ACP Abhay was at his desk musing over the recent changes in his life. First he had been promoted to ACP then transferred here to Chambal. It was his first day on the job and from what little he had seen of the village, it looked beautiful and quiet. So he was not expecting too much hardship controlling the area. Inspector Jitendra, who now worked under him, rapped on the door lightly. Abhay smiled at him and signalled to come in. Jitendra handed him a file.
"Sir, this is the first case that has been handed over to you. The previous ACP had been working on it before he got transferred. It's one of Chambal's major cases." said Jitendra.
Abhay took the file from him scanning it. His slightly wavy hair fell on his forehead as he did so then he lifted his head looking at Jitendra almost incredulously.
"This is Chambal's major case?" he threw back his head and laughed.
Jitendra looked uncomfortable.
"Actually Sir, this might be looking easy but many have tried and failed to catch her."
Abhay looked sceptically at Jitendra.
"Are you sure this is the case the previous ACP had been working on for months?" He thought of the name written on the file: Dacait Phulwa. He felt like laughing again but he put a serious expression on his face and focused on Jitendra.
"How can a girl escape the police for so long? Impossible! I'll catch her in no time at all then we can move on to more serious cases." Abhay threw the file on his desk and thought this case was a joke for someone who has help catch hardened criminals.
"Sir, I don't think you should underestimate her. Nobody has been able to catch her yet."
Abhay brushed aside Jitendra's warning. What was happening here? ACP Abhay's first assignment was to catch a girl? He laughed inwardly. Seems like they have been lazing around here. Even a constable could carry out this job according to him.
"Do you know if she operates on any pattern? I mean how and when she strikes?" Abhay asked.
"Well Sir, she always manages to take us by surprise but one thing is constant. She always steals from the rich. In fact, the villagers are all on her side. No one ever says anything about her whereabouts." Replied Jitendra.
Abhay nodded
"OK, I'll look into it. Just make a draft of all the places she broke into and try to target a specific area where she operates. Bring me a map of Chambal with that perimeter delimited."
"Ok Sir." Jitendra then took his leave leaving Abhay to continue with his musings.
Dacait Phulwa indeed, he thought.
********
As Abhay walked out of the police station, Jitendra came running after him.
"Sir, these are the documents you asked for. The map is in there too." Jitendra handed him the stack of papers.
"Thanks. This should now go smoothly." Abhay smirked.
Jitendra could only look dejected as Abhay drove away. There was no use arguing about it. ACP Abhay was not going to listen anyway.
*****
Abhay parked the jeep in the alley and observed the house from a distance. It could not be called home yet. In fact he never had a home. True this house was beautiful, surrounded by light and had a valley as backdrop but he had no one to share it with. It was just a house, that too government given. He sighed and shook himself out of the dreary thoughts as he walked inside.
******
At night, as he lay on the sofa, the hum of the TV dissipating some of the silence around him, he opened Phulwa's file on his lap.
Phulwa. What a strange name. How could a girl be fooling the police for so long? Abhay thought women should be soft and loving. And he could not deny that he thought a woman's place was in the house. On hearing this from him, his women colleagues might just bash him up so he never said it aloud. But maybe it was his macho mind speaking, Abhay shrugged. He returned to the file. So Phulwa stole? She must be a hardened and bitter woman most probably. Nobody had seen her and there was not even a photograph of her in the file. Abhay could very well imagine beauty would not be one of her traits.
Just as he was about to call it a day, his phone rang. He frowned at the display. Jitendra. At this hour?
"Jitendra, what happened?" he asked
"Sir, we might have gotten a lead on Phulwa. A landlord Balwant Thakur just called." Jitendra sounded slightly out of breath.
Abhay got impatient.
"And? What does that have to do with Phulwa?"
"Well Sir, seems like Phulwa threatened him this morning and he was scared she might try something tonight."
Abhay got up from the sofa. He was fully awake now and raring to go.
"Where does he live?" he asked grabbing a notepad and a pen from the side table.
He jotted down the directions as Jitendra told him. Then he got into his uniform quickly and grabbed his keys. Your time's up Phulwa, he smiled devilishly to himself.
Balwant Thakur had not said why Phulwa had threatened him but he had appeared genuinely scared according to Jitendra. He stopped some distance away from the house and surveyed the area. There was some villagers' houses scattered around but Balwant Thakur's house was easily spotted. The stark difference between his house and the houses around it was striking. The house was bordered by an expanse of forest on one side.
Abhay got down touching his gun holster out of habit. He moved silently and walked along the wall surrounding Thakur's house. He waited, listening for the smallest sounds. Then suddenly he heard it!
He instantly went into alert, pressing himself further in the shadows against the wall as sounds of footsteps approached. Then he saw it. The silhouette of a person. Man or woman he could not say because the face was completely covered by a shawl. He ducked out of view.
****
Phulwa was getting out from Thakur's house. It had been an easy job. A blow to the guard's head and he was out. She had dragged him some distance away so any passer bys would not notice his still form. She was smiling under the heavy shawl. One more thing accomplished. Balwant Thakur would have a fit when he will wake up tomorrow, Phulwa thought. He had stolen a villager's land and Phulwa had ordered him to return it by evening, but he had not done so. Now he was going to pay double the price of that land, Phulwa thought a satisfied smile in place.
She stopped abruptly noticing a movement out of the corner of her eye. Someone was there. Maybe Thakur had called the police. That's why he had not taken her threat seriously. She paused in her tracks thinking fast. Then, she threw the pouch with the jewellery and money on the ground and pushed it behind a rock with her foot. She continued walking and held her breath as she reached the spot where she had noticed the movement. Someone pulled her brutally and pinned her to the wall.
*****
Abhay grabbed the person and pinned him to the wall.
"Who are you and what are you doing here at this hour?" he growled, his face close to the hooded one in front of him.
Phulwa's breath was cut off from her and she made a small sound of pain. Abhay immediately loosened his hold a little and for the first time realised that the body he was holding captive belonged to a woman. It was soft and its shape was distinctly feminine. Then he made the mistake of looking into her eyes and his heart tripped. He kept staring into them. Warm brown eyes, night black irises gleaming and looking back at him furiously.
She bit his hand. Abhay removed it from her mouth realising he had been clamping her mouth shut all this time. He grimaced with pain.
"What are you doing? Leave me right now." Phulwa tried to twist away from him but he was so strong. He was in fact holding her still with one arm only.
Then her eyes fell on his uniform and name tag. ACP Abhay Rai Singh. She knew someone was coming to replace ACP Khan but she hadn't know the new ACP was already here. She cursed herself for being so careless. She should have known Balwant would ask for protection. Usually, she got away without any hitches at all. But it seemed fate was against her today. She was Phulwa, she would find a way around this, she thought.
She lifted her eyes to look at him and saw he was frowning as if fighting some inward battle. She could fool him, if she played her cards right.
"I'm a villager. My father is ill. I came here to ask for help from the Thakurayn but since it is very late, I was not allowed to meet her." She made her voice small and injected some coolness in it to avoid arousing his suspicions. He looked sharp but he was new here. Nobody recognised her. She stopped twisting and became still, trying to look genuinely concerned for her inexistent father. 😆
Abhay narrowed his eyes at her. He then lifted his arm. Phulwa suddenly wanted to shield her face but her hands were pressed between their bodies and she couldn't free them. Was he going to hit her? Maybe her story sounded too false and he had caught her lie. She closed her eyes waiting for the blow but it never came. Instead, she felt the softest of touches as his hand moved along her face. Her heart started beating faster. She should be fighting him. What was happening to her? Her skin tingled where his fingers trailed. She opened her eyes wide when it dawned on her that he was going to remove her shawl from her face. She started struggling again, turning her face away.
Abhay ignored her movements and snatched the shawl away. He stopped halfway to drawing a breath as he gazed at the face he had unveiled.
Phulwa looked back at him. She wanted to grab the cloth and cover herself again but she was unable to tear her eyes from his. His eyes arrested her own until she felt like she was falling and falling into them.
Guys, if that's not how you would want PhAb to meet in a sequel, then just ignore the image i painted!😆 Don't know if i'll continue though. If inspiration comes, will try to add on it😉
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
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