Rays of sunlight illuminated the room, but the atmosphere continued to remain grim. Hands clasped tightly behind her back, and jaw set rigid, Haseena Malik didn't blink as a presentation of pictures continued, on the screen ahead of her. Standing at the end of a long desk, on whose either side were seated DSP and IG, Haseena watched the scene, filled with blood and horror.
"SHO Malik, the man you are seeing here is SHO Vikrant of Madgaon, and that's his team- IG sir paused and corrected, "-was his team".
The tragedy wasn't lost on Haseena as she looked at the photo of SHO and his team, post winning the inter-station cup. They all looked so happy, and full of life.
She bit her lips and dug her fingers deeper into her palm, behind her back.
They had been robbed of that life, and that too very brutally.
She forced her eyes to watch again as SHO Vikrant laid there covered by dirt and blood, his throat sliced, and his right forearm separated. Another picture showed two of his constables, both women, lying on the ground, each perforated by at least 3 bullets.
They were caught unaware, in the night and murdered in cold blood.
Haseena shivered, and looked away from the presentation, her eyes starting to prick.
DSP immediately switched off the presentation and turned to her.
"SHO Vikrant was about to get promoted, both in his professional and personal life. Constable Bubbly was about to get married, and Constable Seerat was preparing for departmental promotional examination. All of them were such talented people", he sighed.
Haseena didn't nod in acknowledgement. She had known loss and could feel it cutting into her again.
When she had received his call last night, at worst she was expecting to deal with thugs who had dared to defile the wall of police HQ. But in the last 8 hours, a major tragedy had come to pass that she could've never thought of. Three police officers had been murdered on their night patrol and one had been kidnapped.
"And sir, what about the missing SI?" She asked.
"Ah yes, SHO malik, he's the reason you were called here. At the same time when these murders happened, SI Suresh was kidnapped from a night club where he had been visiting with a friend. His friend had filed a case in the nearest station and that's how the report reached us".
Haseena picked up the sheet that was forwarded towards her and swept her gaze over it.
'Taken by a white wagonR from the parking of Crown club. An unidentified person was driving the vehicle, their face covered'.
She then picked up the PD that was slid towards her and looked at her seniors.
"Haseena Malik, we are assigning you with the rescue mission of SI Suresh", IG proclaimed.
"But sir, wasn't the report filed in another station. I, of course, am more than happy to help but- She stopped, confused.
IG sir roused from his seat then and walked to the laptop, to which the projector was connected. A few clicks later, Haseena looked over his shoulder to see a man's photo being displayed on the screen behind him.
"That's Lallan Thakur. Barsoya village chief, and most probably the orchestrator of this entire fiasco, the kidnapping and the killings".
"SHO Vikrant was investigating a medical scam, Miss Malik. And he had gathered evidence that pointed to this man being one of the prime players. However, Lallan Thakur's stepsister, Raziya Sharik, who has a steady foothold in politics, had all the evidence erased and the case closed. That was some 2 months back", DSP added.
Haseena's brows furrowed, "But sir, if the case was already shut, why would these people come after Vikrant and his team? And why kidnap Suresh?"
A second later, her eyes widened as realization struck Haseena, "Unless they failed to destroy all the evidence!"
"That's exactly what we think. It's hard to say for sure, but Vikrant still probably had something that could incriminate these people", DSP shrugged.
"Anyway", IG interrupted and continued, "Lallan thakur is no ordinary man. He doesn't do empty threats and SHO of Hazratganj straightaway refused to take the case. He was warned of suspension, but he was rather willing to resign than lose his life. We need someone who will value another's life over theirs, and we believe that you are the woman of the moment, SHO Malik".
Haseena nodded, her eyes determined, " MPT is forever at country's service, sir! We will bring back SI Suresh".
DSP and IG looked at each other first and nodded. DSP roused from his seat then and patted Haseena on her shoulder.
"You will be carrying out this mission covertly. And this is only a rescue mission. Save Suresh and get out. If they even get an inkling of police being on their tail, Suresh's life can be in danger. We don't know how he is, but we shall, by all means endeavor to have him brought back alive".
"Noted sir". That said, Haseena tapped her boots against the floor, shifted to a stance of attention and saluting her seniors, turned to leave when IG's voice interrupted her.
"Come back alive, SHO Malik".
Haseena nodded in response and finally walked away.
***************
"Santosh, Cheeta, Pushpa ji!" Haseena's voice echoed the MPT Thana as soon as she stepped inside. Trio who was doing timepass in the gym room, immediately rushed out to the hall and stood in a line.
"Time is of essence team. I am sure, you all have watched the news. SI Suresh ko rescue karne ka mission HQ ne humein diya hai. And we need to get on with it".
And instantly, Haseena delegated tasks to her team while contacting Hazratganj police station in case they had gathered any information once the case was filed with them.
There was no respite for MPT Trio that day.
Pushpa singh stifled a yawn, eyes darting to her wristwatch flashing 6 while Santosh rushed past her to their SHO's cabin, laptop in hand.
"Maddam sir, I tracked the movement of the vehicle kidnappers used, through the CCTV's at red lights and-
Santosh placed the laptop in front of Haseena while Haseena leaned back to give her space.
-the last of that car was spotted at the red light, right before Lucknow bypass ring road. Now between these points...", Santosh turned to Haseena "There are three routes, one goes to village Dhanipur, while the other two which are on the opposite side, lead to Sitapur and Bedelia".
Haseena nodded, "And where is Basoya village?"
"That's in a total opposite direction".
Clearly, a clever person would not leave any obvious clues that could be traced back to them. During her ride back to thana from HQ, she had enough time to go over Lallan's and Raziya's profile, and needless to say, they were no small timers.
Haseena had started to think her next course of action, when Cheetah stormed in, "Jesa aap boli thi maddam sir, humne double check kiya hai aur Lucknow ke bahar kisi sandigdh vahan ko jate nahi dekha gaya hai. District HQ ke orders ke chalte, raat se hi sabhi rasto par kadi nigrani hai".
"That's great Cheeta. And ab hum chahte hain ki aap target practice ke liye range par jaaye. Situation is dire, so I need you to reacquaint yourself with your rifle. I still have work for Santosh and Pushpa ji. Aur, Pushpa ji ko zara andar bhejiyega", Cheeta nodded and left the cabin while Haseena turned to Santosh, "What about the mobile numbers that I had asked you to track?"
"Ji maddam sir, uss samay Crown club ke 50 metre ke radius main kuch 400 numbers active thhe. Company ne humein unn sab subsribers ki details bhej di hain".
"Perfect Santosh. Aapko kisi par bhi agar shaq ho toh uss number ko immediately trace kijiye". As she dismissed her, Pushpa ji walked in.
"Pushpa ji, wo revenue dep-
"Ji, maddam sir, revenue office se abhi abhi records mail hue hain", Pushpa ji interrupted and placed in front of Haseena a list of the properties owned by Lallan and his sister.
"Ok, hum list check karte hain, aap santosh ko assist kijiye".
"Ji, maddam sir, par ek sawal tha hamare mann main", Pushpa ji interrupted Haseena who had started going over the list. Haseena looked up from the papers and waited.
"Kidnapping ko 24 ghante hone ko aaye hain. Vahan badalkar, wo log Suresh ko kahin aur bhi le ja sakte hain na?"
Haseena nodded, "You are right, Pushpa ji. Possibility hai. Par har variable ko hum account nahi kar sakte hain. We must work with what we have. And trust me, once we find their tail, they won't be able to elude us".
That said, Haseena started searching the papers and managed to find 3 factories and 3 warehouses, that were in vicinity of the three probable villages.
She stood up and started pacing the length of the cabin, once again revisiting the entire case in her head, in case something missed her notice.
Suresh's phone had been found at the crime scene. But why was he kidnapped? Wouldn't it have made sense to kidnap Vikrant, but he was killed instead?
Haseena picked up her phone and a few taps later, pressed it against her ear.
"Hello, SHO Haseena Malik here"
"....."
"Ji humein Suresh Khadge, jinka number hai 9875xxxxxx, ke past 3 months ki phone records ki list immediately chahiye".
"....."
"Ji shukriya", And placing the phone back, she scrubbed her face hard.
He wasn't in cahoots with them, was he?
15 minutes later, as her phone vibrated, she went towards her desktop and started inspecting the call records. But she found nothing.
Haseena then took out Suresh's phone and started looking for any unknown numbers that could give her some clue. But no number was a regular, and it was impossible to arrive at any conclusion.
Suddenly something clicked in her mind, and Haseena yet again went back to making calls.
**************
"Maddam sir, I think I've found something", Santosh exclaimed, rushing into the cabin. It was 10 pm now.
"Unn 400 numbers main se 2 numbers ki last active location, Bedelia village thi".
"That's great!" Haseena had about smiled when Santosh added, "but wo numbers pichle 6 ghante se switched off hain".
"No problem, Santosh. That's enough lead for us to follow. Hum aur Cheetah abhi Bedelia jaa rahe hain".
"Ji madam".
That said, Haseena walked out of the thana.
(NOTE: The names of places and stations used have no relevance in real life)