CHAPTER 5-A
ETF Office:
"Kal tho aap koi alag hi dhun ga rahi thi?" Rathore asked Riya sarcastically.
Riya who was new to his sarcasm lost her cool, "Kitni baar batau main.." but cooled down as soon as she realized that Rathore was ETF's chief and her future boss, "Maine kal raat mobile charge nahin ki.. Vaise hi rakh diya. Aaj subah jab maine ye message dekha tho maine immediately Arjun ko call kardiya."
Rathore raised an eyebrow at her and then turned towards Arjun. He was about to say something when the Comissioner entered the office.
Everybody was alert now. Riya stood up and greeted the Comissioner.
"So Riya, did you tell them?" the Comissioner asked her.
The ETF team looked at her confused, but Arjun seemed to understand!
He knew she had joined the force, after her studies. Though, he didn't really talk to her over the past few years, Poonam kept telling him about Riya every now and then. From the beginning of Rohan's case he tried to keep her out of it because even he felt that she was associated with it and it wouldn't be wise for them to involve her in the investigation. Moreover, he also felt that there was no need for him to publicise about her being in the force unless she chooses to reveal it herself. Riya kept quite about it, so did he.
"Chaar mahine pehle woh drug dealer Khadir pakda gaya tha.. apko pata hoga? Ussi case mein kaam kiya hain Riya ne. London se shuru huyi thi ye case, yahaan India mein close huyi. Though that was her first case on field, she had done really well. Ek kabil officer hain Riya. Now that she is back in India, I would like to introduce you to your newest member of the team, Riya Mukherjee," he said it like it was his final decision.
"Yes sir! Lekin hamare iss case mein, she one of the suspects. Tho main.." Rathore couldn't complete the sentence and was interrupted by the Comissioner, "Witness kaho tho zyada apt hoga Rathore. Riya ne mujhe case ke details bataye hain. Waise ye case aap log deal kar rahe hain. You will have to sort it out. I'm sure Riya will be of great help not just as a witness, but also as a member of the team."
With those final words, the commissioner left the office leaving the team rather stunned.
Rathore composed himself and said, "Welcome to the team Riya!"
"Thank you sir," Riya said and smiled.
A few minutes later..
At the ETF conference table:
Riya showed them the message she received from Rohan.
"Nisha bekasoor hain.. Jo hua sahi nahin hua.." Arjun repeated those sentences again, "Aisi kaunsi vajeh thi, jiskeliye Nisha ko bekasoor hone ke bavajood saza mili thi..?"
"Aur usme Riya uski kaise madad kar sakti hain? Tum iske baare mein kuch bata sakti ho Riya?" Rathore asked her.
Shree and Chotu were looking at her intently waiting for her answer.
"Nahin sir, I have no idea!" Riya said shrugging.
"Maybe koi police help ho. Kya Rohan janta tha ki tum police mein ho?" Chotu asked Riya.
"Nahin, nahin jaanta tha.. I've told you already.. sirf kuch hi mahine pehle hum phirse mile.. I didn't tell him yet, about me joining the police force. Sirf mera parivaar jaanta hain. That's it," she said shaking her head.
"Lekin woh ye tho jaanta hi hoga ki tumhare pitaji ek Retd. Comissioner hain. He still is an influential man in the force. Shree, phisre check karo ki Nisha pe koi criminal cases register huye the ya nahin. Zaroor isse hamein koi na koi suraag mil sakta hain," Arjun ordered Shree.
"Yes sir," Shree said.
"Nisha ka abhi tak kuch pata nahin chala hain. Agar uss ghar mein koi aya tha, through the door, Nisha bhi usike paas ho sakti hain. Hamein usse bhi tho doondhna hain," Rathore said getting up from his seat.
"Sir," Shree started, "Nisha ke khilaaf koi badi criminal cases nahin hain sir. Ek ya do chote mote cases hain, lekin woh bhi uske career ke starting mein. Drunken driving and such.."
"Are you sure?" Arjun verified.
"Yes sir!"
"Tho phir aur kiss tarah ki madad kar sakti hain Riya uski?" Rathore wondered.
Arjun frowned, "Shaayad kar sakti hain."
"Kaise?" Riya asked turning towards him.
"Rohan aur Nisha wahin Fashion House ke liye kaam karte the, jiska tumhare Jijaji, Sahil Khurana, MD hain. Agar Rohan ko Sahil ka koi madad chahiye tho, you are the best way through which Rohan can easily get to him," Arjun explained his theory.
"Right.. maine iske baare mein socha hi nahin. Lekin aisi kaunsi madad hogi… aur woh bhi Jiju se?" Riya started evaluating possibilities.
"Ye tho hamein uske office jaake hi pata chalega," Rathore said, "Arjun, tum aur Riya Rohan ke office jao. Shree, Chotu, tum dono mere saath Rohan ke ghar chalo. Let's go!"
In the SUV:
"Tho tumne apni zid poori kardi," Arjun said, his face devoid of any expression.
Riya tried to decide if it was a taunt or praise. But from her past experiences Riya knew that the latter would hardly be the case.
So she decided to answer it her way, "Ye jo tum.. I'm sorry.. aap," she corrected herself, "zid keh rahe hain na, Arjun sir," she said stressing on the 'sir' part, "woh mera sapna tha jisse maine pura kiya."
Arjun just turned towards her once and returned to his driving, "Tum bilkul badli nahin ho Riya. Waisi ki waisi ho.."
"Glad to know that you still remember me.. remember those days," she said turning her face away.
Arjun clenched his jaw in anger, "Isse baat karna bhi bekaar hain," he thought and decided to concentrate only on the case and not on anything else.
Rohan's house:
"Dekhiye hum samajh sakte hain ki aap par kya beet rahin hain. Lekin aapko hamare sawalon ka jawaab dena hoga," Rathore said to Rohan's sister who was in tears.
She wiped her tears and nodded, "Poochiye."
"Aapko Rohan ne aur kuch bataya jaane se pehle?"
"Ji nahin. Woh bahut jaldi mein tha. Hamare baar baar poochne par usne bataya tha ki woh Riya ke yahaan ja raha tha. Main Riya ki behen ko jaanti hoon. Usine mujhe kal subah bataya ki woh sab Pune mein hain," she said.
"Aap ache dost hain?" Rathore asked.
"Ji, hum sab ek doosre ko college time se jaante hain. Bahut purani dosti hain hamari."
"Kya Rohan ke koyi dushman the?"
"Dushman? Ji nahin. Rohan ki kisise koi dushmani nahin hain. Haan lekin jabse Nisha uske zindagi mein aayi hain, uski zindagi barbaad kardi hain usne. Usse achi tho woh Rita thi. Kitna khyal rakthi thi Rohan ki.." she said, her voice filled with hatred for Nisha.
"Kya matlab? Aur ye Rita kaun hain?" Rathore frowned.
"Rita bhi ek model hi hain. Rohan ki dost bhi. Chaar saal pehle jab woh uss Fashion house mein kaam ke liye join hua, tab mulakat huyi thi uski, Nisha se. Kuch hi dino mein usse Nisha se pyaar ho gaya. Pagal ban gaya tha uske piche. Ye baat woh Nisha bhi jaanti thi. Mere bhai ko uske aage piche ghumati thi! Woh uske nashe mein ghar parivaar ko hi bhul gaya. Papa ne usse kitni baar samjhane ki koshish ki.. Lekin woh mana nahin. Jab woh achaanak gaayab ho gayi thi, ye tooth hi gaya. Uss Nisha ke paapon ki sazaa ye bhugat raha tha! Kuch samay baad achanak usme badlaav aaye.. Woh phirse khush rehne laga.. Mujhe laga woh Nisha ko bhool raha hain. Lekin nahin! Che mahine pehle woh Nisha uski zindagi mein vaapas aagayi. Din raat usike piche laga rehta tha..! Aur ab…" saying she broke into tears.
"Dekhiye, samhaliye apne aapko.." Rathore said. He waited until she controlled her tears, "Kya Rohan kisi pareshaani mein tha?"
She frowned, "Actually, I'm not sure. Rohan ne ek din ke liye chutti le rakhi thi. Kal dopahar ko apne laptop pe kuch dekh raha tha. Rohan apne paas ek stress ball rakhta hain. Uski aadat hain. Laptop pe kuch dekh kar woh ghussa ho gaya aur gusse mein usse phek diya. Main usse khane ke liye bulane gayi thi aur maine dekhliya.. Usse poocha tho usne baat taal di."
"Uska laptop hain yahin?" Shree asked her.
"Ji nahin woh apne laptop ko bhi saath le gaya," she answered.
"Rohan ka kamra kahaan hain?" Rathore asked looking around.
She showed them the room and the three of them started searching for clues.
His room clearly looked like it belonged to a photographer. His wardrobe was clean, his cupboards didn't give rise to any suspicion.
Chotu was checking one of his cupboards when his eyes fell on a stack of DVDs, which were mostly of movies, both English and Hindi. "Lagta hain picture dekhne ka bahut shauk tha isse," he thought and closed the cupboard, but did check the movies out, "Bahut bada collection hain."
Shree managed to find two pen drives, each of 16GB memory, "Sir, inn pendrives ke alava kuch aur mila nahin. Main inhe ek baar check karta hoon. Shaayad kuch pata chale inse.." Shree said to Rathore.
With that Shree, Rathore and Chotu left the house, unable to find any significant lead in the case.
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CHAPTER 5-B in the post below.. 😊
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