Emergency Task Force of Mumbai was known to be the best and the most efficient team in the entire police force of India. There were two main reasons for it; ACP Sameer Damsingh Rathod, the chief of ETF, and ACP Arjun Suryakant Rawte, the 'supercop' and second-in command of ETF. These two were the best officers in the force and the most dedicated ones.
Sameer was known for his duty-centric attitude and guiding his team in a disciplined manner, whereas, Arjun was known for his breaking-the-rules nature and sharp observation skills. But there was another important part of ETF that's the reason for the success of the team. Shreekant Sen, the tech expert and computer lover, Chandrakant Patil, the commando, Aisha Kapoor, the encounter specialist and undercover expert, Liza D'Cruz, the forensic expert and Sakshi Anand, the crime journalist. All these people are what made ETF a team, a family.
But they didn't know the secret that a team member had concealed perfectly.
Everyone was doing their duties and chatting, simultaneously, in the conference room. It was a ritual for the team to tease Sakshi regarding her crush on Arjun and laugh like teenagers until one (or both if luck wasn't on their side) of their seniors would come and scold them.
The girls were talking about fashion when Sakshi suddenly noticed, "Arjun ab tak nahi aaya? I wonder what's keeping him."
That statement caught everyone's attention. They immediately turned to Sakshi with a teasing smile on their faces. Seeing that smile, Sakshi knew she had made a big mistake by opening her mouth.
Liza started, "Haan haan ab Arjun sir ko dekhe bina tumhara din thodi na shuru hoga."
Sakshi blushed and lightly hit Liza on the arm. Shree, who was laughing, continued, "Waise Sakshi ke ilava koi aur bhi hai jiska Arjun sir ko dekhe bina din shuru nahi hota."
Everyone turned to Shree with a quizzical look, confused as to who he was talking about. Shree noticed it and smiled, "Nahi samjhe?" Upon seeing everyone shake their heads in denial, Shree laughed, "Arey apne Rathod sir. Dekhna abhi thodi der mein yahan aayenge, hume daantenge aur kahenge...'Yeh Rawte kahan hai? Pata nahi itne irresponsible cop ko meri team kyun appoint kiya hai Dammit.'", Shree impersonated Rathod perfectly. Now, everyone joined Shree in laughter.
And true to his words, Sameer walked in the conference room yelling, "What's this? Yeh ETF office hai, koi fish market nahi. And you guys are officers, not college going kids. Focus on your work and duty." Everyone apologized, keeping their heads down. Sameer scanned the room and again burst out, "Yeh Rawte kahan hai? Pata nahi itne irresponsible cop ko meri team kyun appoint kiya hai Dammit."
Everyone stifled their laughter at this. They never knew Shree would actually be this accurate with his assumption. Sameer noticed this and was about to berate him team again when a phone call distracted him. The screen flashed 'Rawte' and his temper flared.
He picked up the phone and started screaming, without waiting for the response from the other end, "Rawte, kahan ho tum? How can you be this careless? Tum rules aur regulations follow kyun nahi karte...aaj ETF aane ka irada nahi hai kya?"
The response from the other end shook him to the core. His tone suddenly changed, causing everyone to become attentive. "Kya? Kahan? Theek hai...hum abhi aate hain." The call got disconnected.
He turned to his team and faced five concerned faces staring back at him. He sighed deeply before informing them, "Rawte ko goli lagi hai. Hume abhi hospital jaana hai."
That single sentence broke everyone. Even though they never showed it, they all had a certain relationship with Arjun, respect for him. He was an older brother for Shree, an idol for Chotu, a mentor for Aisha, a father-figure for Liza, a love-interest for Sakshi and a best-friend turned brother for Sameer. And hearing that he was hurt, crushed their hearts.
Without wasting another second, everyone ran out of the building and left for the hospital. Sameer, guaranteed, broke every traffic rule there was while driving like a maniac. Everyone had tears streaming down their faces, Sakshi being in the worst state, but they managed to stay strong. They knew Arjun wouldn't like his team breaking down like this.
The SUV had barely stopped when everyone jumped out of it rushing into the hospital. After collecting the information about Arjun's room, they sprinted towards the direction. Just as they reached the Operation Theatre, they saw the doctors coming out.
Sameer walked up to the doctors and inquired, "Doctor, Arjun kaisa hai ab? Uski condition kaisi hai?"
"Dekhiye unhe 2 goliyan lagi thi. Ek unke pet mein aur doosri goli just below the heart. Agar unhe sahi waqt par yahan nahi laaya jaata toh kuch bhi ho sakta tha. But humne dono bullets nikal di hain aur ab wo khatre se bahar hai. Bohot khushnaseeb hain wo. Lagta hai kisi ke sachche pyaar aur prarthanaon ne unki jaan bacha li."
The team thanked the God for saving their Arjun. Sakshi slumped in one of the chairs, feeling relieved.
Shree posed the next question. "Doctor kya hum unse mil sakte hain?"
The doctors smiled seeing the concern in their eyes for their colleague. "Abhi nahi. Humne unhe anesthesia ka heavy doze diya hai taaki unki injuries properly heal ho sake isiliye unhe kuch dino tak hosh nahi aayega. Lekin jab hum unhe private ward mein shift karenge toh aap unse mil sakte hain."
Sameer thanked the doctors and turned to the man who had brought Arjun to the hospital. "Thank you very much for bringing him to the hospital. Aapne hum sab par bohot bada ehsaan kiya hai."
The man smiled. "Aap thank you bol kar mujhe sharminda mat kijiye. Yeh toh mera farz tha. Aap sab apni jaan dau par laga kar humari jaan bachate hain. Toh kya main iss desh ka nagarik hone ke naate itni sewa nahi kar sakta?"
The team looked proud of him and wished him well. They looked at Arjun through the window in the door and smiled sadly. It hurt them to see the brave officer in such a vulnerable condition.
Sameer turned to his team determined. "Team we have to catch the culprit who's the reason for Arjun's condition."
A new found passion passed through the team. They would find the guilty and bring him/her to justice for hurting their family member. They looked at Sameer and nodded.
"Arjun was found near the jungle on the outskirts of Mumbai. The culprit was sharp enough to execute this attempt to murder at such an isolated place but not sharper than us. Shree, check how many phones were active in that area at around 10:30 am and who are the owners. And trace those numbers. I should have call records of all those people."
Shree nodded and quickly went off to work.
"Sakshi, I want you to go with Shree. He will give you the list of people who were in that area and you need to find out every single detail about them. Make sure you have their history...past and present both. And if these people could have a connection with Arjun in any way."
Sakshi didn't need to be told twice and ran after Shree, already calling her contacts for information.
"Liza, take the bullets from the doctors and check which type of gun were they shot from. I want all the details about it by the evening. And I also want you to check on Arjun."
Liza wiped her tears and nodded. She left to talk to the hospital head.
"Aisha and Chotu, contact all your informers. Someone must have seen something out of the ordinary when all this happened. I want all the information you can collect from them. Make them investigate this on a low-key level. If it's a gang's doing, I want to know everything about them."
Aisha and Chotu saluted and started completing the task given to them.
Sameer had informed the commissioner about this and decided to stay with Arjun in the hospital.
"I promise Arjun, jisne tumhara yeh haal kiya hai use main zinda nahi chhodunga."
The entire ETF team was investigating this with more dedication than ever before. After all the criminal had dared to touch the lion himself. And now that lion's tribe would punish the culprit in such a way that people would think a million times before committing this sin ever again. It was time for ETF to be back in action.
Evening came and everyone assembled in ETF office. The commissioner had decided to stay with Arjun in his team's absence.
Sameer knew his team had completed the task given to them efficiently so he was impatient to know the results. He addressed his team, "Team, I expect ki aap sab ne apna kaam bakhubi kiya hoga. So, let's start discussing what you all found. Shree tum start karo."
Shree went forward to the investigation board. "Sir, uss area mein 10:30 baje ke kareeb 15 phones active the. Unmein se ek number Arjun sir ka hai. Baaki 14 mein se 6 numbers passer-by(s) ke hain kyunki unka phone sirf 30-45 seconds ke liye hi uss area mein active tha." He put up some pictures and crossed out some numbers. Then he continued, "Sir yeh hain baaki ke 8 numbers jin ke call record ki details bhi nikalwayi hai. Taajub ki baat yeh hai sir ki inn mein se 6 logon ne Arjun sir ko call kiya tha."
Everyone praised Shree's work. Sameer spoke up, "Good work Shree. Moving on, inn sab ke baare mein kya pata chala Sakshi?"
Shree sat down and Sakshi went to the board with pictures. "Yeh hain wo 8 log jo uss waqt wahan maujood the. Inn mein se 1 toh wahi aadmi hai jo Arjun ko hospital leke gaya tha aur 1 hai uski patni. Baaki ke 6 log jinhone Arjun ko call kiya tha wo hai yeh. 2 ladke aur 4 ladkiyan. Ek ladke ki khud ki shop hai aur doosra engineer hai. Inn ladkiyon mein se ek fashion designer hai, ek informer hai, ek home-maker aur ek lawyer. Kamaal ki baat yeh hai ki yeh sab Arjun ko jaante the. Kaise? Yeh sirf Arjun bata sakta hai."
Everyone was impressed with Sakshi. Sameer again spoke up, "Very thorough research Sakshi. Aisha and Chotu ab tum batao kya khabar mili?"
Aisha and Chotu stepped forward. Chotu spoke first, "Sir informers se yeh pata chala hai ki Arjun sir kisi gang ke peeche secretly pade hue the. Unhe ek mission diya hua tha commissioner sir ne jise wo bohot chhup chhup ke kar rahe the."
Aisha continued, "Usi gang ke ek member ne Arjun sir par goli chalayi thi. Aur sir sabse kaam ki baat yeh hai ki un par attack kisi ladki ne kiya hai. And she is highly trained sir. Kuch bhi ho jaaye wo information kabhi hume nahi batayegi."
That surprised everyone. "Good work Aisha and Chotu. That narrows it down to 4 suspects. Liza tumhe kya mila?"
Liza stepped forward. "Sir maine unn bullets ko test kiya hai. Lekin ek bohot hi hairat angez baat pata chali hai. Bullets Arjun sir ki service revolver se hi chalayi gayi hai."
Now that shocked everyone. Someone shot Arjun with his own gun? That's a very shocking revelation.
"Chotu bring those suspects in tomorrow. And Liza, take Arjun's revolver and check for any fingerprints. It's night time team...everyone is dismissed."
Sakshi gathered the courage to ask, "Sameer if you don't mind, can we all stay the night at the hospital with Arjun?"
Sameer stared at the team who all nodded in agreement. Seeing the love and care in his team's eyes for Arjun made him happy so he gave his approval. Everyone was happy and thanked him before they left for the hospital.
A few minutes later, everyone was sitting in Arjun's room. He was still unconscious because of anesthesia. Everyone came up to him and talked about what was there in their hearts.
The first one was Chotu. "Sir aap please jaldi se theek ho jaaiyega. Aapki daant aur samjhe ya samjhaun ke bina kaam karne ka mann hi nahi karta. Aur dekhiye, jab aap theek ho jaayenge na toh main aapko aapka favourite khana khilaunga...I promise."
Now came Liza. "Arjun sir...aap hosh mein aa jaaiye na please. Aap jaante hai you are like a father to me, a family jo mere paas nahi thi. Toh aap mujhe iss tarah ignore nahi kar sakte. Agar aap nahi uthe na toh main aapka operation kar dungi...wo bhi murdon waala."
Aisha was the next in line. "Aap toh mere mentor hain sir. Aur main apne mentor ko iss haalat mein nahi dekh sakti. I'm sorry ki maine humesha aapke orders taale, humesha aapse ladti rahi but uski itni badi saza toh mat dijiye. Aap jo kahenge main karungi bas ek baar aankhen khol dijiye sir."
It was Sakshi's turn. "Arjun yeh kya haal bana rakha hai apna? Chalo jaldi se theek ho jao. Mujhe tumhe apne dil ki baat bhi batani hai. Aur tumhare taano ke bina office mein mann nahi lagta."
Shree took his time. "Arjun sir, you know how much I respect you. Aap mere bade bhai ho aur aapka yeh chhota bhai aapko bohot miss karta hai. Please jaldi se theek ho jaaiye na. Phir main aapko kahin nahi jaane dunga. Aapko humesha apne paas rakhunga. Aapko iss tarah dekh ke toh main darr hi gaya tha. Apni team ke liye hosh mein aaiye bhai."
Sameer's eyes filled with tears seeing their love for Arjun. "Dekha Arjun? Teri team tujhse kitna pyaar karti hai aur tu hai ki aaram se so raha hai. Mere bhai jaanta hoon tu bohot ziddi hai par ab teri ek nahi chalegi. Agle hafte football match hai...Argentina vs Germany. Tujhe uss se pehle fit hona hai aur agar humara yeh ritual tune toda na toh main teri haddiyan tod dunga. Main hoon tere saath Arjun, hum sab hain."
After their talk with Arjun, everyone slept in the same room. But nobody noticed the slight curve of his lips or the tear that rolled down his eye.
comment:
p_commentcount