FF: Khamoshiyaan T2: last part & VM page 66 - Page 37

PART 50:

PART 51:

If anything that was holding back Arjun from reaching back in Mumbai, were just the words from Aisha. She knew how much he wanted to reach back and hold back his reign. But the therapy was still not over. Baba had asked for Aisha not to let him go to Mumbai, at least for a month. A travel was not good for his health now.

After constant pleads and talks he agreed. But day in and out he gave a tag line of his thought, "kash mein waha hota..."

That was very good indeed. The trigger was all set. He was responding very well.

And the reason for his restlessness was the works that went on in Mumbai.

The team was working day in and out again. 24 hours was not enough for them for a day. With every passing moment some loops tightened while others loosened as quicker than they can imagine it would happen.

Thakral was indeed a very weak notch. Keeping a hold on his daily affair did make wonders. Again Arjun's intuitions were right.

Aman and Sameer knew if he was the point of contact for the many people who were in shades, its better to keep a tab on him. And as expected he tried his best to avoid all such scenes or actions that would put an arrow at his head. But what happened in his past was written clear. Thanks to the rise in technology and to men like Sree who knew what to get and from where, with the able group of men to guide, nothing seemed impossible.

Lights came focussed on many men, bringing in some gasp of wonder and some as if already expecting those names to pop out. Anyway, the title of the man-missing cases of IT professionals and unknown death of many men and women was changed soon. Now it was a matter of National security.

ETF was given whole control of every matter. They were answerable to the minimum. And had full control to take necessary action. The head of the police department welcomed the rise of ACP Arjun Rawte along with the two head of operations, ACP Rathod and ACP Aman. The wheels were set turning. It was just matter of time.

They knew once the dust settles, everything would be as clear as a summer sky.

And it did too...

Thakral's not so popular popularity was the first target. Though he had tried his best to hide his daily activities, it was soon out. Thanks to Sakshi, who had the permission from her chief to include the media in their action, she had her own war zone. The media did wonders when they had to bring up the missing cases to the forefront. Many cases which were kept under the blanket of fear were out. More family came out with issues of past. The case that began with giving justice to Aryan was now catching fire.

Though Baba was given full knowledge of the progress of the case, still he was kept out at those times when it was needed. Baba never questioned it as he knew the matter's importance.

Thakral was brought under ETF custody. He was first interrogated gently and then along with a video conference from Kerala. He was not at all happy to see the face of the man on the screen.

Arjun looked up with the full hatred when he faced him first. Thakral could feel himself flinching infront of that stare. Two year of disappearance had not reduced the intensity over there.

At first Thakral was silent and ignorant to what all happened. Soon all the evidence against him was kept infront of him. He knew his time was over. Under the pressure of the team, he had to open his mouth. And he did sing a long song too.

Names were taken. Incidents were highlighted. Results of unknown meetings came out. The matter was graver than imagined.

Men were made to flow in and out of the city. Some went to hide. They were brought out by words or pressure. There was extreme measure to close all the loop holes.

Social networking sites took the matter in their hand too. The death of youth that happened the years back was a shock to those who never knew it. It boiled their blood. Rallies and protest were conducted stating to give maximum penalty to the sinner. Be it the industrialist, or minister or terrorists. They didn't care. Everyone wanted justice.

Meanwhile Aisha was switching her role every moment from the dotting wife to the ETF officer who had the charge of the men who were giving protection to the hospital and also as a support to the man who needed a shoulder. Arjun had asked her to stay by Baba's side, as he needed someone. Even though Baba never showed it out, all the works to attain justice was leading to one end. Aryan was not going to return. He was one among those parents who were fighting a lost battle again, just to bring justice. He knew he had to stand strong. But still he was human.

Back after weeks of work, ETF arrested many and at the end of almost 1 and half month of striving a final report was given to the head. According to it, the team asked for the foreign intelligence help to complete the case, as there were name from abroad too. The head of department was happy at the outcome. It was indeed a golden feather in the cap. And at the end, the team was given permission to give a press conference giving all the statement of the case. The issue that held the concentration of the public was viewed live on the news channels.

The whole team, with ACP Rathod, ACP Aman, Sree, Chotu, Liza and Sakshi were assembled at the conference table. The press already bombarded them with the questions for which Sameer silenced them with their hand raised. Baba, Arjun and Aisha were infront of the TV set too.

"before anything that we would say, first I, on behalf of my team, would like to thank the whole media that stood by our side during the investigation. Aapke bina, hum ye nahi kar sakthe the. Before you ask anything, we would like to clear one thing. This case is not over. We have a long way to go. We have just scratched the surface and reached at a point. We need to go to the very end. And for that we need time.

Now coming to all your question, this case came very unexpectedly in our hands. And we never knew we had this much to clarify."

Baba and everyone knew the context of his talk.

Sam: as you know, many of our young IT professional lost their life and some were missing these years. Some were labelled as even terrorist. And for that, some of the men in our system were responsible. Anyway, that entire story is known; let me come down to the main part. The men who were missing or dead were never terrorist. Actually they never knew what they were doing. It was just part of their part time job that led to it. More details of the work will be given by the tech expert of ETF, Sree."

He nodded looking at Sree to take over. Sree explained how these people were making parts of work which when combined made something lethal. The people were hired as different bunches, named under different offices. The work when combined made some material that would have helped the men at the wrong ends to get into our security system. The details of the spy works, security systems, the foreign affairs, the stock market, anything would have been on the finger tips of the one who wanted to handle it. And it would have been a success too. But a few people noticed the missing of their friends and some activities that raised their suspicions. When questioned, that was the end of their stories. But then these matters were leaked out to an extend that the ability to carry on the mission was falling.

Aman: as you heard, some points were getting exposed. And these people never wanted anyone to open their mouth. Plus their work was not done too. Men were kidnapped. They were forced to complete the work. Some out of fear did it. Some resisted which lead to their death. That fear boosted those who were alive. Then came a point when there was no chance to keep up. And that was when the sudden raid came up.

Sam: the raid was a well planned action. They wanted to show that these youngsters themselves had taken a wrong route and so it was as is a raid to capture them. The moment the police force reached there, firing began. Soon after the firing began, there was a blast that left nothing back. Bodies were unrecognizable, parts of computers and machines were found. Forensics could not get back anything. Now how did the men who were trained to do codes raise the guns? None cared to asked. Because they were already labelled as terrorist.

There was a silence in the conference hall, and also among the viewers. Many including Baba had tears down their cheeks. The silence was killing everyone.

Aman cleared his throat and brought back the attention. "and the worst part that we came to know from the many rounds of interrogations... the number of men and women died was 30 plus. Might have reached upto 50, if not above. And... they were already killed before the explosion. The blast was just the coverup."

That was the last that Baba could hold on. He broke down heavily. Aisha who had sat by his side hugged him tight as he gave out his heart on her shoulder. She looked up at Arjun, who was in equal distress, and had moist in his eyes. Aisha was holding onto Baba, patting him and praying to help her soothe his pain atleast by a percent.

Sameer continued. "a few names of the people who are confirmed to be dead is ready. The list as mentioned is already 30+. And they are..."

He started reading the names. "... Rakesh Mehra, Sargam Sood, Aryan Varma, Anand Bakshi..."

The list went by. The meeting had more answering part for the media. He asked for the people to come up if they have any questions or ideas. The meeting concluded with the note that, many foreign men were including in the scandal and only the surface is open. The team needed support from the intelligence abroad and inside too.

They went off to the office when it was done.

All were assembled in the conference hall. The silence prevailed longer than ever. If last few days were hectic then today was almost equal to end of the world experience. It had emotionally drained everyone. Only the sigh and sounds of sipping coffee came out.

Sameer looked at the team. All were lost. And he knew what they were thinking too. His eyes met Aman. He found Aman nodding assuring.

If he could ever thank Aman, then it would be now. He was a strong pillar and support for Sameer through all these time. The whole team was there. But he had felt warmth that he once used to get from Arjun is now coming from Aman. As if hearing his thoughts, Aman nodded negative and smiled.

Sam took a breath and turned to others. "team, take your leave. Jao jake aaram karo"

Sak: but Sameer, yaha sab almost teekh hai. Par waha?

Sam: I know Sakshi.

Ch: kyuna hum ek call kare?

Aman: nahi Chotu, let them take their time. Aisha aur Arjun ko ab Baba ka sath dena hoga. They need this time. Ye ghav uthne jaldi bharega.

Sr: Baba ko thodi bohot expectation tha. Par ab...

All looked at Sree. All had noticed him when he came back from Kerala. Though he kept himself busy, they had seen him lost whenever Baba or Aryan's name was taken. And there was some time when he lost his coolness at a few people who had done all these. Never before they had seen Sree going out of control. Sam and Aman had to give a session after that incident to bring him back. They never blamed him. He was empathising with Baba.

"apne ander ke aag se un sabko insaaf dene ke koshish karo Sree. These people don't deserve your wrath. But a few need you to get their justice. Baba and Aryan are just 2 among them" Aman had cooled him down that day along with Sam. And then Sree had used all his power to bring out results from wherever he can.

And now after all the truth, Sree looked lost again.

Aman: kuch expectations aise hothe hai ke hum kuch nahi kar sakte Sree. And you know that.

Sr: I know...

Sam: ok everyone. Lets call it a day. And don't forget the case is not over. We will have to take this parallel with our regular work.

Aman: Rathod, don't you think Arjun needs one of us there.

Sameer thinks for a while.

Sam: if you can handle over here, mein kal jaana chahta hu.

Am: that would be better Rathod. I'll see over here.

Sam: ok in that case, I may leave tomorrow morning. Take care guys. And goodnight.

All take leave to their own home.

Chotu, Sree and Liza went together. The usual masti was missing today.

Sameer had to speak to Coehlo before leaving.

And that left Sakshi and Aman to go together. He had noticed Sakshi's silence. He drove away. She looked startled when the car braked. She looked around and saw herself close to the sea. She looked at Aman.
"Socha thodi khuli hawa lelu... join me?"

She gives a smile and nods. They got down and walked towards the beach. The sea was indeed calm. With tides that bubbled at their feet. The wind was cool. And the mind was filled with the events that passed by them. They needed this silence for them. The more they had the silence, the more they loved it.

Is Khamoshi mein bhi ek alag baat hai...

Jo na lafzon se kahe...

Wo tho dhadkan se sune...