Chapter 6
Part 6 [NOCOPY][MEMBERSONLY]
The footage continues. It spans from the guests to the food hall, to the family members. It slowly transitions to the groom and bride’s entry. They take their seats. The wedding starts. The kanya daan is done by Divya’s parents. The couple start pouring aahuti into the sacred fire. Suddenly, Manoj starts hyperventilating. The family gathers. Divya starts rubbing his hand. Before they could figure out anything else, he passed out……………………….
Arjun: rewind! Slow motion!
Shree nods. He rewinds to the beginning of the wedding rituals and presses play. The footage repeats.
Arjun: firse!
It goes on for two more times before Rathore reprimands him.
Rathore: Rawte! Kuch nahi hai waha. Kisi aur tareeke se dhundhna hoga
Arjun ignores him: firse play karo, attack ke do minute pehle se
Shree obeys.
Arjun mv “uske naak par jalne ke nishaan the, lekin agar aag mein moongfali thi toh shuru mein hi asar kyun nahi hua?.... ye kya kar…”
He suddenly turns to Riya: haath do
Riya: ji?
Arjun: haath do Riya!
Bewildered, she gives her hand in his. His thumb moves over the back of her palm. Leaving it, he heads out.
Riya: sir!
Sparing a glance at Rathore, she rushes after him.
At Divya’s house-
Arjun and Riya confront Divya.
Arjun: waise tumhe pata hai Manoj ki jaan peanut allergy ki wajah se hui thi
Divya: allergy? Lekin shaadi ke mandap mein kaise?
Arjun: ye toh tum hi batao, kanya daan ke waqt uske haath par toh tumhi ne powder lagaya tha
Divya(taken aback): kya…kya bol rahe hai aap?
Arjun: ladki ka haath upar hota hai fir bhi tumne use pehle neeche rakha? tum doctor ho, itna bhi nahi jaanti ki distress mein insaan ki hatheli ko rub karte hai, uske peeche nahi, ab tum bologi (glancing at Riya) ya fir, samjhi ya samjhau?
Divya sighed and looked down.
Riya: kyun kiya tumne aisa?
Divya: kyunki usne meri behen ko maara
Arjun and Riya glance at each other.
Riya: behen?
Tears rolled down her eyes: ha, woh mere jiju the, meri di ek doctor thi. Kuch mahino pehle unki ek asthma attack mein maut ho gayi. Main ye baat bardaasht nahi kar paayi, aisa ho hi nahi sakta ki woh sirf ek attack se mar jaaye, ghar par humesha extra pumps aur davaiyaan hoti thi…unki maut ke ek din pehle unhone mujh bataya ki Manoj hospital mein kuch illegal kar raha hai. aur fir…fir seedhe, unki maut ki khabar… main samaj gayi thi ki ye koi ittefaq nahi. maine dheere-dheere hospital ke records par nazar rakhna shuru kar diya, aur fir ek din ek patient ki file mere haath lagi. Woh gareebon ko saste aur muft ilaaj ke bahana dekar operation karta tha, unki kidney nikalne ke baad woh aise dikhata jaise ki unhe koi bimari ho gayi hai ya fir koi infection jiski wajah se unki maut ho gayi... jab mujhe sachayi ka pata chala toh maine decide kar liya ki main usse apni di ki maut ka badla lekar rahungi!
The rest of the team arrives with the police force by then. Arjun turns to leave while Riya explains the situation in detail to them. The lady constables arrest Divya.
Arjun stops for a second: Divya (She looks at him) main samaj sakta hun ki tumne aise kyun kiya
A tear drops from her eye and he leaves.
Outside-
Arjun was leaning against his car waiting for the formalities to get over. Riya comes up to stand beside him.
Riya: aapko us par shak kyun hua?
Arjun: nahi hua, bas dekh kar pata chala
Riya: par dekha kyun?
Arjun: Manoj ki naak ke paas jalne ke jaise nishaan the, mujhe laga ki havan kund main moongfali daali hogi lekin fir uski severe allergy ke wajah se use pehle hi reaction start ho jaana chahiye tha, tumne jo medical history pata ki thi usme uski allergy ka ek reaction nasal rashes the matlab peanuts kahi aur se aaye aur kaha se aaye woh video ne bata diya
Riya: wow
Arjun raised his eyebrow. She smiled sheepishly. He expected her to leave after her doubts were over but she waited there.
Arjun: kuch puchna hai?
Riya: aapko irritate nahi karna chahti
Arjun: pucho
Riya: aapne Divya se aisa kyun kaha?
Arjun stares into the distance(coldly): kyunki main bhi apni biwi ke qaatil ke saath wahi karna chahta hun
Riya: aap bhi?
Arjun turns to her(confused): tumhe kisse badla lena hai?
Riya: nahi, nahi, mujhe nahi lena, zaroorat nahi, mere baap ne mera badla already le liya
Her answer only adds to his confusion. However, before he could decide whether to ask her further or not, Shree calls her. She gives him a warm smile and leaves.
Arjun mv “kya matlab tha iska?”
Riya: ha Shree
Shree: confession pe teri sign chahiye (she takes the file to sign) waise thanks
Riya: kis liye
Shree: are woh footage ke liye, mujhe toh laga ye dono khadoos meri band baja denge, seedhe traffic cam monitoring mein pahunch jaata
Riya giggles: are don’t worry, main hun na
Shree: shukar hai, tumhe pata hai jab hume pata chala tha na ki research department se koi senior inspector aa rahi hai toh hum toh bahot dar gaye the but tu toh puri ki puri ulti nikli
Riya: aisa kyun?
Shree: pehle hume laga ki research se SI hai toh budhi hogi (Riya raises her eyebrow, Shree continues sheepishly) fir jab tum aayi toh hume laga ki tum dono ke beech mein sandwich ho jaogi aur hum dono ko pareshaan karogi par tum toh dono ko handle kar leti ho
Riya laughs: acha aur ab kya lagta hai?
Shree: bataya toh, ulti nikli, humare liye toh jaise, registaan ka kua hai
Riya: baap re! itna sab line maarne ki zaroorat nahi, dost bologe toh mujhe khushi bhi hogi aur kaafi bhi hoga
Shree smiled and extended his hand: hum do, ab teen?
Riya shook his hand: manzoor!
The case wraps up and ETF heads home after all the formalities are over for handing the case over to the police.
Riya arrived early to the office the next morning. She had decided to arrange the files in the record room. Though the cases handled were few in number, they had a lot of reference and intelligence files that needed dusting and organization.
She was near the door reading a file to decide its place when she felt someone’s presence behind her. Her body stiffened. Riya swerves around to punch the person.
He blocks her hand and twists it behind her back pinning her to the table crashing her against his chest.
Her eyes widen: Arjun sir aap?
Arjun(irritated): ha, kya kar rahi ho tum?!
Riya: sorry, maine kisi ki aahat suni par itni jaldi office koi nahi aata aur yaha zyaada kuch khaas security bhi nahi toh mujhe laga ki koi ghus gaya
Arjun shook his head: dekh kar punch maara karo
She looks at him apologetically. He finds himself entranced by her gaze.
Riya: sir
Arjun: hm?
Riya: haath dard kar raha hai
Only then, he realizes he was still holding her. He immediately lets go. She rubs her wrist to soothe the pain.
Arjun steps away: tum yaha kya kar rahi ho?
Riya: woh main…
Another voice sounds from a distance: kaun hai?
Riya: Rathore sir hum hai
He arrives in the room. Not surprised to see Arjun, he turns to her.
Rathore: Riya tum itni jaldi kaise aaj?
She points to the room: sir ye room record room kam aur kabada zyaada lag raha tha, aur mujhse itni dhool bardaasht nahi hoti, upar se saari filen bhikhri padi hai. case nahi hai toh maine socha, jaldi aakar, sab theek kar deti hun, kam se kam ye office toh lagega
Sameer: peon se karwa deti Riya, tumhe karne ki kya zaroorat hai?
Riya shook her head: nahi sir, research mera department hai toh record maintain ho rahe hai ya nahi, ye meri zimmedari hai (Rathore smiles) aur waise bhi jab tak main khud safayi nahi karti, mujhe us par vishwas nahi hota
The chief chuckles in reply: theek hai, agar help ki zaroorat ho toh peon ko bula lena aur log chahiye ho toh Shree aur Chotu ko bhi pakad lena, waise bhi dono kuch khaas kaam nahi karte hai. In fact, I can help you too if you want
Riya laughs: ji sir, thank you
Rathore: you’re welcome
She gives him a warm smile and he leaves to his supposed makeshift cabin. Arjun follows but stops at the door. She goes back to the file.
Arjun: Riya?
Riya: ji sir?
Arjun: tumhare reflexes ache hai
She grins: thank you sir!!!
He leaves.
The commissioner gives them a rather weird case two days later. A group of youngsters had taken an overnight camping trip in a supposedly haunted fort on the outskirts of the city. At midnight, the campers had been thrown into chaos by a ghost. They ran helter-skelter to try and hide themselves. Only 4 of the 5 campers returned from the predicament.
The post-mortem report stated the presence of multiple wounds which the boy had succumbed to. It also included marks with long nails that had dug deep into his flesh.
Chotu: bhoot? Kiska bhoot? Kaisa bhoot?
Riya(reading): police report ke hissab se un sabne kisi aurat ko….
Chotu(horrified): Matlab Bhoot Nahi CHUDAIL!!!!
Rathore glares at him. He shuts up. The chief gestured to her to continue.
Riya: bas yahi… aur kuch, kuch khaas nahi
Arjun: un chaaron ko interrogation ke liye bulao
Shree: ji sir
Rathore: Riya tab tak zara jagah ke baare mein pata karo, chalta kya hai waha par
Riya: ji
The bunch were called in. Each of them narrated the exact same thing. The caretaker of the fort warned them of the ghost. Ignoring him, they stayed overnight. They had made a campfire and were having a gala time when a fog enveloped them. It slowly shifted to reveal a woman hovering in the air. They split into groups of two and three run. She turned up everywhere they went. One of them fell behind. The nightmare ended after they heard his blood curdling scream.
Rathore set down the file harshly: ye sab toh ek hi kahani suna rahe hai
Shree: ha sir, lekin ye chudail aakhir hai kaun?
Arjun: kahani ratti - rattayi bhi toh ho sakti hai, kya gurantee hai ki sabne mil kar us ladke ka khoon nahi kiya?
Rathore: hmm, ho sakta hai
Shree: par sir, woh caretaker bhi toh wahi kahani bata raha hai aur us fort ke haunted hone ke chakkar toh kaafi time se ghum rahe hai
Rathore: lekin woh ek cover up bhi ho sakta hai, unhe pata chala ki aisi ko jagah hai, plan banaya, dost ko maara aur ilzaam chudail par daal diya… Riya kuch pata chala?
Riya: uh, ye kahani ek pyaar ki adhuri dastaan ki hai. 100 saal pehle waha ke raja ne ek apni ek dancer ko dil de diya par shaadi kar li kisi aur se aur us ladki ne Aatmahatya kar di, bas usi Chandramukhi ka bhoot ghum raha hai
Chotu: hey deva! Ye pyaar waale chudail toh aur bhi taakat war hote hai
Riya: are mere Chotu, ye sirf 100 saal pehle ki baat hai
Chotu: toh kya hua?
Riya: Chotu, ye India hai, is desh mein jab tak koi cheez 400-500 saal pehli ki na ho tab tak use purani nahi maante, ye 100 saal mein kuch nahi hota
Shree: ha Ri waise ek…
Rathore: ek second, ye Ri kya hai? uska naam Riya hai, (sternly) senior hai tumhari!!...........................
Edit: oh by the way, I forgot to say, this update is in celebration of me finally finishing the story at pg 336. Epilogue pending!
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