Author's note: I got this idea from Adi sir bday contest. Somehow it didn't come as per the plot, so I couldn't submit. I thought I'll post it as a separate story as I have some time today and tomorrow and I just felt like writing...as it's Aditya sir's bday too.
Scene : A remote village
Abhijeet heard voices...'pata nahi kaun hai'...'sheher se lagta hai'...'iski kismat achi thi ki zinda bach gaya'...
He opened his eyes, but everything was dark. He could see a tiny kerosene lamp in the corner of the room and hear the sound of heavy rain and thunder. He struggled to get up but there was a shooting pain in his back and he fell back on what looked like a bed. Aah' he shouted.
The men standing outside walked in.
Elderly man: Baid ji (village doc, usually Ayurvedic) ne kaha hai ki haddi tooti hai. Tumhe lete rehna hai.
Abhijeet: main kahan hoon...aap log kaun hai?
Man: Main yahan ka mukhiya (senior villager, respected by everyone) Shankar Dikshit hoon. Yeh Mandangad gaon hai. Tum kaun ho?
Abhijeet: M..mera naam Abhijeet hai. Main...(decided not to say that he's a cop) Mumbai se hoon. Main...yahan kaise pohoncha?
Shankar: humare gaon ka machwara Pandu macchi pakadke waapas laut raha tha toh dekha ki tumhari gaadi khai mein giri padi hai. Phir hum sab ne badi mushkil se tumhe gaadi se nikaala aur yahan le aaye.
Abhijeet: Shukriya...(deep breath) aapke paas koi phone hai? M..Mujhe apne t..team ko bataana hai ki main yahan hoon.
Shankar: Post office mein ek phone hai lekin baarish ki wajah se 3-4 dinn se woh bandh padi hai.
Abhijeet:Nahi...mm...mera matlab koi m..mobile phone nahi hai aapke paas?
Shankar: Haha...woh toh sirf TV mein dikhate hai..humare gaon mein aaj tak kisi bhi mobile company ne tower nahi lagaaya. Bhushan ka beta bohot pyar se apne maa-baap ke liye khareedkar laya tha, lekin woh yahan se 15 km door Akola gaon mein hi kaam karta hai.
Abhijeet: Toh main apne team ko kaise bataaonga ki main yahan hoon? Woh pareshaan ho rae honge.
Shankar: filhaal kuch nahi ho sakta. Tum pehle theek ho jaao, tab tak post office ka phone bhi theek ho ayega.
Abhijeet: Post office ka phone? Matlab aap logon ke paas koi phone nahi hai?
Shankar: Yeh ek chota gaon hai, beta. Yahan sab log usi phone se kaam chala lete hain. Hume kisi aur phone ki zaroorat nahi padi.
2 men walk in.
Shankar: Chalo, baid ji waapas aa gaye. Woh tumhare kamar ka ilaaj karenge.
Abhijeet looks at the crushed leaves and oils the baid' was carrying: Ilaaj? Yeh ilaaj karenge?
Shankar: humare gaon mein koi aspatal (hospital) nahi hai. Yahan baidji ke aushadhiyon se hi sabka ilaaj hota hai.
Abhijeet: Aushadhi! đ˛ mujhe bohot dard ho rahi hai...please aap mujhe kisi hospital le jayiye...X Ray nikalwana hai.
Shankar: Bada aspataal toh yahan se 50 km ki doori par hai...aur baarish ki wajah se road bandh hai. Tum ab wahan nahi ja sakte.
Baid ji: Aap chinta mat karo...main 4-5 dinn mein aapke kamar ko theek kar doonga.
The Baid called his assistants, brought out his hot oil and crushed some leaves which smelt of eucalyptus mixed with some other strong odours. The assistants helped turn Abhijeet onto his back and started their treatment'. Abhijeet's brain went numb...into another world...the previous time he had been in so much pain was when he was kidnapped by goons and left to die in the boot of a car.
Flashback (one day back)
Scene : Hotel in Goa.
Abhijeet(picks his phone): Haan, Daya?
Daya: ACP sir ne kaha hai ki aaj shaam tak saboot milna chahiye warna Kumar ko chodna padega.
Abhijeet: Mujhe saboot mil gayi hai. Kumar yahan bohot baar Reena ke saath aaya tha. Yahan ke hotels se mujhe CCTV ke footage bhi mile hain. Maine use pen drive mein save kiya hai. Kumar jaanta hai Reena ko. Chodna mat use.
Daya: Lekin woh maanne ko tayyar hi nahi hai.
Abhijeet: Yeh footage dekhega toh use sach ko manna hi padega.
Daya: Theek hai. Shaan tak waapas aao, warna us Chitroley ko toh tum jaante hi ho...
Abhijeet: Haan...main bas nikal raha hoon.
Abhijeet packed his stuff and the pen drive and called the bell boy to pick his luggage. The bell boy arrived when Abhijeet was having one last look at the CCTV footage on his pen drive through an OTG cable on his phone.
Bell Boy: Sir, mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai.
Abhijeet: Kya?
Bell Boy: Sir, aap jiska video dekh rahe hain, maine uss madam ko kuch dinn pehle yahan dekha tha...aap unka video kyon dekh rahe hain?
Abhijeet(instead of answering): Tumne ise dekha? Kya kar rahi thi yahan?
Bell Boy: Sir, kuch din pehle, inke saath jo aadmi hai unse milne kuch log aaye the. Kuch gunde type ke log.
Abhijeet: Achcha???? Phir?
Bell Boy: Woh log room no 205 mein baithkar baatein kar rahe the aur yeh madam chupkar baahar se unki baatein sunn rahi thi.
Abhijeet: Phir???
Bell Boy: Phir achanak yeh aadmi bahar aaya aur madam ko dekh liya. Usne madam ko 203 mein le jaakar muh par patti baandhkar bandh kar diya.
Abhijeet: Tumne yeh sab dekha?
Bell Boy: Haan sir.
Abhijeet: Aur uss aadmi ne tumhe nahi dekha?
Bell Boy: Nahi sir. Main corridor ke beech mein jo store room hai, wahan chup gaya.
Abhijeet: Phir?
Bell Boy: Phir thodi der baad main master key lekar andar gaya ...unhe bachane. Lekin unhone mana kiya aur kaha ki unke phone mein ek video hai...use police ko dikha do. Aur unhone mujhe ek video whatsapp mein fwd kiya.
Abhijeet: Tumhe whatsapp istemaal karna aata hai?
Bell Boy: Haan sir...đł
Abhijeet: Kya vide hai...zara dikhao...
The Bell boy shows a video which Reena had shot while hiding behind the door of room 205, through a very narrow opening. Minister Jai Kishan was seated and so was Kumar. A couple of goons were visible as they walked across. The word 21 July was audible Then Jai Kishan handed over a bag to one of the goons and suddenly someone noticed Reena near the door and she stopped recording.
Abhijeet: Phir kya hua?
Bell Boy: Phir uss madam ne mujhe wahan se bhaag jaane ko kaha.
Abhijeet: Aur tum bhaag gaye?
Bell Boy: Haan sir...
Abhijeet: Tumhe seedha police ke paas jaana chahiye tha...jaante ho...iss ladki ka khoon hua hai.
Bell Boy: đ˛ Sir main darr gaya tha...hotel manager ko bataaya toh unhone mujhe apna muh bandh rakhne ko kaha...
Abhijeet(gives an angry frustrated look.): Uske baad tumhe uss madam ko dekha?
Bell Boy: Nahi sir. Subah mera shift khatam ho gaya aur main ghar chala gaya. Agle dinn pata chala ki in sab logon ne check out kiya hai.
Abhijeet went to room no 203, requested the guests to allow him to check if there was any evidence left over by the cleaning staff. He couldn't find any, except the video sent by the bell boy. It didn't make much sense, but he knew that there was something going to happen on July 21 which was a week away. He decided to return to Mumbai and interrogate Jai Kishan and Kumar about it.
He checked out, got into his car and started off for Mumbai.
The hotel manager asked the Bell Boy what he was talking to the customer for such a long time. The Bell boy told him that it was about the lady who was tied up in room no 203.
A few minutes later, the manager picked up his phone and dialled a number.
Scene: Highway.
Abhijeet had driven for about 3 hours and it was raining very heavily and visibility was poor. He decided to stop at a roadside dhaba and refresh himself.
After the short break, he started driving again but this time he noticed that the brakes weren't working. He decided to get off the highway and went into a jungle road, hoping there wouldn't be any oncoming traffic. But he was wrong...he saw another car coming from the opposite side and tried to avoid them. He veered off the road and went crashing downhill through the jungle. He could see flames from the engine, but lost consciousness before he could get out.
Luckily for Abhijeet it was raining heavily and the flames were put out before they roasted him alive.
Back to present.
Scene : Bureau
Daya: Sir Abhijeet parson raat ko lautne wala tha. Ab tak uski koi khabar nahi hai.
ACP: Phone ko trace kiya?
Daya: Haan sir...uska phone Nagpur mein kal subah on hua aur 5 minute baad switch off ho gaya.
ACP: Nagpur? Lekin Abhijeet toh Goa gaya tha, investigation ke liye.
Daya; Wohi toh sir...usne mujhe us din subah phone bhi kiya tha...ki woh Goa mein hai aur raat tak waapas aa jayega.
ACP: Toh achanak Nagpur mein kya kar raha hai? Tum Nagpur police ko Abhijeet ka photo bhejo aur dhoondne ko kaho.
Scene: Bureau
Chitroley walks in.
ACP: Good morning sir
Chitroley: Main kya sunn raha hoon Pradyuman? Tumne minister ke bete Kumar ko arrest karke yahan rakha hai?
ACP: Arrest nahi sir...bas poochtach kar rae hain.
Chitroley: Main jaanta hoon tumhare poochtach' ka matlab kya hai.
ACP: Sir, yeh ek important case hai sir...hum jaante hain ki actress Reena ne suicide nahi kiya, minister Jai Kishan ne uska murder karvaya hai. Reena ka Kumar ke saath affair chal raha tha.
Chitroley: Yeh tumhe kaise pata?
ACP: Sir Abhijeet poochtach karne Goa gaya hai...aur use koi thos saboot bhi mili hai. woh aata hi hoga.
Chitroley: Lekin woh toh 2 dinn pehle aane wala tha...kab tak Kumar ko yahan qaid karoge? Oopar se pressure hai...chod do use.
Daya (comes out of interrogation room exactly then): Yeh kya keh rahe hain sir...hume yeh case solve karna hai.
Chitroley: Daya, tumhe maar-peet ke alava koi aur tareeka nahi aata case solve karne ka? Chod do Kumar ko, that's an order!
Daya lets Kumar leave. Chitroley too leaves.
Daya: Sir , aise chata raha toh hum koi bhi case solve nahi kar sakte.
ACP: Daya, humare paas saboot nahi hai...isliye hum use zyada der tak yahan nahi rakh sakte. Media ko pata chala toh humari dhajjiyan uda denge.
Freddie (comes in): Sir, maine Abhijeet sir ke phone ko trace kiya. Woh Goa se Mumbai aa rahe the, lekin raste mein ya toh signal nahi tha ya phone switch off ho gaya. Uske baad unka phone Nagpur city mein on hua aur aadhe ghante mein phir se switch off ho gaya.
ACP: Goa se Mumbai aa raha tha aur achanak Nagpur chala gaya?
Daya: Sir, agar woh kisi wajah se Abhijeet Nagpur jaata toh phone switch on karte hi hume zaroor batata. Aur woh phone ko phir se switch off kyon karega? Aur usne mujhe bataya tha ki woh seedha Mumbai hi aa raha hai.
ACP: Agar Abhijeet Goa se Nagpur gaya hai toh NH52/53 se hi gaya hoga. Kyonki 18 ghante mein uska phone wahan pohonch gaya. Kisi aur route se jaata toh zyada der lag jaati. Nagpur ke paas NH53 par jo toll booth hai, local police se kaho ki uss toll booth ka CCTV footage hume bhejein.
After a few hours.
Daya: sir, CCTV footage mil gaya aur Fredricks ne poora footage check kiya. Lekin Abhijeet ki gaadi Nagpur pohonchi hi nahi.
ACP: toh phir uska phone akele Nagpur kaise pohoncha?
Daya; Sir, mujhe kuch theek nahi lag raha hai, mujhe lagta hai Abhijeet ke phone ko koi aadmi churakar Nagpur laya aur switch on kiya taaki humein gumraah kar sake.
ACP: Ek kaam karo...tum aur Fredricks Goa jaao...aur dhoondo Abhijeet ko. Mujhe lagta hai raste mein hi uske saath kuch hua hai.
31