet: Kuch khas nahi...woh waapas US jaa raha hai. Usne apna phone number diya aur kaha ki touch mein rehna.


Daya: Chalo ab mood theek karo aur andar aa jaao dinner karne. ACP saab aate hi honge.


Abhijeet smiled and went back into the restaurant with Daya.

*** THE END ***

 

PS: Abhijeet mentioned his brother in 'Case of the Missing Father'. So the existence of the brother is not my own creation/imagination. His name is of course given by me.

Abhijeet at Ransom

ABHIJEET AT RANSOM

 

 

Scene : Court

Inspector Dave opened the door of the police vehicle. A constable was sitting beside the murder suspect.  The suspect looked around to see if any of his colleagues were around and as expected there were none. As he walked towards the court room, he saw the prosecutor Jaiswal standing with some others Jaiswal gave a triumphant smile as the murder suspect walked past him. The suspect knew this might be Jaiswals day in court.



He knew he was deep in trouble. Though he had not intended to kill Mangu, Mangu was dead. His colleagues would somehow try and pull him out of this mess and prevent him from getting  phaansi'...maybe a life term, maybe just 10 years if he could get KD Pathak to fight his case.



As if God had answered his prayers, he saw K D Pathak rushing towards him.



KD: Hi Abhijeet.



Abhijeet: Hi KD.  (with an expression showing hopelessness)



KD: Yeh sab aise hua? mujhe aaj subah ACP saab ne phone karke bataya ki tum ek hatya ke case mein phas gaye ho. Toh main apne saare kaam chodkar yahan chala aya.



Abhijeet: Apna waqt barbaad mat karo KD. Is baar shaayad main hi khooni hoon.



KD: Mujhe vishwaas nahi ki tum kisi ki nirdosh hatya kar sakte ho.




Abhijeet: Mangu nirdosh nahi tha. Woh black...



The bailiff called out Abhijeet's name.



KD: Tum baad mein vistaar se bataana ki kya hua tha.



Abhijeet: Lekin kuch jaane bina tum mera case kaise ladoge? Jaiswal ko dekho kaise josh me khada hai...lagta hai mujhe aaj hi phaasi dilva dega.



KD: Aisa kuch nahi hoga. Tum chinta mat karo.




Abhijeet entered the accused box. KD took his place as defence lawyer.



Judge: Case ki karyavahi shuru kijiye.



Jaiswal: Your honour, aaj ka case ek seedha saadha murder case hai. Main aapka waqt barbaad nahi karoonga, bas 5 minute mein saabit kar doonga ki Mangu naam ke aadmi ko CID ke senior inspector Abhijeet ne apne ghar mein berehmi se maar diya.



Jan 16 ko Abhijeet ke ghar se ek laptop chori ho gayi...thodi investigation ke baad pata chala ki us laptop ko churane mein Mangu ka haath hai. Toh Abhijeet ne Mangu ko jaan se maa diya...sirf ek laptop ke liye. .




KD: Objection your honour, bina koi saboot ya witness hum is nirnay par nahi pohonch sakte.



Jaiswal: mere paas saboot bhi hai aur witnesses bhi. Sabse pehle main pizza delivery boy Shiva ko bulana chahta hoon.



Shiva arrives.




Jaiswal: Jan 16 ki raat ko tumne Mangu ke ghar mein kya dekha?



Shiva: Abhijeet sir ko shaq tha ki Mangu ne unke laptop ko chura liya tha...gusse mein Abhijeet saab Mangu ko thapaad mara.  Mangu ke table par sharaab ka bottle tha. Mangu ka sar us bottle se takraya aur khoon nikalne laga.




Jaiswal: Phir kya hua?



Shiva: Phir Abhijeet saab ne Mangu ko collar se pakadkar  kahin le gaye.



Jaiswal: Kya us waqt Mangu ke sar se khoon nikal raha tha?



Shiva: Haan saab...bohot khoon nikal raha tha.



Jaiswal: that's all your honour.



Judge: Defence lawyer kuch sawaal karna chahte hain?



KD: no your honour.



Jaiswal: Your honour, mera agla gawah hai Inspector Dave.



Dave enters the witness box



Jaiswal: Jan 16 ki raat ko kya hua tha?



Dave: Your honour mujhe ek phone aaya ki Ajanta Cinema ke saamne ek gaadi khadi hai aur usme ek aadmi ki laash hai. Main 10 minute mein wahan pohoncha toh dekha ki woh Sr Insp Abhijeet ki gaadi hai aur usme Mangu ki laash hai.



Jaiswal: Us waqt Abhijeet kahan the?



Dave: Woh building ke andar gaye the - kisi se milne.



Jaiswal: Your honour forensic report ke mutabik Mangu ki maut excess bleeding ki wajah se hui hai. Manju ke sar pe jo ghaav tha usme usi sharaab ke bottle ke kaanch ke tukde paaye gaye hain jo mangu ke ghar mein tha. Isse saaf pata chalta hai ki Abhijeet ke hi haathon Mangu ki maut hui hai.



KD: Objection your honour...Abhijeet Mangu ko lekar uske ghar se nikal gaya ...uske baad inspector Dave ne Abhijeet ko building se baahar nikalte hue dekha. In do ghatnaon ke beech mein kya hua tha, iska koi saakshi nahi hai.



Judge: Sustained.



KD: Inspector Dave, aap is nirnay par kaise pohonch gaye ki Mangu ki hatya Abhijeet ne hi ki hai?



Dave: Main gaadi kholkar laash ko dekh hi raha tha ki Abhijeet sir building se baahar aaye. Mangu ki laash ko dekhar unhone kaha ki oh no...yeh mar gaya?'  Maine unse poocha ki Mangu ke sar par chot kaise lagi...toh unhone khud kubool kiya ki unhone hi Mangu ko maara tha - koi sach ugalvane ke liye.




KD: Kya aisa ho sakta hai ki jab Abhijeet building ke andar gaye, tab kisi aur ne Mangu ki hatya ki ho?



Dave: Haan ho sakta hai.



Jaiswal: Objection your honour, forensic reports mein likha hai ki Mangu ki maut sar par chot lagne se hui hai. Uske shareer mein aur koi chot ke nishaan nahi hai, na koi zeher, na koi goli, na koi chaku ka ghaav.



KD: Your honour Abhijeet ke building ke andar jaane aur Dave ke wahan pohonchne ke beech mein Mangu ke saath kya hua tha - iska koi saakshi nahi hai. Is case ki tehkikat poorn roop se karne ke liye samay di jaay, your honour.



Judge; Is case ki agli sunvayi Jan 21 ko hogi.



The court dispersed.




As Abhijeet walked with Dave to the police vehicle, KD approached him.



Abhijeet: Thank you KD, lekin 5 din aur tension badhane se kya milega? Phaasi ya umr qaid...jitna jaldi pata chalega, unta achcha hai.



KD: Main tumse baad mein aakar milta hoon. Tab vistaar se bataao ki kya hua tha.





Scene : Lock up - 5PM



KD walked into Abhijeet's lock up and sat down on the bench.



KD: Ab batao, kaise phas gaye tum is case mein.



Abhijeet: Isme 2  alag cases hain. Kahan se shuru karoon?



KD: Tum poori kahaani bataao.






Flashback: (CID)




Scene : Bureau



Everyone was celebrating. CID team had succeeded in arresting a well-known underworld guy - Goran.




ACP: Abhijeet, is case ko tumne bohot achi tarah se handle kiya. main tumhara naam medal ke liye recommend karoonga.




Abhijeet: Sir isme maine akele kya kiya ? Yeh toh poori team ki jeet hai.




ACP: Haan par saare saboot jal jaane se pehle tumne akele us godown ke andar ghuskar un logon ka ek laptop hasil kiya...yeh medal uske liye hai. Is laptop se hume bohot fayda hoga.




Abhijeet gives an embarrassed smile.



ACP: Ab chalo sab log kaam par lag jaao. Goran ko kal court mein pesh karne wale hain...reports tayyar karo. Abhijeet, Salunkhe ka forensic report aaya?




Abhijeet: Nahi sir



ACP: Pata karo itni der kyon ho rahi hai.




ACP goes into his cabin.



Daya, Abhijeet and Freddie were left in the bureau.



Freddie(was waiting for ACP to leave): Abhijeet sir, aapko medal milne ki khushi mein party ho jaye?




Abhijeet: Pehle medal toh aane do.



Daya who was busy going through the confiscated laptop looked up and said boss, Tumne mujhe bataya nahi ki tum us jalti hui godown ke andar jaane wale the. Mujhe pata hota toh main bhi aata''.




Abhijeet(gives a naughty smile): Kyon? Tumhe bhi medal chahiye?



Daya: Medal ke liye nahi Abhijeet...wahan kuch bhi ho sakta tha. Acha hua tum zinda waapas aa gaye. 




Abhijeet: Theek hai, agli baar tum chale jaana. Ab chodo...laptop mein kuch mila?



Daya: Is laptop mein bohot information hai boss...Goran ke partners ke contact informations hain. Yahan likha hai ki unke meetings kahan aur kab hone wali hai. Ek encrypter aur decrypter hai jisse hum unke saare messages ko decode kar sakte hain. Ek special chat software hai jo open market mein available nahi hai. Aur bohot saare files hain, lekin yeh sab encrypted hain.



As he browsed through the files, the laptop suddenly froze and gave a blue screen.



Daya shouted Oh no!!!'



Abhijeet: Restart karke dekho Daya!!!



Daya pressed the on/off button hard and the laptop started rebooting. Everything seemed fine, but it was clear that the laptop was highly unstable.




Abhijeet: Daya, is data ko mere pen drive mein copy karo...main dekhta hoon ki woh mere laptop mein khulta hai kya.



Daya : Ek minute...



Daya copies all the files, the encrypter and the chat software onto a pen drive and hands it over to Abhijeet. (the pen drive was 64GB , so most of the data could be copied)




Abhijeet: Nahi Daya. yeh mere laptop mein nahi khul raha hai. Back up lene se koi fayda nahi.Yeh hard disk encrypted hai. Achcha hua kisi bewakoof ne password ko paper mein likhkar rakha tha. Hume is laptop ko sambhalkar rakhna hoga. Chori hone se, aur crash hone se bhi.



Daya: hmmm. Salunkhe saab ne ek data forensic expert ko bulaya hai. Amit naam hai uska. Woh aata hi hoga.




Abhijeet's phone rang.




Abhijeet: Hello?



The guy on the other end: Main Pandu bol raha hoon sir. (Pandu was an informer)



Abhijeet: Haan Pandu, kya hua?




Pandu: Sir, aapko ek information deni hai.




Abhijeet : kya hai?




Pandu: Main yahan nahi bata sakta sir. Aap mujhe Apsara mall ke 3rd floor par aakar miliye.



Abhijeet: Mall mein? Kyon?




Pandu: Mere jaan ko khatra hai sir, bheed wali jagah mein thoda safe lagta hai.



Abhijeet: Theek hai main aata hoon.



Pandu: Lekin...akele aana sir.



Abhijeet: Theek hai. (to Daya) Daya, mera informer Pandu hai. Kehta hai koi information deni hai. Main Apsara mall jaa raha hoon.




Daya: Theek hai.





Scene:  Apsara Mall.



Abhijeet parked his vehicle in the parking lot and went to the third floor. There was a sale going on and the place was crowded.



Abhijeet waited for about half an hour and then saw his informer Pandu.




Pandu: Namaste sir.



Abhijeet: itni der kyon ho gayi aane mein?



Pandu: bohot khatra hai sir.



Abhijeet: Kya hua, batao jaldi.



Pandu: Sir, main Panvel ke paas ek dhabe mein chai pee raha tha...toh 2 aadmi wahan kisi school bus ko hijack karne ki baat kar rahe the.



Abhijeet: School bus? Aur kya suna tumne?



Pandu: Maine unka peecha kiya. Woh dono ek sunsaan building ke andar chale gaye...building ke baahar bus toh khadi thi lekin usme koi bahche dikhayi nahi diye.




Abhijeet: Tumne theek se suna tha??? hijack' hi keh rahe the ya kuch aur?



Pandu: Shaayad hijack' hi keh rahe the...(scratches his head)



Abhijeet: Tum chalo mere saath...kahan dekha tumne bus ko? Mujhe woh jagah bataao.



Pandu: Nahi sir...mujhe darr lag raha hai...woh log gunde lag rahe the.



Abhijeet: Achcha theek hai, mujhe us dhabe ka address do aur wahan se us building tak pohonchne ka rasta batao.





Pandu gives the information. Abhijeet leaves for Panvel.



He decides to inform his team and dials Daya's number.



Daya(Before abhijeet could say anything): Abhijeet, humare data forensic expert Amit ka accident ho gaya.



Abhijeet: Kya?? woh theek toh hai?



Daya: Pata nahi. hospital mein hai.  Hum log us truck ko dhoondne ki koshish kar rahe hain jisse accident hua.



Abhijeet: Theek hai...main tumhe baad mein phone karta hoon.



(Author's note: Abhijeet didn't want to bother the others with a case which he was not sure about, especially when they were busy investigating an accident case.  Sometimes it happens)





Scene : Deserted under-construction building.



Abhijeet saw a school van standing outside. It said St Andrews school Ghatkopar. Abhijeet wondered why this school van had come so far. He went into the building. There was no one inside.



Suddenly Abhijeet heard a phone ringing in one of the upper floors. Thinking that someone might be there, Abhijeet went up the building. He followed the ring tone and found the phone lying in a bin. Along with it there was a bluetooth headset, a charger and a spy pen. The caller's number was not displayed. Abhijeet answered the call with a hello?'.




Voice: Sr Inspector Abhijeet!!! Aapka swagat hai.



Abhijeet: Kaun ho tum, kya chahte ho?



Voice: Main Boris bol raha hoon.



Abhijeet: Mashoor gangster Boris? humne Goran ko pakad kiya hai. Agla number tumhara hai..



Boris: Hahaha...mera number nahi ayega.



Abhijeet: Humare paas tum sab logon ke khilaf saboot hai.



Boris: Usi saboot ko mitane ke liye maine tumhe yahan bulaya hai.



Abhijeet: Kya matlab hai tumhara?



Boris: Tum ab waapas bureau jaaoge, aur us laptop mein se saara data erase karoge.



Abhijeet: Acha? Tumhara khayal hai ki tum kahoge aur main kar doonga?



Boris: Haan...kyonki neeche jo bus khadi hai...usme 20 bachche the...bechare Lonavla mein picnic manane jaa rahe the. maine un sab ko kidnap kar liya hai. is phone ke gallery mein unka photo hai. Dekho lo...



Abhijeet checks the pics gallery and finds the photo of 20 school kids in a tiny room surrounded by men holding guns.




Boris continues: Unki salamati chahte ho, toh achche bachche ke tarah bureau jaao. us computer mein  dban.exe naam ka ek program hai. Use execute karo aur hard disk ko poori tarah se erase karo. Jab yeh kaam karoge toh is spy camera ko on karke rakhna...taki mujhe saaf dikhai de ki tum kya kar rahe ho.



(dban.exe ensures complete erasure. Simple deleting doesn't permanently delete data. An expert hardware engineer can still recover it)



Abhijeet tries to dial Daya's number on his own phone.



Boris: Kisi ko phone karne ki galti mat karna. Koi hoshiyari ki toh bachon ko goli maa doonga.




Abhijeet(boiling with anger): Dekho...un bachchon ko kuch mat karo.




Boris: Very good. Ab tum yeh spy camera on karke apne coat ke pocket mein laga lo. Is phone ko apne jeb mein daal lo aur bluetooth on karo. 24 x 7 mujhe tumhare aas paas ki baatein sunayi deni chahiye aur dikhayi bhi deni chayiye. Koi gadbad ki toh...



Aur haan...woh tumhara computer forensic expert...uska accident bhi humne karvaya hai. Is baat ka bhi zikr kisi se mat karna. hehehe!!!




Abhijeet felt he was trapped. He decided to do as said by Boris...at least till the kidnapped children were found. His brain was racing trying to think of a way out of this.



He walked to the CID vehicle and started it.




Boris(on the phone): Is phone ko fully charge karke rakhna. iski battery down ho gayi aur call cut ho gayi toh bachchon ki jaan khatre mein padegi. Samajh gaye?




Abhijeet(angry and helpless): Haan samajh gaya.

 

CONTINUED...

 

(Author's note: from this point when you see Boris speaking,  remember that he's talking to Abhijeet on phone and only Abhijeet can hear him)

Scene : Bureau (around 6PM)

Abhijeet walked into the bureau nervously.

ACP: Abhijeet...Kahan the tum?

Abhijeet: Woh sir...main...

Boris(on bluetooth): Kisi ko shaq nahi hona chahiye.

ACP notices Abhijeet looking absent minded.

ACP: Koi problem hai?

Abhijeet: Nahi sir...bas ek khabri se milne gaya tha.

ACP: Koi khaas khabar?

Abhijeet: Nahi sir...kuch nahi...bas jue ka case hai.

ACP: Abhijeet, Jaiswal ne phone kiya. Kal court mein Goran ke case ka hearing hai. Tum saare reports tayyar rakho.

Abhijeet: Ji sir...(and walks off)

ACP looked at Abhijeet...and wondered why he looked unusually tired.

Abhijeet sat at his desk and pretended to work on some papers. But his mind was racing.

Boris: Waqt barbaad kyon kar rahe ho!!!! Laptop nikaalo. ( he could see on the spy camera that the laptop was nowhere near Abhijeet)

Abhijeet(whispers barely moving his lips):  ACP saab bureau mein hain.

ACP sitting in his cabin notices Abhijeet talking to himself.


After a few minutes, Daya and Sachin walk in with a truck driver. Daya gives a hard slap and the guy lands on the confession chair. Abhijeet looks up.

ACP: Kya yehi hai truck driver jisne Amit (computer forensic guy) ka accident karvaya?

Daya: Haan sir...humne ise Goa highway par pakad liya.

ACP: Kyon accident karvaya Amit ka?

Driver: Nahi sir...maine jaan boojhkar nahi kiya...galti ho gayi saab (starts crying)

ACP and Daya look surprised. Abhijeet watches from a distance and knows who is behind the accident but doesn't speak a word.

Boris(on phone): Oh, toh lorry driver ne jurm kubool kar liya. Uske family ko humne 10 lakh bheje hain.

Abhijeet clenches his fist and his nails dig into his palm.


ACP(to driver): tumhara licence cancel kiya jaayega. Amit ab hospital mein hai...agar use kuch ho gaya toh tumhe rash driving ke liye hum se kum 5 saal jail ki sazaa milegi.

Sachin, le jaao ise...lock up mein band kar do.


Daya(walks towards Abhijeet): Aa gaye tum...kya hua? Pandu ne kya bataaya?

Abhijeet: Kuch nahi...betting ka case tha.

ACP noticed that Abhijeet had told him jue' and now was telling Daya betting'.
At that moment Abhijeet's phone (the actual one) rang. Abhijeet removed it from his pocket swiped it on, spoke for a few minutes and disconnected. It was prosecutor Jaiswal who wanted to tell Abhijeet the timing of Goran's hearing.


ACP watching from his cabin noticed that Abhijeet was wearing a bluetooth headset, but didn't use it to answer the call.


Abhijeet then vanished to the pantry to check the battery level on the other mobile which Boris had given him. It was down to 10%, so he rushed to the washroom to charge it.

As he waited in the washroom for the mobile to get charged, he wondered why the parents of the missing kids had not yet filed a complaint. If the CID team officially received a complaint they would go and start looking for the kids and would most probably find them...and he would be spared this ordeal.

Then he realised that the kids were on a picnic and it was only 7PM. The parents would be expecting the kids back only by 7 or 8 PM. Anytime now...he hoped.


Daya waited for Abhijeet so that he could ask for details of the betting case which Abhijeet mentioned. When Abhijeet didn't appear for 5 minutes from the pantry he went to the pantry. He didn't find Abhijeet there and guessed that Abhijeet might be in the washroom. When Abhijeet didn't appear for 15 minutes from the washroom he decided to knock the door.


Daya (knocking the door): Abhijeet, tum andar ho?


Abhijeet: H...haaan...

Daya: Kya hua boss, pet kharab hai?

Abhijeet opened the door.

Daya(looked at the charger's wire dangling from Abhijeet's coat pocket): Tum washroom ke andar mobile charge kar rahe ho?  Mobile mein videos dekh rahe the kya? (with a naughty smile)

Abhijeet: Nahi toh...

...and walked off seriously. Daya was in a cheerful mood and didn't expect such a cold reply from Abhijeet.

Abhijeet was back in the main bureau room.

Boris(angrily): Kya kar rahe ho tum???? Jaldi se laptop nikaalo aur files delete karo.

Abhijeet: Daya, woh laptop kahan hai?  Woh encrypted files khule kya?

Daya: Nahi...3 baar maine koshish ki aur teeno baar  laptop hang hua. Diagnostic check kiya toh hard disk error dikhayi de raha hai. Kisi engineer ko dikhana padega.

Abhijeet; Main try karoon? Laptop kahan hai?

Daya: ACP saab ke cabin ke locker mein hai.

Abhijeet walked  into ACP's cabin.

ACP: Aao Abhijeet

Abhijeet: Sir, main woh laptop lene aaya hoon.

ACP noticed Abhijeet sweating, despite the AC being on. He handed over the locker key to Abhijeet saw him fumbling with the keys, which was unusual.

Abhijeet took the laptop out of the locker, handed back the keys to ACP and said thank you sir'.

ACP: Abhijeet, baitho.

Abhijeet sits down.


ACP: Main shaam se dekh raha hoon. Tum kuch tension mein lag rahe ho. Tumhari tabiyat theek hai?

Boris: kuch mat bataana!!!!!!

Abhijeet: Nahi sir...mujhe kya hua? (and tries to smile)

ACP: Abhijeet, tum ghar jaake aaram karo. Kal subah court bhi toh jaana hai.

Abhijeet: Theek hai sir. Main yeh laptop le jaaon?  Isme kuch information hai jo court mein pesh karna hai. Main subah ghar se seedha court chala jaata hoon.


ACP: Theek hai.

Abhijeet left. ACP noticed that Abhijeet didn't protest when he was asked to go home. He would normally protest and stay in the bureau, even if he was sick or injured.


Daya(came into ACP's cabin): Sir, Abhijeet kuch tension mein lag raha hai.

ACP: Maine bhi notice kiya. Subah toh theek lag raha tha.

Daya: Haan sir...us khabri se milne se pehle toh theek hi tha. Wahan se lautne ke baad kuch khoya khoya sa lag raha hai.


Before ACP could say anything, the phone rang.

ACP: Hello. hmm...theek hai. Kuch aur pata chala toh hume inform karo.

Daya: Kya hua sir?

ACP: Daya, St Andrews school ke bachche aaj subah Lonavla gaye the. Picnic ke liye...lekin bus abhi tak waapas nahi aayi. Bachchon ke parents ne local police station mein complaint diya hai.


Daya: Sir, ho sakta hai bus ka tyre puncture hua ho...

ACP: haan lekin bus mein 2 teachers hain. Woh dono phone nahi utha rahe hain. Agar aisa kuch hota toh woh teachers parents ko zaroor inform karte.

Daya: Sir main teachers ke mobile phones ko trace karne ki koshish karta hoon.

ACP: Wahan police team bus ko dhoond rahi hai...phir bhi Sachin aur Nikhil se kaho ki woh bhi bus ko dhoondne mein lag jaaye.


Daya: Theek hai sir. Main Abhijeet ko bhi inform karta hoon.

ACP watched as Daya dialled Abhijeet's number. Abhijeet received Daya's call while he was driving back home.

Abhijeet: haan Daya bolo

Daya: Abhijeet ek school bus gaayab hone ki report aayi hai.

Abhijeet: Achcha??? kuch pata chala kidnapper kaun hai.


Daya: Abhijeet, maine kidnapping ke baare mein kab kaha???

In his excitement that at last CID team knew about the kidnapping/missing kids he forgot that Boris on bluetooth could hear what he was speaking.

Boris: Hey...unhe bachon ge gayab hone ke baare mein pata chali hai kya?? Tum is waqt bureau nahi jaaoge!!!! Apna muh band rakhna aur seedha ghar jaana. warna...!!!


Abhijeet realised his mistake and almost kicked himself.

Daya had not got his reply. He repeated his question.

Abhijeet: Woh...kuch nahi. Main...meri tabiyat theek nahi hai. Main ghar jaa raha hoon. kuch pata chala toh mujhe phone karo.


Back in the bureau, Daya was surprised at Abhijeet's reaction to a missing kids case. Normally he would never go home and relax when 20 kids were missing.

ACP: Kya hua Daya, Abhijeet ne kya kaha?


Daya: Sir woh keh raha hai ki uski tabiyat theek nahi hai aur woh ghar jaa raha hai.

ACP: Nahi nahi...tum usse kidnapping ke baare mein pooch rahe the.

Daya: haan sir...jab maine bataya ki bus gaayab hui hai toh usne poocha ki kidnapper kaun hai.


ACP: Achcha???? (thinks for a few seconds) Main kal usse baat karta hoon. Tum un teachers ke mobiles ko trace karne ki koshish karo.


Scene : Abhijeet's house (for this story he stays in a flat, not a duplex bungalow)

Abhijeet parked his car and walked slowly to the lift. He knew that as soon as he reached home Boris would force him to delete the data. He had to somehow delay deleting the files...CID team was already looking for the missing kids. If they could find the kids ASAP, he wouldn't have to destroy the evidence.


Instead of taking the lift, he decided to take the stairs, so that he could get some more time to think.

When he reached his floor, he saw a lady who was moving into the flat opposite his. She was struggling with a heavy carton and was blocking the way to his flat.


Lady: kya aap us flat mein rehte hain?

Abhijeet: jee haan.

Lady: If you don't mind, kya aap is carton ko andar ke jaane mein meri madad kar sakte hain?

Abhijeet: Haan...zaroor.

Abhijeet lifted one side of the carton and helped the lady carry it inside.

Lady: Thank you so much. Main Reema hoon.

Abhijeet: Nice to meet you. Mera naam Abhijeet hai. Waise, is carton mein hai kya?

Reema: Woh...mere books hain...main ek Phd student hoon.

Abhijeet: Achcha...very good. Main chalta hoon.

Reema: Rukiye na...aap pehli baar mere ghar aaye hain. main aapke liye chai banati hoon.

Abhijeet: Nahi Reema ji...raat ho gayi hai...main chalta hoon.

Reema: Kum se kum juice to pee lijiye, please...

Abhijeet: Theek hai.

Reema went inside. Abhijeet looked around the house. Suddenly he noticed a book - Cryptography and Security in computing by Jaydip Sen in the carton which he had just helped Reema bring in. He thought if he could figure out something from that book, he could take a back- up and delete the contents of the hard disk.

Reema arrived with a glass of juice.

Abhijeet: Thank you. Reema ji, kya main yeh book ek din ke liye borrow kar sakta hoon?

(he was careful to keep the book away from the range of the spy camera)

Reema: Haan sure.

Boris: Abhijeet...tum yahan ladki ke saath timepass kar rahe ho? Jaldi ghar chalo.


Abhijeet went to his flat. Now Boris would force him to delete the contents of the hard laptop. Abhijeet wanted to prolong it till the CID team traced the kids. He also wanted to try and read the book if there was any way of decrypting the data if he copied the contents to a pen drive.

For this he had to get Boris and his spy camera out of the way.

He first took his coat off and threw it on the sofa. Boris immediately screamed - hey...kya ar rahe ho, camera utar diya tumne??'


Abhijeet: Main ghar mein coat nahi pehenta.

Boris: Mere saath koi chalaki mat karna. Laptop on karo. Aur is camere ki laptop ke saamne rakho.


Abhijeet was secretly relieved that Boris didn't ask him to wear it on his shirt. Abhijeet switched on the laptop, placed the camera beside it and turned the laptop on. It took more than 2 minutes, but nothing seemed to be happening. The battery indicator showed a red light, meaning it had to be charged.

Boris: Kya hua?

Abhijeet: Laptop on nahi ho raha hai, lagta hai battery down hai.

Boris : Theek hai, plug lagao. JALDI!!!

Abhijeet sensed the urgency in his voice and it seemed like even Boris was getting desperate. He pretended to search for the plug and finally told Boris Lagta hai main plug bureau mein hi bhool aaya'.

Boris(shouts): Tumhe bachchon ki jaan ki fikar hai ya nahi!!! Jaldi koi aur plug lagaao aur laptop on karo!!!

Abhijeet tried to plug in his own laptop's power cord but it didn't fit (thankfully).

Abhijeet: Dekho Boris, ab kuch nahi ho sakta. Tumhe kal tak intezaar karna padega.

Boris: Nahi!!! Tum abhi bureau jaao aur plug leke aao.

Abhijeet: Agar main is waqt bureau gaya toh ACP saab ko shaq ho jayega.

Boris: Tum aise nahi manoge!!!

BANG!!! Goes the gun...and Abhijeet hears kids screaming.

Abhijeet(tensed): Kya kiya tumne????

Boris: Maine goli chalayi...is baar kisi ko nahi lagi...lekin agli baar kisi bachche ki chati ko lagegi.

Abhijeet: Nahi!!! Unhe kuch mat karo...main...bureau jaakar charger le aata hoon.


Abhijeet put on his coat (with the camera),  locked his house and went back to the bureau, heart thumping away.

Scene : Bureau

Daya was desperately trying to get information about the teachers' mobiles but couldn't get any information. ACP was in his cabin flooded with phone calls from anxious parents.

Sachin, Freddie, Nikhil, Purvi and Shreya were all out searching for the kids.  So far everyone was searching in the direct path between Mumbai and Lonavla. No one had taken a detour, hence hadn't found the abandoned bus in a deserted area.  Plus it was late night.


Daya got a message on his phone with the photo of the driver of the school van. He decided to transfer it to his laptop to search if the driver had any criminal record. He first switched on his phone's bluetooth. He opened the bluetooth app on his laptop and started scanning for nearby devices.


Exactly at that time Abhijeet walked in.

Daya's computer suddenly detected 2 mobiles in the vicinity. One was his own. The other was a phone he didn't recognise. As Abhijeet walked away towards his table to look for the laptop's charger, the unrecognised phone vanished from the laptop.


Daya wondered where this new phone had come from. To be doubly sure, he walked towards Abhijeet with his phone scanning for nearby devices. The new handset was again visible on his phone.

Daya knew there was something fishy. He went up to Abhijeet.

Daya: Kya dhoond rahe ho Abhijeet?

Abhijeet: Us laptop ka charger main yahi chod diya. Use lene aaya hoon.

Daya: Itni jaldi kya hai? Kal aakar le lete.

Abhijeet: Nahi Daya. Bohot urgent hai.

Daya: Maine socha tum us school ke bachchon ke case ki tehkikat karne aaye ho.


Abhijeet: Haan...kuch pata chala bachche kahan hai?

Daya(surprised at the lack of interest in the kids' case): Nahi.


Daya watched Abhijeet frantically searching for the laptop plug. Finally Abhijeet found it and rushed off without saying anything. Daya wondered what was up.

During the time Abhijeet was in the bureau, Daya had switched on the MAC address finder on his own phone to capture the MAC address of the unidentified phone.

(MAC address -http://www.linfo.org/mac_address.html. For Android phones, there are apps which can find the MAC addresses of any nearby phone, provided the other phone is set to discoverable' mode. MAC address is usually unique to a device and it can be traced. Let's assume that Boris' phone was set to discoverable' mode and Daya, a CID officer had this app on his phone)


Daya called up  mobile companies to get information on this MAC address. After some wait time he got the mobile number and the call details of this number. Daya went to ACP who was busy talking to the kids' parents, assuring them that CID team would find the kids.


Daya: Sir, mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai.

ACP: kiske baare mein?

Daya: Abhijeet ke baare mein sir. Jab se woh us informer se milkar aaya hai, tab se woh bohot pareshaan hai.


ACP: Haan Daya lekin is waqt humein in bachchon ko dhoondna hai. Abhijeet ke baare mein hum baad mein baat kar sakte hain.


Daya: Sir, hum Abhijeet ko kitne saalon se jaante hain...kya kabhi aisa hua ki 20 bachche gaayab hain aur woh ek laptop ke charger ke baare mein zyada pareshan hai?


ACP: Hmmm...kuch pata chala woh kyon pareshaan hai?

Daya: Sir, jab Abhijeet ek ghante pehle ghar ke andar aaya toh uske paas ek doosra mobile tha jo mere laptop aur phone, dono ne detect kiya. Yeh uska phone nahi tha.

ACP listens attentively.


Daya: Maine us doosre phone ka MAC address detect kiya aur mobile company se is phone ke baare mein pata kiya.


ACP: Kya pata chala?

Daya: Sir, is phone par pichle 12 ghante se se koi Abhijeet ke saath baat kar raha hai. Isliye Abhijeet ne shaam se bluetooth pehen rakhi hai.

ACP: Achcha, toh yeh baat hai. Mujhe lag hi raha tha ki Abhijeet kisi dabaav mein hai.

Pata karo ki yeh call kahan se aa rahi hai.

Daya: Maine pata kiya hai sir.  Yeh call Pune se aa rahi hai. Aur jab yeh call shuru hua, tab Abhijeet Panvel ke paas tha. Mujhe us mobile tower ka location bhi pata chala hai jahan yeh phone us waqt tha . Woh school bus bhi wahin kahin gaayab hui hai. Maine Sachin ko address bata diya hai. Woh wahan jaakar dekh raha hai.

ACP: Theek hai, uske phone ka intezaar karte hain.


Scene: Abhijeet's house

Abhijeet opened his door and walked to his computer table. To his shock, the laptop was missing!


Boris: Kya kiya tumne? Laptop kahan hai?

Abhijeet: Yahin toh rakha tha...tumhare saamne maine ghar ko lock karke bureau gaya tha.

Boris: Dhoondo laptop ko, warna main in bachchon ko goli maar doonga!!!

Abhijeet(shouts): Boris, main laptop ko kisi tarah dhoond nikaaloonga. Un bachchon ko kuch mat karo. Aur kuch der ke liye chup raho...mujhe shanti se investigation karne do!!!

Boris: Theek hai. Aadhe ghante mein laptop dhoond nikaalo, tab tak main tumse baat nahi karoonga. lekin camera aur phone - dono on rakhna.


Abhijeet's mind was in complete chaos. How had a thief entered his house and stolen the laptop? Normally he would think with a clear mind, but this time he was on the verge of a breakdown with the missing laptop, Boris constantly watching his actions, hearing whatever he said...with 20 kidnapped children and his own teammates in the dark about this. He wondered how he would save them all. If only he could drop in a hint to ACP or Daya...but the spy camera made everything impossible. He had tried writing something on a piece of paper in the evening, but Boris had caught him in the act.


Abhijeet drank a glass of water, took a deep breath and started searching his house to see how the thief had come in. There was nothing in any of the windows. The doorlock had no signs of damage. Finally he reached the bathroom. Here he saw the ventilator damaged. He looked out and saw that the ventilator was adjacent to his neighbour Reema's bathroom ventilator. He understood that this is how the thief had entered.

Abhijeet rushed to Reema's house. The door was locked from inside. He rang the bell several times, but there was no response. So he used his pen-knife and opened the lock of the door. (it was a self locking door...which could be opened from outside with a key and from inside by the latch) When he entered he saw Reema unconscious. He sprinkled some water on her and revived her.

Reema: Aap yahan???

Abhijeet: Reemaji...kya hua tha yahan? Aap behosh kaise hui?

Reema: Woh pizza...maine pizza order kiya. Delivery boy aaya, maine pizza liya, paise laane ke liye andar aayi...achanak peeche se kisi ne mere muh par rumaal rakh diya aur main behosh ho gayi. Lekin aapko kaise pata chala?


Abhijeet: Reemaji, mere ghar se ek laptop ki chori ho gayi. Kisi ne aapke bathroom ventilator se mere bathroom mein aaya aur laptop churakar bhaag gaya.


Reema: Oh...main dekhti hoon mere ghar mein se kuch chori hui hai kya...

And goes in to check.

Abhijeet: Reemaji, aapko us delivery boy ka number pata hai?

Reema: Nahi..mujhe kaise pata hoga?

Abhijeet: Woh aksar aane se pehle phone karte hain...directions poochne...

Reema: Nahi woh bina directions pooche hi aa gaya.

Abhijeet: Matlab woh poore planning ke saath aaya tha. Kaunse pizza company mein order kiya tha aapne?

Reema: Pizza King.

Abhijeet: Store ka number dijiye.

Reema gives the number.

Abhijeet: Thank you. Main thodi der mein waapas aaoonga. Ventilator se fingerprints vagera uthana hai...pehle main us pizza wale ko pakadta hoon.

Aap theek toh hain na?

Reema(smiles): haan main theek hoon.

Abhijeet: Aap sambhalkar rahiye...koi anjaan aadmi aaye toh darwaza mat kholiye.


Abhijeet first went to the entrance of his building.

Abhijeet: Security, tumne kuch der pehle kisi pizza delivery boy ko dekha tha?

Security: Haan saab, woh 305 mein pizza deliver karne gaya tha.

Abhijeet: Jab woh yahan se gaya toh uske haath mein ek laptop tha?

Security: Nahi saab, laptop toh nahi tha...lekin woh bag jisme pizza deliver karte hain, woh tha.

Abhijeet understands that the laptop was placed inside the pizza bag and taken out.

Abhijeet: Kaise aaya tha woh?

Security: Wohi motorcycle, jisme aksar pizza wale aate hain.

Abhijeet: Kis taraf gaya woh aadmi?

Security(points): us taraf saab.


Abhijeet thought that since the thief arrived on a regular pizza delivery bike, he might really be associated with the pizza store. He rushed to the pizza store and barged in.


Store manager: Yes sir, would you like to try our...

Abhijeet: Mujhe koi pizza nahi chahiye. Kuch der pehle yahan se Sterling apartments mein flat no 305 mein ek aadmi pizza deliver karne gaya tha...woh kahan hai?


The store manager checks his records and finds that the delivery boy was one Shiva.

Store manager(to the others): Shiva ko bulao.


Shiva arrives. Abhijeet gives him a hard glare.

Shiva: Kya hua saab?

Abhijeet: Sterling apartments flat no 305 mein pizza deliver karne tum gaye the?


Shiva(looks hesitant): Haan saab main hi gaya tha.

Abhijeet rushed forward and caught the guy by the collar. The store manager tried to pull Abhijeet away.

Store manager: Sir,  Agar koi complaint hai toh mujhe batayiye. Aap is tarah mere employees par haath nahi utha sakte.

Abhijeet: Main ek CID officer hoon. (shows his badge) Aur is aadmi ne mere ghar se laptop churaya hai. KAHAN HAI LAPTOP!!!


Shiva(starts crying): Saab...main kuch nahi jaanta. Main pizza deliver karne jaa hi raha tha, ki ek aadmi ne mujhe 1000 Rs diya aur kaha ki flat 305 mein uski girlfriend hai aur woh use surprise dena chahta hai. Woh bike lekar  gaya aur mujhe sterling apartments se thodi door intezaar karne ko kaha. Aadhe ghante baad woh aaya, bike waapis kiya, thank you bola aur chala gaya. Main kuch nahi jaanta saaab...(cries)


Abhijeet: Tum bata sakte ho woh aadmi kis taraf gaya tha?

Shiva: Haan sir...


Abhijeet talked to Boris directly, because it didn't matter here. 'Boris, mujhe police dog bulana padega...chor ko pakadne ke liye...main dog squad ko phone kar raha hoon. '

Boris: Theek hai, kisi tarah us laptop ko dhoond nikaalo, warna...


Abhijeet phoned the dog squad. The dog was made to sniff the pizza bag which the thief had returned to Shiva...and from there the dog took off, Abhijeet, Shiva and the dog's master following.



Scene : Bureau  (some time after Daya had traced the unknown phone in Abhijeet's pocket)

ACP's phone rang.

ACP: Haan Sachin, bolo.

Sachin: Sir,  jis area mein woh call shuru hua tha...wahin par school van khadi hai, lekin usme koi bachche nahi hai.

ACP: hume pata hai bachche kahan hai... ek kaam karo, baaki team ko lekar tum turant Pune chale  jaao. Address hum bhejte hain. Main aur Daya bureau se nikal rahe hain...tumhare peeche aayenge. (cuts the call)

Chalo Daya.


Scene : ACP's innova, Daya driving

ACP: Daya, Pune pohonchte pohonchte 4 ghante lagenge.

Daya: Nahi sir...raat hai, zyada traffic nahi hai...3 ghante mein pohonch jaayenge.


ACP: Achcha hua tumhe us phone ke baare mein pata chala jo Abhijeet ke paas tha.

Daya: Haan sir, kidnapper bachchon ko kidnap karke Abhijeet ko blackmail kar raha hai...ki laptop mein se data delete kar do, warna bachchon ko maar doonga. Isliye Abhijeet us laptop ke charger ko lekar itna pareshaan tha.


ACP:  aur Daya...jab woh shaam ko bureau mein aaya toh uske pocket mein ek spy camera tha, jisse us kidnapper ne uske har movement par nazar rakhe hue the.


Daya: Toh aapne Abhijeet se spy camera ke baare mein kyon nahi poocha?

ACP: Mujhe laga ki usne aise hi investigation ke liye khareeda hai. Woh kuch tension mein lag raha tha, isliye socha ki kal baat kar loonga.


Daya: Sir, Abhijeet tension mein hoga... main use phone karke bata doon ki hume kidnapper ke baare mein pata chali hai?


ACP: Nahi Daya...woh kidnapper Abhijeet se ab bhi baat kar raha hoga...agar usne tumhari baat sun li toh apni jagah badal dega aur bachche bhi humare haath se nikal jaayenge.


Daya: Lekin sir, agar uske dabaav mein aakar Abhijeet ne laptop ka data delete kar diya toh?


ACP: Nahi Daya...is waqt bachchon ki jaan jyada keemti hai.


Daya(thoughtful): Theek hai sir.


Scene : Street

The dog, its owner, Abhijeet and Shiva wandered from street to street. Luckily the guy had travelled on a bike, so the scent was still there...after about 2-3 hours of roaming, they reached a chawl. The dog barked, indicating that the guy was in the building.


Abhijeet: Shiva, chalo mere saath, aur batao ki woh kaun hai.

They went up, peeped into every house and finally at the end of the corridor there was a house where a man was present...Shiva said saab yehi hai woh'.


Abhijeet barged in and caught the man by his collar asking Laptop churata hai...kahan hai laptop' and started looking around.

The guy(drunk): Heee...kkkaaiiisaaa laptop...kaunnn haiii be tuuu????

Abhijeet gave him a hard slap. The guy lost his balance...fell on the table and his head hit the drinks bottle, breaking it into pieces...and his head started bleeding.


Abhijeet(placed his gun near the guy's already bleeding temple); Bataao laptop kahan hai, warna...

Guy: wohh,,, maine kisi ko de diya

Abhijeet: kisko diya???

Guy: mujhe uska naam yaad nahi hai...sirf building yaad hai.
Abhijeet: Mujhe dikhaao...building kahan hai...

...and dragged the guy (Mangu) out of the building while all the other residents watched the scene.


Abhijeet reached the building mentioned by Mangu.

Mangu(moaning in pain): Woh flat no 11 mein hai saab.

Abhijeet: Theek hai...tum yahin raho (handcuffs him to the car, so that he doesn't run away) Main lautkar tumhe hospital le jaata hoon.


When Abhijeet reached flat no 11, there was no one. He asked the neighbours who told him that Flat no 11 was vacant for the last 5 years.  Abhijeet was confused and shocked...the laptop was lost!

All this while, Boris was watching the scene and listening to the conversation silently. When he realised that the laptop was lost, he was furious.


Boris(shouts): Maine tumhe 3 ghante ka waqt diya!!!.ek CID officer hokar tum ab tak laptop dhoond nahi paaye!!!!


Abhijeet(suddenly realises): Boris, tum mere saath koi khel khel rahe ho...sirf tumhe pata tha ki main us waqt bureau jaa raha hoon. Kahin is laptop ko tumhi ne gaayab toh nahi karvaya hai? Mere ghar ke andar laptop kahan hai...bathroom ka ventilator kahan hai - yeh sab tumhe pata tha...tumhare is spy camera se dekh liya tha tumne...tumhi ne apne aadmi ko yahan bheja aur laptop gaayab karvaya. (Gets angrier and angrier as he speaks)


Boris: Maine laptop gaayab nahi karvayaa hai...kisi doosre gang ka kaam hai!!! Apne aap ko bohot hoshiyar detective samajhte ho...ek laptop ko sambhal nahi paaye tum, bewakoof!!!!

Bahchon ki laashein bureau mein pohoncha di jaayengi. GOOD BYE INSPECTOR!


The call was cut. Just before it got cut, Abhijeet heard a gunshot.

Abhijeet: Hello!!! Hello!!!!


He can't call back as the caller id wasn't displayed. The laptop was lost...and the kids were probably dead. Abhijeet stood in the dark corridor of the apartment building thinking how he would face the parents of the kids...how he would face ACP, how he would face the world. He felt like a total failure.


Abhijeet's phone rang. He saw Daya's name displayed, but at this moment he was not in a mood to talk to Daya, so he ignored it. After a minute mobile gave an SMS ringtone. He opened it and saw the message Don't worry. The kids are safe, your blackmailer arrested - Daya'.

Abhijeet was awash with relief. He could at least face the world now.  He wondered how Daya came to know about Boris and the phone call. The laptop was lost, but he could look for it with a cool head.

He walked out of the building and saw his car standing outside, surrounded by cops. Inspector Dave walked up to him.

Abhijeet: Kya hua?

Dave: Sir, aapke gaadi mein ek aadmi ki laash hai.

Abhijeet: Laash?? Oh no...woh mar gaya??

Dave: Ji sir...use aapne maara?

Abhijeet: Maine use thappad mara tha sach ugalvane ke liye, aur uske sar mein chot lagi toh thi, lekin utni gehri nahi ki uski maut ho gaaye.


Dave: Sorry sir...woh mar chuka hai...aapko humare saath chalna hoga.
...and Abhijeet was arrested.



Back to the lock-up with Abhijeet and KD.


KD: ACP saab se baat hui?

Abhijeet: nahi..woh Pune mein the aur us case mein uljhe hue the. baaki team members bachchon ko apne ghar sahi salaamat pohonchane mein busy the. Isliye kisi se baat nahi ho paayi. Aur waise bhi...oopar se orders hain ki meri case CID team handle nahi karegi.


At that moment Daya walked in through the lock up door.

Abhijeet(smiled): Hi Daya. Tumhe mujhse milne ki permission mil gayi?

Daya: Haan. Main is waqt duty mein nahi hoon.

Abhijeet: Bachche theek hain?

Daya: Haan. Sab bachchon ko ghar pohoncha diya hai humne.

Abhijeet: Daya, woh laptop gaayab hai...use kisi tarah dhoond nikaalo. Mangu ne us laptop ko Pearl Apartments  ke flat no 11 mein kisi ko diya tha...wahan se laptop kahan gaya - yeh tum log dekh lo.

Daya: Boss, tum khud khoon ke case mein phase ho aur tumhe laptop ki fikar hai?


Abhijeet: Haan...us laptop ke peeche yeh Boris, aur yeh doosra aadmi - sab log pade hain. Is laptop ke liye Boris ne 20 bachchon ko kidnap kiya... mujhe blackmail kiya. Lagta hai usme koi khaas information hai. Jaldi se use dhoond nikaalo aur Amit ko dikhao...woh us information ko decrypt karega...waise Amit theek hai na?


Daya: Haan woh kal hospital se discharge ho jaayega. Hum laptop ko dhoond nikaalenge. Lekin mujhe pehle yeh batao - tum is case mein kaise phas gaye?


Abhijeet: Main bohot tension mein tha...bachchon ki jaan khatre mein thi aur woh Boris mujhe dhamki de raha tha...ki laptop ko dhoondo warna bachchon ko maar doonga. Mangu se sach ugalvana tha, toh maine use ek thappad mara.


KD : Abhijeet, ek prashn karoon?

Abhijeet: Haan...

KD: Kya tumhe lagta hai ki tumhi ne Mangu ki hatya ki hai? Ya yeh bhi sambhav hai ki jis samay tum building ke andar gaye tab kisi ne aakar uski hatya ki ho...


Abhijeet(thinks): Building ke andar jaane se pehle jitna khoon uske sar se nikal raha tha, usse mujhe nahi laga ki woh 20 minute mein mar jaayega. Chot utni gehri nahi thi.



Daya: Kya tumne aas paas kisi ko dekha?


Abhijeet(thinks again):  Nahi...maine kisi ko nahi dekha.

Daya: Tumne Mangu ko gaadi mein bithaya tha...tumne gaadi ko lock kiya tha?

Abhijeet: Haan, lock kiya tha, lekin ek window khula choda tha.

Daya: KD, gaadi ke window ke paas koi fingerprints mile?

KD: Bohot saare fingerprints hain...ab kiske saath match karke dekhein?

Daya: BTW Abhijeet, tum Mangu ke ghar paidal gaye the na?? Toh phir gaadi laane waapas apne ghar gaye?


Abhijeet: Haan...Mera ghar Mangu ke ghar aur Pearl apartments ke beech mein aata hai.

Daya: Chaabi tumhare paas thi ya tum apne flat ke andar gaye the.

Abhijeet: Gaadi ki chaabi mere paas nahi thi. Main oopar ghar jaakar chaabi le aaya.


A constable comes in and says aapka visiting time ho gaya hai'.


KD: 5 din hain...hum log kuch dhoond nikaalenge. Chinta mat karo.

Daya: Main bhi unofficially kuch karne ki koshish karta hoon. Don't worry.

Abhijeet: Worry kis baat ka? Agar uska khoon mere haathon nahi hua hai, toh mujhe yakeen hai ki tum dono yeh saabit karke hi rahoge. Aur agar wakayi uski maut meri wajah se hui hai, toh mujhe sazaa milni chahiye.

KD: Abhijeet, Tumhe is baat ka smaran dila doon ki aaj tak main kisi bhi case mein parajit nahi hua.

Abhijeet: Haan mujhe yaad hai. Bye Daya. Bye KD.



For the next 2-3 days, Daya was busy checking out the murder spot, Abhijeet's car, Abhijeet's house, Mangu's house - everything. But he couldn't find anything which would prove that someone else had struck Mangu on the head on the same spot where he was already hurt and had caused his death.

Fast forward to the night before the hearing.


Scene : KD's office

ACP and Daya discussing the case with KD.

ACP: humare haathon koi saboot nahi mila hai. Agar yeh case CID ko di jaati toh hum zaroor kuch dhoond nikalte.

Daya: KD, tumhe is case ko kisi tarah extend karna padega.

KD: Aap log officially kuch nahi kar sakte lekin agar aap is case ko handle karte toh sabse pehle kya dekhte?


ACP: Abhijeet ke gaadi ke darwaze par bohot saare fingerprints mile the...hum un fingerprints ko humare criminal records se match karte.


KD: Aur???


ACP: Dave ko jisne pehle phone karke bataaya ki gaadi mein laash hai, usse poochtach karte.

KD: Dave ko us building ke watchman ne phone kiya. Maine kal court mein use bhi bulaya hai.

Daya: Mangu ke phone records check karna padega.
KD: Mangu ke phone records mein kuch khaas nahi mila.


Daya: Jisne bhi Mangu ko maara hai, use pata tha ki agar Mangu zinda bach gaya toh woh pakda jaayega.

ACP: Kis kis ko pata tha ki Abhijeet ne Mangu ko arrest kiya hai?

Daya: Us pizza delivery boy Shiva ko, aur Mangu ke padosiyon ko. Aur Abhijeet ka blackmailer Boris...lekin woh toh Pune mein tha aur humne use arrest kar liya hai.


ACP: Koi aur hai jise humne nazar andaaz kiya hai...

KD: Main kisi tarah case ko dopahar tak kheenchta hoon. Aap logon ko kuch mila toh mujhe phone kijiye.


Scene : Court

Abhijeet walked into the accused box, looked around and was glad to see Daya seated. He was officially not allowed to be part of the investigation, but was allowed to attend the hearing off-duty as a friend of the accused.


KD: your honour, sabse pehle main Sundar ko bulana chahta hoon jo hatya ke raat ko Pearl Aparments mein watchman ka duty kar raha tha.


Sundar arrives.

KD: Sundar, Abhijeet building ke andar kab gaye the?

Sundar(thinks): Raat ko 1 baje.

KD: Panratu building ke register mein inke naam ka entry nahi hai, yeh kaise sambhav hai?

KD passes the register to the judge. There was no entry by Abhijeet.


Sundar(hesitantly): Saab woh...meri aankh lag gayi thi, isliye maine Abhijeet ko andar jaate hue nahi dekha.


KD: phir aapki neend kaise khuli?


Sundar:Ek madam ne mujhe uthaya.

KD: Madam...kaun madam??


Sundar: Woh scooter mein jaa rahi thi...usne dekha ki gaadi mein koi ghayal pada hai..usne mujhe uthakar kaha ki dekho tumhare building ka koi aadmi ghayal hai.


KD: Aapne us mahila ko jaane diya?

Sundar: Haan saab, usne kaha ki use call centre pohonchna hai aur use jaldi hai.

KD: Point to be noted your honour...Sundar se pehle ek mahila ne mangu ke mrit shareer ko dekha tha. Woh is case mein mahatvpoorna saakshi hain. unhe adalat mein pesh karna anivarya hai.


Daya looked at Abhijeet and wished he were allowed to handle the case.  Abhijeet was looking at Daya as if he was trying to say something. Daya understood what Abhijeet was trying to say...and it was a EUREKA moment.

Daya rushed out of the courtroom. KD saw Daya run out and knew that he had got something. He started prolonging the case calling to already interrogated witnesses much to Jaiswal's annoyance.


Daya meanwhile reached Abhijeet's house.He then rang the doorbell of Reema.

Reema(opened the door): Ji kahiye..

Daya: Aap Reemaji hain?

Reema: Haan.

Daya: Main Daya, Abhijeet ka dost hoon.


Reema: Aap us khooni ke dost hain??? Kya chahte hain aap? .mujhe pata hota ki woh aise aadmi hain, toh main yahan rehne nahi aati. Main kal hi ghar khaali kar rahi hoon.


Daya: Mujhe aapse kuch sawaal poochne hain...Jis din murder hua tha, us din aap Abhijeet se mili thi?

Reema: Haan unhone mere saman andar laane mein meri madad ki thi.

Daya: Aap shaayad Abhijeet ki begunah hone ka bayan de sakti hai.

Reema: Main kaise de sakti hoon?

Daya: Kuch nahi...aapko sirf pooche gaye sawalon ka sach sach jawab dena hoga.. Aap isi waqt mere saath court chaliye.


Reema: Theek hai.


Daya reached the court as fast as he could.  The court was in recess. Daya explained a few points to KD.


After a few minutes, the hearing resumed.


KD: Your honour, meri agli witness hain Reema - Abhijeet ki padosan.

Reema entered the witness box.

KD: Reemaji , jis raat mangu ki hatya hui...us raat ko aap Abhijeet se mili thi?

Reema: Haan unhone mere saaman uthane mein meri madad ki thi.

KD: Aap is pustak ko pehchanti hain?

Reema: Haan yeh mera book hai. Abhijeet ne mujhse borrow kiya tha.


KD: Kya aap jaanti hai ki Abhijeet ka car kaunsa hai?

Reema: Nahi. Main  usi unke pados mein rehne aayi thi...ek din me mujhe kaise pata hoga ki unki gaadi kaunsi hai?

KD: Toh phir aapke fingerprints Abhijeet ke car ke darwaaze par kaise pohonch gaye?

KD hands over  fingerprint reports - one from Abhijeet's car door and the other from Reema's book to the judge.

KD : Your honour yeh dono fingerprints match karte hain. Iska arth yeh hai ki Reema ne Abhijeet ke car ko chua tha.

Reema: Haaan... main building ke parking mein apna car park karne gayi thi, toh aise ki haath lag gaya hoga. Mujhe nahi pata tha ki woh Abhijeet ka car hai.


Jaiswal: Objection your honour, KD phir se adalat ka time waste kar rahe hain...Reema Abhijeet ki padosan hai..unke car ko chua hoga...iska is case se kya sambhandh?


KD: Sambandh hai your honour. Main phir se watchman Sundar ko bulane ki anumati chahta hoon.


Judge: Anumati...matlab...ijazat hai.


KD: Toh Sundar ji, jis mahila ne aapki nidra bhang ki thi, kya yahi hai woh? (points to Reema)


Sundar: saab, us aurat ne scarf  aur kaale chashme pehen rakhe the. Main theek se keh nahi sakta.


KD: Theek hai aap jaa sakte hain. Your honour mera agla gawah hai House Rental agent - Hari.

Hari arrives.

KD: Hariji, aap is mahila ko jaante hain? (points to Reema)

Hari: Haan saab...yeh 16 Jan ke dopahar ko mere office mein aayi thi. Woh Sterling apartments ka flat no 305 rent karna chahti thi.

KD: 16 Jan ko aapke office mein aayi aur shaam tak unhone us ghar mein shift kiya? Yeh ghar rent karne ke liye lease ke papers, advance rent vagera dena padta hai, yeh sab hone mein 4-5 din toh lagte hain.

Hari: Haan saab, lekin inhone mujhe poore ek saal ka rent advance mein de diya aur kaha ki urgent hai, kyonki woh akeli hai aur agar ghar nahi mila toh unhe raat ko sadak par rehna padega...akeli aurat thi...aur aap jaante hain kitna khatra hai...toh maine unhe bina paperwork kiya ghar mein ghusne diya.


KD: Aapne unhe koi aur ghar nahi dikhaya?

Hari: nahi saab Reemaji yahi ghar lena chahti thi. Unhone kaha ki unki koi friend usi building mein rehti hai aur woh us flat ko dekh chuki hai.


KD: Theek hai aap aa sakte hain. your honour main Reemaji ko phir se bulana chahta hoon.

Reema comes back.

KD: Toh batayiye Reemaji...flat no 305 mein aisi kya baat thi jiske liye aapne poore ek saal ka kiraya de diya?

Reema: Wo bas aise hi...balcony se view achcha hai...beach dikhayi deta hai...aur..

KD: Aur Abhijeet ke bathroon ka ventilator aapke bathroom ke ventilator ke paas hai...jisse Abhijeet ke flat ke andar asaani se ghusa jaa sakta hai.

Reema: Nahi...yeh jhoot hai.

KD: Jhoot nahi hai your honour. Reema aur Mangu dono ne milkar Abhijeet ke ghar se laptop churaya tha. Inhone Abhijeet ko ghar se baahar jaate hue dekha..tab unhone pizza order kiya...unhe maloom tha ki  Mangu ke aane mein 30 minute lagenge. Abhijeet ke waapas aane se pehle kaam poora karna tha isliye inhone ventilator ke grills aur glass nikaalkar taiyaar rakha tha, kyon Reemaji/?


Reema(breaks down): Haan...maine hi Mangu ko maara. Main underworld gangs ke liye encryption software banati hoon. Jab mere boss ko pata chala ki yeh software Abhijeet ke haath lagi hai toh woh ghabra gaye...unhone mujhe wahan bheja laptop ko  gayab karvane.

Jab unhe pata chala ki Mangu pakda gaya hai, toh unhone mujhse kaha ki Mangu ko maar do...warna woh police ko sach bata dega. Maine Mangu ke ghaav ke oopar vaar kiya taaki sabko lage ki Abhijeet ne hi uska khoon kiya hai.

KD: Aapne watchman ko kyon uthaya...agar aap use nahi uthati toh hum aapko pakad nahi paate.

Reema: Maine use nahi uthaya...maine watchman ke kamre mein yeh dekhne gayi thi woh soya hua hai ya nahi...achanak woh khud uth gaya aur mujhe dekh liya.


KD: The defence rests your honour.


Abhijeet is proved innocent, Reema is arrested  and the court disperses.


Scene: Outside the court

Abhijeet: Thank you KD, tumne doosri baar mujhe bacha liya.

KD: Achcha hua Daya ne sahi samay par us Reema ko pakadkar laaya.

Daya: Abhijeet, tumne pehle kyon nahi bataya is ladki ke baare mein? hum log pehle hi din use arrest kar lete.

Abhijeet: Main itna tension me tha...isliye uska khayaal nahi aaya...jab us watchman ne ek aurat ka zikar kiya toh mujhe is ladki ke baare mein yaad aaya...sirf use pata tha ki uske bathroom ke ventilator se mere bathroom ke ventilator ke andar aa sakte hain.

(Author's note: this is based on a real life theft I have seen...in many apartments, bathroom ventilators open to small ducts and it is possible for an experienced climber to enter from one ventilator to another)


KD: Chalo ab tum azaad ho, apne laptop ko dhoondne mein lag jaao. Phir se kisi hatya ke case mein phase toh yaad kar lena.


Abhijeet and Daya laugh. Abhijeet shakes hands with KD and says bye'.



Scene : Qualis

Abhijeet looking tensed.

Daya: Kya hua, itne serious kyon ho?

Abhijeet: Maine jaan par khelkar woh laptop haasil kiya tha...ab kahan dhoonde use?

Daya: Woh laptop Reema ne apne boss ko de diya...aur usne us laptop ka data delete kar diya.

Abhijeet: Toh ab us boss ko dhoondna padega...pata nahi kahan chupa hai woh.

Daya: boss ko toh kisi din dhoond hi  lenge...unka saara information jo hai humare paas.

Abhijeet: Kahan hai information, tumne abhi abhi bataya ki laptop ka data delete ho gaya hai.

Daya: Abhijeet, tumhe yaad hai, pehle din tumne apne ek pen drive mein data copy karke apne laptop mein kholne ki koshish ki thi.


Abhijeet: Haan...lekin woh mere laptop mein khula hi nahi.

Daya: Amit theek ho gaya hai. Usne us pen drive ka saara data decrypt kar diya hai.


Abhijeet(smiles): Chalo achcha hua...mujhe pehle pata hota toh main itna tension nahi leta...woh Boris toh mere jaan ke peecha pada tha us laptop ka data delete karne ke liye.

Achcha ek baat batao Daya...tumhe kaise pata chala ki koi mujhe blackmail kar raha hai?

Daya: Mujhe aur ACP saab ko shaq tab hua jab ek bachchon ke kidnap hone ka case humare saamne hai aur tum usme koi dilchaspi nahi dikha rahe the. 16 saalon se jaante hain hum tumhe.


Duo drive off to the bureau to catch Reema's boss and the other gang members...this story ends here.



THE END