Chapter 20

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 20 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

Arjun: CCTV ki footage dikhaiye!

Mahant: ji………………………..

He leads the team to the security room. The footage is played. However, it was clean. Only when the mahant entered in the morning did the idol suddenly disappear.

Rathore: footage ke saath ched-chaad ki gayi hai, aise achanak murti gayab nahi ho sakti, Shree!

Shree: sir!

He takes the footage tapes and stuffs them into his sling. The mahant blesses them and gives each of them a silver coin. Arjun held his hand up when it was his turn.

He crosses his arms: main nahi maanta

Riya notices a frown appearing on the priest’s face. She takes the coin and tucks it into Arjun’s pocket, earning another glare from him.

Riya: lenge toh koi nuksaan nahi hai sir

Arjun looks away. The mahant smiles.

Outside-

Rathore: Rawte, Riya sabka interrogation karo, Shree footage ka kya hua pata karo, Chotu apne informers ko activate karo aur pata karo ki kisine murti ki deal ki hai kya, Riya, databases mein se black waalon ka pata karo! main tab tak intelligence ki reports nikalta hun

Arjun: Riya, mujhe sabke background cross-checked chahiye! tumhare paas ek ghanta hai

Riya nods mv “ek ghanta? Pehle information toh le lu uske baad hi toh cross-check karungi”

Rathore: move it!

They move their separate ways. Riya barely had any time to breath. She starts verifying the information given by the priests and workers from the time of sitting in the car itself.

Shree: sir, footage loop ki gayi thi, isliye chori dikhayi nahi di, mahant ke aane ke time par hi looped footage khatam hui

Rathore: iska matlab koi andar ka hi admi hai jise sabke aane jaane ka time pata hai, raat ko security room mein kaun rehta hai?

Riya answers without looking up from her papers: koi bhi nahi sir, woh log room ke andar sirf bhakto ke aane ke time par hi hote hai warna footage apne aap chalti rehti hai, waise ek admi nahi aaya aaj kaam par, Jagan naam hai uska, Arjun sir ne apne informer ko pata karne ke liye kaha hai

Chotu: sir, mere informer na bataya ki haal hi mein 2-3 deals pakki hui hai lekin un mein woh murti shaamil hai ya nahi, ye nahi pata par usme se ek aaj honewaali hai, Bhendi bazaar ki dhobi ghat mein

Rathore: hum koi possibility chod nahi sakte. Riya tum apna kaam karti raho, let’s go!

Shree and Chotu stand up promptly.

Rathore: Rawte?

Arjun comes out of his thoughts. He waves his hand, dismissing them. Rathore glares at him but leaves with the other two.

A while later, Riya finally finds something.

Riya: oh this is interesting (Arjun looks at quizzically) ek insaan hai waha jo IT ki padhayi karta hai

She passes him the paper.

Arjun reads it: Mahant ka beta?

Riya: maybe woh Jagan se mila hua hai ya fir khud chor hai aur Jagan ko fasa raha hai

Arjun: Riya murti ki keemat kya hogi?

Riya: uh… yahi kuch 3-4 crore

Arjun: uske bete ko phone lagao

Riya(confused): ok

She calls him up and puts the phone on speaker.

Mohan: hello?

Arjun: ETF se ACP Arjun bol raha hun

Mohan: ji... kahiye?

Arjun: tumhare pita ne kaha thi woh murti keemti hai, kitne ki hogi?

Mohan: 4 crore, 34 laakh

Arjun: theek hai

Call disconnect

Riya: main kuch samjhi nahi

Arjun: dealer ke siwa kise exact amount pata hogi Riya?

Riya: shit! (hurriedly dialling) Main Rathore sir ko phone karti hun

Arjun: koi faayda nahi

Riya: matlab?

Arjun: woh waha nahi hai, uske aaspaas bilcul shanti hai, bhendi bazaar ya uske dhobi ghat ka shor nahi

Riya: toh Shree ko call karti hun, uska number trace karega

Arjun: koi faayda nahi

Riya: what?!

Arjun: firse phone karo

Riya is confused but does as told. It was switched off.

Riya: toh ab?!

Arjun picks up his gun: chalo!!

Worried, Riya follows him: par sir kisi ko toh phone…

Arjun(firmly): chalo Riya!

They go back to the temple and barge into Mohan’s quarters. However, it was empty.

Riya: ye toh yaha bhi…(her phone rings) ha Chotu?.... what? Acha theek hai (she disconnects) Arjun sir! Jagan waha tha lekin un smugglers ne hi use maar diya, kuch ko pakda hai aur kuch bhaag nikle

Arjun looks around the room. His gaze falls on the table mv “pooja ki samagri?”

Riya: Arjun sir kuch toh boliye

He glances at her and then moves to the table. There were splashes of paint on it.

Arjun: ye gila hai

Riya(irritated): toh?!

Arjun: woh murti ko bechne nahi waala warna Jagan maara nahi jaata

Riya: sir aap…

Arjun answers before her question: woh uska visarjan karne waala hai, Rathore ko bolo Chowpatty par mile!

Riya could barely nod as they ran out.

Chowpatty-

As usual, Mumbai was drenched in Ganpati’s color. There were thousands of people dancing and hundreds of murtis all around. The music was deafening.

Chotu: sir in sab mein se kaise dhundhenge hum use? kya pata dealer bhi uske peeche pada ho?

Riya: Gulaal se toh shakal bhi nahi dikhegi kisi ki

Rathore: Dammit!!

Riya: Shree! (pointing to a watchtower) control room jao! Mohan ya dealer koi bhi dikhe toh hume batao, we need to split! Now!

In a flow, they all follow her orders and move in different directions.

Arjun: Mohan akela hai, aise admi ko dhundho jo bina morcha ke murti le jaa raha hai aur laal rang ki murti ho

The others answer in affirmative. Just then Arjun sees a gun among the crowd. He follows it immediately. Arjun removes his gun and loads it.

The man feels someone’s gaze on him. He turns abruptly and shoots at Arjun. The bullet hits his chest, throwing him to the ground. The man runs away.

Arjun blinks rapidly to make sense of his surroundings. He sits up straight and realizes there was no wound. Confused, he runs his hand over his body to find a hole in his pocket. He removes the object from it to find the coin that Riya had placed. The bullet had rebounded off it.

Quickly tucking it back in the pocket, he stands up and runs.

Arjun: dealer ne kaala kurta pehna hai uske paas gun hai!!

Shree: ha… ha sir! mil gaya! ek kaale kapdo waala admi samundar ki taraf jaa raha hai

Rathore: Shree! Chaaron taraf samundar hai, kaha?!?

Shree: sir woh, Woh badi waali neeli murti ke left side par!!

They look around.

Riya: main paas mein hun

Arjun: Riya dealer ko sambhalo, main Mohan ke peeche hun!

Riya: sir!

She runs to the spot to find Mohan venturing into the sea. Arjun was behind. The dealer was coming from another direction.

Riya raises her gun and takes aim. She squeezes the trigger injuring the man’s leg. Chotu grabs hold of him as he falls. Shree and Rathore too come in haste.

Rathore: good shot Riya!

She nods in acknowledgement.

Shree: sir Arjun sir?

They turn towards the sea to find Arjun emerging from the sea with the idol. Mohan tries to deter him but Arjun kicks him away.

Rathore: Shree! Mohan ko pakdo, bhaagne na paaye!

He didn’t have to be told twice. Within minutes, both Mohan and the dealer were in handcuffs and loaded into the ETF's dickey.

Riya checked the time: sir! aarti mein sirf aadha ghanta baakhi hai, hum kaise pahunchenge is traffic mein?

Rathore smiles: chinta mar karo Riya, pahunch jaayenge!

She looks at him in confusion. The team gets into the car. Rathore switches on the siren.

Shree: oh ha, laal batti!

Riya: fir bhi, main control room ko raasta clear rakhne ke liye kehti hun

Rathore nods. The car speeds through the city as if it was an aeroplane. They reach the temple in 20 minutes flat. The mahant is delighted to see them.

They quickly set the idol in its place and opened the gates. The devotees rush in and the aarti starts.

Arjun looked around him, the other officers were standing with closed eyes and joined hands. He looks at the idol. His mind flashes to the moment of getting shot. He removes the coin and walks ahead.

Riya opens her eyes sensing movement around her. She watches as Arjun stealthily keeps the coin near mooshak and leaves. She takes tiny steps forward as the aarti is about to end. The mahant blesses the team. She picks up the coin and slips it into her pocket while bowing down.

Outside-

The team and mahant were near the car. The dickey was open where the two perpetrators were handcuffed.

Mahant(shocked): beta tumne, kyun?

Arjun: usne chori toh ki lekin bechne nahi gaya, kyun Mohan?

Mohan lowered his gaze: Jagan ne mujhe laalach dekar murti chori karne ke liye madad maangi, camera se bachne ke liye. Mujhe bahot gussa aaya fir socha ki agar main nahi karunga toh koi aur karega aur fir woh murti bech dete, isliye maine ha ki.

Rathore: toh police ke paas kyun nahi gaye? Aur visarjan karne kyun pahunch gaye?

Mohan: woh log bahot khatarnaak the, mujhe laga ki agar main police ke paas chala gaya toh woh pita ji ya dusro se badla lete, unhe chot pahunchaate. Maine socha ki is sab se behtar hai ki murti ko aadar ke saath visarjan kar du, bhagwan ka mol toh lagana band karenge log

Arjun shook his head and left.

Mahant: kya… kya mere bete ko jail hogi? Usne toh kuch nahi kiya na?

Rathore took a deep breath: iska faisla toh ab court hi kar sakti hai, pranaam

Mahant(worried): pranaam!

ETF Office-

Arjun was sipping his cutting to warm himself. The trio were sitting and preparing to begin the paperwork. Rathore arrives in the conference room while talking on the phone.

Rathore:… ji sir… ha sir, Jai Hind! (call disconnect) team! Ek kaam hai, jaise ki tum log jaante ho ki ye case kitna important tha kyunki woh murti bahot keemti thi etc. aur itne bade smugglers bhi pakde gaye toh… commissioner sir ko report kal subah chahiye

Chorus(except Arjun): What?!!?

Riya: kitne baje?!

Rathore: first thing in the morning… 9 am

Riya: sir uske liye hume saari raat jagna padega!!

Rathore: I’m sorry but karna toh padega

Shree: lekin sir, atleast kal shaam tak…

Rathore(firmly): nahi! commissioner sir ne kaha ki kal subah, matlab kal subah!!

The trio exchanged glances amongst themselves. Riya’s mind raced for a solution. She stands up banging the table.

Riya: ek minute! Is team mein 5 log hai, toh fir paperwork sirf hum teen kyun kare? Woh bhi tab jab urgent report chahiye

She grabs a few papers and sets them in fornt of the two bosses.

Riya: shuru ho jaiye!

Rathore: what?! Dekho Riya, ye saara kaam main nahi karnewaala aur tum…