What stupid reporter' should have done instead of what she did. xD
OS - Case Of The Missing Politician
"Ronny, rewind that." Ananya hurriedly asked Ronny to go back to the footage.
"Abe, what do you want to look? There is nothing in it. Malvika just said that, and I am saying the same thing. She is just describing he paintings." Ronny truly did not understand what Ananya was driving at.
"Arey, tu karna..." Ananya remained adamant.
"Fine, look. There is nothing... " Ronny rewound it a few minutes and paused as Ananya asked him to.
"Look. Look at her. I thought something was odd... Look at her. She is so restless. She is repeatedly looking at her watch... YA. LOOK! Again, she is looking at her watch... As if she is waiting for something..." Ananya finally figured out the oddity.
Haan, okay. She is restless. She is waiting for something.. I get it. But so what?" Ronny wondered, finally something was making sense...
"Also, if she got a call from the kidnappers or some source that Apurva was indeed missing, she doesn't look like she is shocked by the news. It is as if, she is surprised and agitated but not because something untoward has happened to her husband. That is not a normal reaction." Ronny added...
"It looks as if she has had something to do with her husband's MIA act, and is agitated because she feels she will be found out." Ananya finished.
"Do you think she could have had a hand in this?" Ronny questioned, still doubtful.
"I am not sure what is happening. But I have got to find out. Something is definitely amiss. I'll be right back. Don't move from here, and don't let anyone know about what we are thinking." Ananya rushed out of the PCR room.
She returned a few minutes later with Manav, and Ronny just looked on. Why has Ananya started trusting Manav so much? Okay, she is just doing her job. Kabir doesn't give her the time of the day anymore.
"What is it, Ananya? You guys found something..." Manav asked. He was getting somewhere. He would make sure he succeeded this time too, it is pointless to think of someone's failure, instead, we need to think of our betterment.
Ananya and Ronny explained their doubts regarding Bhavna Shroff. Manav smiled in glee. "Possible. This is definitely possible. In fact, I think this is a great lead for us." He was damn sure Kabir had figured this out too. He wasn't flirting with Bhavna for nothing. He had to act fast, but he was pleased he had won over Ananya's trust. She was a brilliant reporter.
"We need to act fast. I'll go have a talk with some sources of mine. I am sure they would have come up with something. In the meanwhile, you know what is happening in the office. Kabir, is blindly supporting that do kaudi ki painter, we have to act carefully. I want both of you to keep this lead to yourselves. If this got to Bhabna Shroff, we could lose everything." He said and walked out.
Ronny knew where Manav was coming from. If Kabir, was a fox, Manav was no lesser than a cunning cat. These people knew how to twist tales, and he looked at Ananya. Clearly, she believed whatever people told her."Ananya, I think you need to be discreet about this. Do NOT poke your nose into these matters. Just do your job. Manav and Kabir both are smart to handle their issues." Ananya, absent-mindedly, nodded. Kabir Sir was being led on a wild goose chase, she thought. Should she warn him? No, she wouldn't. He wouldn't believe her anyways.
In the mean time, Manav had put his sources to work. In a short while, he gathered some vital information. "I want to know where Kabir Sharma is, right now." He declared on the phone. Soon enough, as expected, he was with some policeman, the same guy who had conducted the drugs bust, Khurana. Possibly, that Khurana was Kabir's source too. How else would he know when Bhavna filed a complaint, he needed to get this moving.
"Ask Ananya to come meet me right now." He said.
"Yes, Sir. Did you call me?"
"Oh, yes. I did. Since, you were the one who gave me a vital clue to this funny business, it is only fair I update you on the current happenings. Bhavna is definitely hiding something. She has been receiving calls, mysterious calls, but not necessarily from the kidnappers. So, we are going to get going. We'll go to the Shroff house now. Care to accompany me?" Manav ignored the part of Kabir being in the police station. It wasn't necessary.
Yes, Sir. Sure sir. I'll definitely accompany you. Thanks a lot!" Ananya said, she had decided to concentrate on her work now, she wanted to call Kabir Sir and show him the footage, but apart from not believing her, he was not even available. So it isn't her fault if she asked Manav.
Soon, Sunny accompanied them on the ride. and Manav and Ananya discussed the case, with some funny yet very effective' inputs from Sunny. "So any ideas?" Manav asked. "I have been thinking... What if Bhavna, in fear for her husband's life had kidnapped him, to confuse all his rivals, and ensure his safety. And has filed a complaint?"
"She could have also faked a ransom call to herself." Manav said.
"Probably, apne pati ke pyaar ne use rok liya ho." Added Sunny much to the laughter of the other two.
Manav had enough people with him to make his job easier, too. He wasn't void of stringers.
They had already cleared the coast for him. They entered the house with easy and stealth. Sunny's camera was already recording. His motto was, record kar lo. Zyaada se zyaada, nahi chalayenge? I am not paying for the camera. How does it matter to me.
There was no sign of any movement. Servants had retired to bed. The guards were temporarily silenced.
There was some noise within though. Someone talking. Rather two or three people talking.
They went to the source of the noise, but stayed quite far to not get caught, the door was slightly open and there were people within. These people didn't risk going further. "Sunny, zoom the camera. We'll see what's happening from here." Manav said. Things may not be extremely clear but they could manage.
What they saw within, was surprising, perplexing, but Manav wasn't particularly taken in. Apurva was sitting with his wife, Bhavna and there was some important person from their party too.
He shushed both Sunny and Ananya, and asked him to continue recording... Here it went.
"See? It is a perfect plan. Simple yet foolproof. There was no need to complicate things by making a ransom call." Bhavna said.
The politician wasn't too satisfied, "I am not so sure. It will be considered very odd if Apurva went missing and there was no extortion call. People may think we faked it."
Apurva begged to differ, " No. We would have had to fake a lot of things then and it is possible we would be leaving a lot of leads for police to catch the fraud. Bhavna has come up with a good plan. It was important for me to go undercover for sometime till the news of the recent money swindling settled down. I want the good of the nation, but what I get isn't sufficient for me. I am sure even the youth of the country understand that. And, in politics, no hands are unsoiled."
"And that fiery, journalist, Kabir Sharma, believes me too. Though, I am sure I couldn't have convinced him entirely, let us hope this pulls us on for a couple more days." Bhavna said.
As they continued discussions, Manav and Ananya got the missing links. Apurva was a politician like any other. And there was this huge scam, that was taking place. No. Apurva wasn't wholly responsible, but his image was the cleanest and he was the most popular guy they had. It was essential his name never featured anywhere.
So, they had faked his kidnapping or MIA or whatever, so, till the time, the news died, his name would be in the victim's list, not in the accused.
As they wound up their discussion, the trio made a move too. It was already late in the night. Whatever, had to be done, could be done only in the morning.
Once they were outside, Ananya expressed her anger, "Why is everyone so corrupt? This is disgusting."
For Manav, this wasn't new. He didn't have a clean chit either.
He called up a pal of his, "Kadam, I have some news for you. But, I need exclusive coverage for KKN. Fine then... Apurva Shroff faked his disappearance. There is some money swindling going on, I have the evidence. Yes." Inspector Kadam, was his crony. He briefed him on the current situation.
Manav decided to send Ananya home, it was nearing midnight. He would have to make sure, no one else, especially Kabir did not snatch his golden egg from him. He'd have to wait there.
Early next morning, Inspector Kadam after pulling a few strings, arrested Bhavna Shroff for filing a false complaint, and also brought out the mismanagement of money. KKN did get exclusive coverage and Manav reported from on location with Sunny telecasting it. Ronny was already in the PCR room.
Ananya saw the arrest, and Manav credited her for giving important leads to unravel the story. It was a shame to the entire nation.
Kabir had figured it out, too. Only, he was a few minutes late. Khurana gave him the information that Kadam had taken over.
"I don't think your stupid reporter, is as stupid as you think." He said.
The End
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A/N - Kadam for an inspector, is a very common name, over used name in Bollywood. I kept the same. This is what I think would be intelligent, and I have a new found liking for Manav. xD
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