Hi guys, I apologize for my long absense. I just finished my exam but will be busy till the 30.December, hence I am posting a longer chapter. I know my speed of updating is not good, especially compared to my previous FFs but plz spare a few seconds and like and comment. It is somewhat disappointing to find only a handfull of people bothering... Please!
Chapter 8: Stolen Identity
Add MysterMina for pms.
Three weeks had passed and Geet Handa was not reachable. This caused not only her closer friends Pinky and Adi to worry but everyone in office she was close to. Especially Maan was worried for her. During the first few days her phone was on and she was reachable but now there was no news of her. Maan wondered about her family. This is when he realised that he did not know anything about her really. He knew her address but did she live with someone or alone? Did she have family? If not, why not? In tension, he had contacted the police and filed a missing person complaint.
During the after noon, Pinky knocked on his door and announced that a Mr Brij Veer Singh was there to see him. Maan wondered what the inspector from Hoshiarpur wanted with him but called him in anyways.
Maan stood up, both shook hands and settled down. Brij came to the point without beating about the bush.
"I have been contacted by Inspector Rawat of the local police station that you filed a missing person report of Miss Handa. Is that correct?" Maan nodded.
"But of what concern is that for you? Isn't this area out of your jurisdiction?"
"It is but I had told the police in all major cities to inform me about any FIRs or complaints that seem, how shall I put it, odd to them."
"And how is Geet's going missing odd?" Maan asked and hardly managed to keep the tremble out of his voice.
"Mr Khurana, a few weeks ago, Miss Geet and Mr Yash Khurana filed a missing person report at the same police station."
"Yash? I don't know anything about that." Before Brij could continue, Maan phoned Yash and asked him to come to his office.
"Yes bro?" He Yash saw the inspector and came in.
"Yash, this is inspector Brij Veer Singh from Hoshiarpur. He told me you and Geet filed a missing person report a few weeks ago."
"Did you find Meera? Were you able to trace her?" the words just stumbled out of his mouth and Brij had to calm him down before saying:
"I am afraid I do not know about the situation there. I came because of the missing person report that had been filed for Miss Handa."
"Inspector, what is it with Geet, that you came all the way from Hoshiarpur?"
"Well, you may not know that but according to official records, Geet Handa is long dead. She died when she was ten years old." The news took a while to sink in for both brothers. They looked at each other and Brij saw an honest look of disbelief on their faces.
"I had no idea, inspector. Believe me. We did just the necessary background check on her when we hired her."
"I can understand but your secretary has been using the name of a dead person which can only mean that she has reason to hide her own identity."
"And why would she do that? What reason could there be?" Brij hesitated for a moment.
"Out of experience I can tell you that either one has come in conflict with the law or is working for the law and hence is required to hide their identity. I will not make any hasty conclusions but I would like you to tell me everything you know about her, starting from where she lives."
Geet Handa had returned. Initially it had taken her quite some time to find a place to stay and gather enough information to execute her plan. This time she was not going to take the safe way but the quick one. All she wanted was to find Meera and get her out of this place.
The shabby building in front of her had been her home for a long time. Although she had been brought up by the stinking smoke of cigarettes and the stench of foreign alcohol, her nose twisted. With her new attire, she had managed to conceal her true looks. She appeared to be just a common young man from the street. It had been difficult to get an entrance. Her own act almost a year ago had caused the security to tighten around the building.
"Oye, who are you?"
"I am Gitesh, sabji. I have come to work. Rahul has sent me." The door keeper gave Geet a dirty and mocking look.
"Ha, how will a thin and small boy like you do any work here? But Rahul sent you, I cannot do anything against his recommendation." He let Geet enter. The inside offered her still the same sight. She walked along the wall to the bar.
"Sabji, I am here to meet Teja bhai." The bar keeper gave Geet the same look but did not comment. He took his phone and dialled a number, spoke a few words, waited for a reply and indicated for Geet to continue going inside. Noises reached her ears, pain filled screeches and yelling. As she passed one door, she could hear a thumping sound. She cringed almost none-visibly. At the end, she saw a man on a chair.
"You are the new boy? Man, you are small and thin, how will you work here?" Geet chose not to answer. The man opened a door.
"Sir, the new one is here." Geet entered and found herself looking at a familiar face.
Brij had gathered quite some information till now. The report that had come from the detective agency Maan had hired was a big help. Geet Handa, or the woman who said she was Geet Handa, first appeared almost a year ago in official records. The reason was a prolonged stay at a Delhi hospital. Cause for her stay was multiple injuries none of which could be accounted for. The records told them that Geet did not remember anything that had happened to her. The doctor had chosen to give her the benefit of doubt and believed her. When asked by Brij, he told them that the state she was brought in at that time was very crucial. Her injuries had been such that her survival chances were almost none.
What were her injuries and who had brought her in were questions the doctor had answered after which the inspector paid a visit to the man who had brought her in.
Jagdeep Sodhi was a truck driver from profession. He had been on his was from Chandigarh to Delhi when he had found Geet in his truck. As he was already close to the capital, he drove her to the next best hospital and got her admitted. The question as to how Geet ended up in his truck, he could not answer. The only thing he was sure of was that she was not in his truck before he stopped at Chandigarh.
Brij cut the call and took a deep breath. Things were starting to make sense. The pieces of puzzle were coming together but it was still going too slow. His instinct had been right, Geet was involved in something. But another case was taking his time. His team had searched Thakur's office, his house and his other factories. But they found nothing. It irked Brij to no end. He knew, he just knew that there was something fishy. Getting a judge to sign another search warrant was hard enough and not finding anything was just adding to his woos. Brij had to pay Rawat one last visit before he would go back to Hoshiarpur. At the police station, Rawat was busy filing another missing person complaint.
"When did you see her last time?" Rawat asked the bunch of young people who wore formal office attire.
"Sir, Meghna had taken a day off work on Thursday and that is when we talked to her last. She didn't come to work on Friday and none of us could contact her over the weekend."
"Maybe she went home to her family or has a boyfriend's tiff." Rawat suggested.
"No sir, Meghna was an orphan. And her fianc also had no clue where she is." At that moment, a constable who had taken Meghna's photo for scanning spoke a few hushed words into the ear of his superior. Rawat looked at Brij and excused himself from the bunch.
"What is it Rawat?"
"Constable Raman just told me that a girl resembling the one in the photo was found dead a day ago. She had been shot with a single bullet into the head." Brij followed Rawat and they check for themselves that the girl found and the girl missing was the same. She was. The police data base, where the dead girl's details had been added, had a particular feature. It showed random statistics at the side of the reports. Brij indicated Rawat to stop. He re-read the statistics again.
"Rawat, look at this. In the past one, one and a half year so many women and girl were shot in the head." At first, Rawat didn't know what to say but then he thought himself. This was a very high number of women being shot in the head.
"What are you suggesting?" Brij continued to stare at the screen.
"Can you see if all these people who were killed had any other connection?" Rawat scratched his head. He searched the data base for other facts: city of stay, family, college, work. Nothing worked. Brij thanked Rawat, who returned to tell Meghna's colleagues about her death. They were devastated.
"I can't believe it. Who would kill her?" a girl sobbed.
"She was always a good employee, never had a fight with anyone."
"Could you tell me more about Meghna, what do you know about her past?" Rawat's question startled them a little.
"We don't know much, sir. But maybe you could ask our boss. Mr Nitin gave her the job as far as we know."
Hindi TV Shows
Kumkum Bhagya
Cricket
147