Apologies for the delay, dear readers. I was travelling and therefore couldn't delegate my time to this story. A little peep into my travel for you all!
Now, let's move onto the story!!
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"Mam, sunny ke sath iss recording ko main live share kar rahi hoon. Aur aapki location bhi HQ ke sath share ho rahi hai toh, backup force iss baar time par pahunch jaegi".
"Thank you, Santosh".
Haseena continued to follow the car and after 75 minutes, the car came to a halt in front of a house, deep in the farms.
Haseena stopped her car some distance away, seeing the entrance being guarded by armed men.
"Madam, the force has arrived", Santosh informed, and Haseena tapped her earpiece twice to establish connection.
"SHO Haseena Malik here, am I audible?"
"Special force, Inspector Rajiv here, SHO Malik, I can hear you. We have searched the perimeter, and from your location, there is a way from the right end, that's passing through the maize field. It will be a good cover".
Haseena moved to her right and spotted the cover, "Found it".
That said, she equipped her pistol, took a crouching stance and rushed through the field, finally arriving at the back wall. Taking support of the crevices in the wall then, she quickly climbed over it, looking around for the men who had abducted Cheetah.
Keeping to the wall, she located the entrance and once assured that her back was protected, she quickly jumped the man standing guard and hit his neck hard at the perfect angle making him lose consciousness.
"Inspector Rajiv, I am inside".
"To your seven, officer"
Haseena peeked behind the pillar to find a man signaling her, and she followed his gestures to see 4 other officers hidden over the hall, that was punctuated by pillars. Owing to them, they had ample hiding spots but there were blind spots too.
Stealthily she and Rajiv advanced, running from pillar to pillar. And then the hall broke into two corridors. Haseena took the left one and was accompanied by two officers while Rajiv turned to right.
"Rinku bhaiya dekh lega baki, apun ka kaam ho ga-
The two men who appeared in the left corridor halted, perturbed by sudden sounds and then they saw the shadows move. However, before they could raise an alarm, Haseena looped the nearest curtain around one's neck, tightening it as he struggled for a few seconds before passing out. His partner was also dealt with as another officer snapped his neck.
"Something's there", Haseena remarked recalling the two men as Cheetah's abductors.
Picking up her pace, she rushed ahead but hid quickly as the corridor took a right turn and she caught a glimpse of two men standing guard outside a room, from where some noise could be heard.
"Cheetah is close by, madam", Santosh informed as she saw Haseena's and Cheetah's markers in close vicinity on her screen.
"Yes, I found him", Haseena concluded, peaking from behind the wall.
"We have our sight on suspect. Everyone scout the premises and neutralize the threats!", Inspector Rajiv ordered his rest of the team who had been lying in wait of ambush.
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Coming to, Cheetah found himself tied to a chair, and a gun pressed to his head.
"DRIVE KATTHE GAYI!!" The man holding the gun, roared.
It was so loud that Haseena heard it too and tightened her hold on her weapon.
White beard, trailing till the middle of his throat, with a red gash on his left cheek, stomach protruding with a clean head, yellow teeth gnashed and gritted, pressing the gun tightly against the victim's temple.
Dressed to the nines in a blinding white kurta pyjama, the man reeked of blood and murder.
Stepping back then, he lifted his left hand and Cheetah awaited a slap but heard a deafening noise as a man standing on his left was backhanded making him fall to the ground.
"Drive kathhe se??!!!"
The man cried, holding his cheek. "Maafi Thakur sa-
And a gunshot echoed.
Everyone flinched. Santosh's heart had come into her throat but Cheetah's pulse still beating on her screen, gave her some reprieve.
Cheetah, on the other hand, was shocked out of his soul. He had witnessed a murder! Eyes wide in disbelief, he stared at the gaping hole in head through which blood was flowing out.
The man turned to Cheetah again and he flinched, afraid.
"Hardrive kathhe se?" The question was repeated again, this time with eerie grey eyes staring right into his soul.
Cheetah opened his mouth 'but failed to get the voice out. He tried again. He had to. This scum had killed three officers in cold blood.
Haseena waited outside with abated breath, tempted to abandon the plan and jump to Cheetah's rescue. But he had not given the signal yet. That meant he was still holding out.
"Tum-mne mere bhai jese dost ko maar diya. Nahi denge drive. NAHI DENG-
And a scraping sound echoed as Cheetah's chair stumbled and he fell to the floor, his lip cut, and his cheek printed with red.
"!!!!?!" Cheetah blinked hard. 'Ye kaa rakshas hai. Aisa bheeshan laafa!'
He was kicked in the stomach next and couldn't help the yelp of pain from coming out.
Him torturing a police officer was enough to put him in jail. But to hold him, definite evidence of crime was needed. Evidence of murder was needed.
"Kyun maara hamare mitra ko?!" Cheetah shouted again and awaited the impending beating, but none came this time, except a sinister rumble.
"Oo SHO, mitra tha tumra?" The man asked and Cheetah meekly nodded. He hated feeling this weak, but this man had a beastly presence.
And the man broke into laughter, " Budbak tha saala. Humse, Lallan Thakur se haath milaane se inkaar kiya! Poora pachas lakh offer diya tha par saala wardi imandari ka nagada peet ta raha- He paused and looked straight into Cheetah's eyes before flashing his yellow teeth in a psychotic smile.
-toh marwa diya usse!"
Cheetah gulped, tearing his gaze away. He could feel bile rising in his throat at the sight of dead body lying on his side, whose blood was now seeping towards his clothes.
"Agar samay rehte rukk jaata toh kutte ki maut na marta. Par humse! Thakur se dushmani moli toh keemat toh chukani hi thi na! Naalayakon ko gardan kaatne kaha tha!" Thakur shook his head displeased, "-lekin haath hi kaat paaye! Tch! Par unn do titliyon ki laash dekhkar bada maja aaya tha! Dard main karah karah ke, tadap tadap ke, saansein nikli thi unki".
Haseena drew blood as she bit her lips hard. She recalled the mangled bodies of those officers, and her blood boiled. F*cking monster!
"Madam! This is enough! HQ se approval hai that you can advance", Santosh chimed in, once they had the required evidence.
Haseena nodded and awaited Cheetah's signal.
On the other hand, Cheetah realized that they had their murder confession and he needed to get out before this man added the prefix of 'late' to this name.
Hands tied behind the chair, he wriggled his fingers and managed to press a button on the side on his wrist band, that immediately generated a high frequency noise as every guard in vicinity fell to the floor, crying out in pain. Cheetah too felt his ears suffer but rejoiced as he saw the boulder of a man clasp his ears tightly and mince his teeth in pain.
Haseena and the two other officers jumped into action instantly, once the guards were incapacitated.
As special forces tackled the men at the door, Haseena stormed inside. Taking advantage of the mayhem, she rushed to Cheetah and started to untie his hands while her team took on the men who had started to gain their balance.
Haseena controlled the bile rising in her gut at the sight of dead body and quickly freed Cheetah's hands, before stopping a man who attacked her from the back.
She got busy parrying the attack, while Cheetah freed his legs and joined the action too.
In the meantime, Inspector Rajiv informed the rest of special forces who had been lying in wait around the perimeter, and the reinforcements stormed the premises soon after, quickly tackling the men spread around the house, while a unit rushed inside to Haseena's aid.
Haseena kicked Lallan thakur in the back, amid the scuffle. Quick to recover, Lallan thakur punched her in the stomach next and as Haseena ended up bending over from the impact, he stepped forward to attack again but found a gun's barrel pressed to his head instead as Inspector Rajiv emerged from behind him.
A sudden silence ensued as the head honcho was held captive at gunpoint and his grunts ceased their retaliation, falling to their knees with hands held behind their heads while the police aimed their pistols at them.
Lallan hissed, ballistically as he struggled against Rajiv who held him immobile by his neck.
"Anjaam bura howega mara su panga lene ka!" He growled menacingly, looking around the room.
"Ek ek kutte ki maut marega jese wo teen afsar mar-
--AAAaaaGHHGghhhhhh!!" His warning suddenly paved way to intense screaming as he turned his head to find a fine dagger piercing the very palm whose fingers he had been waiving around recklessly to signify his threat.
"SHO Malik!" Rajiv gasped as he saw the dagger's blade run across Lallan's palm while the man continued to scream.
On the opposite end, Haseena stood still, jaw rigid and eyes red. She could barely register what she was doing. As soon as she had heard him talk of the three officers, their lifeless bodies flashed in front of her and before she knew, she had thrown her dagger at the man's hand.
"Arghhhh!! C-Cho....dunga nahi!!" Lallan shouted at Haseena, trying to pull out the dagger but failing due to the immense pain piercing him at the slightest movement.
Taking slow steps forward, Haseena covered the distance between them, and stood inches away from him as the man glared at her murderously. Despite the pain and sweat pooling around his forehead, he dared to threaten her.
"Maregi tu! Itne tukde karunga ki- the man paused for a second as he felt something and looked down, eye widening in horror.
Haseena matched his glare with her own and while he was busy challenging her, she caught his palm and pulled out her dagger in a flash. It happened so quickly that Thakur's reaction was delayed by 2 seconds and then....he howled.
"AAAAAAAAAA!!"
With the wound now gaping wide, blood flew more freely, and Lallan crumbled to his knees, in front of Haseena, his head dizzy.
"Call the medics!!" Rajiv shouted extending his hand to deter Haseena who continued to look at Lallan with a blank face.
"I need you to step back, SHO Malik!" He warned, seeing how the bloodied dagger was still in her hands.
"SHO Malik!" Rajiv repeated, but as she showed no movement, Cheetah stepped forward and tapped Haseena's right shoulder.
"Maddam sir...".
That broke her stasis and Haseena emerged out of her reverie, her gaze finally 'seeing' her surroundings. Nodding, she stepped back and looked at the stained dagger in her hand.
She felt nothing. Simply empty.
"Chalein, maddam sir?" Cheetah asked and took hold of Lallan while Rajiv received a call from HQ
Haseena trailed few steps behind, still lost. To think she had used violence when it had not been needed. She then noticed the slight tremor in her hands and shook her head.
'No, don't. You must never'.
They stepped out of the house to find the dark of night being brightened by the camera's clicking and lights blaring. Media was being held at bay, while Cheetah hauled Lallan towards an ambulance. Not only was the press present on the scene, but Lallan's sister Razia too was there, standing behind the police line.
And the man who had been dragging his feet till now, eyes barely opening and grunting in constant pain, suddenly snuck a glance at Cheetah and in the next instant, overwhelmed him with his weight, stepped behind him and catching his head in his elbows, while holding a shard of glass close to Cheetah's throat.
In response, Haseena quickly aimed her pistol at him. "Cheetah ko chod do, warna tumhari jaan ki guarantee nahi hogi, Lallan!" She warned.
"Mane jaane de aur phir sochenge ki ee ladka jiyega ya nahi!"
And then it all happened quickly. A hostage situation spiraled completely out of control.
Lallan Thakur did the mistake of undermining Haseena's words all too assured that he would remain safe no matter what. He didn't take the wound in his palm as seriously and dared to poke the shard against Cheetah's throat.
And as Cheetah winced, and blood pooled at the nick on his throat, Haseena became deaf to the pleas of Rajiv who had been asking her to keep composed.
Cheetah, not wanting to be a bargaining chip risked his neck and threw his head back with as much force to hit Lallan. And while the man stumbled from the surprise attack, Cheetah caught his weapon wielding hand, twisted it and escaped his grip.
Once the chance rose, Haseena who had been overwhelmed to see her comrade at the precipice of death, overcome with fear and equal proportions anger, fired a shot and then another in succession.
Both consecutively hit Thakur in his chest and then, he crumbled to the floor lifeless.
"Choteee!!" Screaming, Razia broke through the police barricade and towards her brother's body, lying near the ambulance.
Fingers immediately going to check his pulse, her agony halted as she failed to detect life in him.
Her head then snapped towards Haseena's in undiluted rage while her hand went towards her waist, retrieved a gun hidden under her kurta, aimed at Haseena and fired it.
Making haste, as the gunshot echoed, Cheetah and Rajiv apprehended Razia while the bullet pierced Haseena in her arm.
"SHO Malik!! I will kill you!! You killed my brother! I will kill you and this is Razia's promise!" Razia shouted struggling.
Haseena, however, continued to look at Lallan's lifeless body in shock.
Never in her career of 8 years, had she taken a life.
The pain made itself felt as a spell of dizziness washed over Haseena, and she stumbled against the police van standing behind.
'What have I done...'
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'Aaj ki taza khabar-kal raat police ne khufiya operation main-
"Ye lijiye aapka chai, dadda", Karishma stepped into her dadda's room and placed the tray on the side table.
The man however stayed immersed in television, and she quirked a curious brow at that.
"Kaa dekh rahein hain itne aashcharya se?" She asked and turned towards the TV.
'-Lallan thakur ka hua encounter'.
Karishma's curiosity changed into shock as she saw Razia being dragged by the police.
'Ji haan, kal raat ko police vibhag ne ek gopniya operation main Lallan thakur ke Dhanshi ke ghar par raid maari. Jis triple murder se Lucknow main dehshat ka mahol tha, uske peeche Lallan thakur ka hi haath tha. Hamare paas ek recording hai jo vibhag ne karyawahi ke dauran banai. Aaiye, sunte hain isse..'
Karishma stood rooted to her spot as she heard man's admission of murder and the glee, he felt in commissioning that. Karishma looked at the messages app yet again, to check if her message had been responded to.
'Iss operation ko anjaam diya special force ne, as lead by inspector Rajiv aur hamari apni Lucknow ki super cop, SHO Aminabad thana, Haseena Malik'.
Karishma's head snapped to the screen on hearing a familiar name and she found another video running on the screen. It was blurred but there was clear echo of gunshots in the background.
'Hamare sanvadaata jo ghatnasthal par maujood thhe, unse soochna mili hai ki raat ke 2 baje jab Lallan Thakur ko vibhag hirasat main le hi raha tha, unhone Aminabad thaane ke constable Cheetah Chaturvedi par jaanleva hamla kiya-
Karishma stepped closer as a red arrow pointed to a man being held.
-aur jawabi karyawahi main, thanaprabhari Haseena Malik ne unn par ek ke baad ek, do goliyan chaladi jiske chalte Lalla Thakur ki mauka-e-vardaat par hi mrityu ho gayi'.
Another green arrow on the screen pointed towards a person holding gun and as two shots echoed, Karishma realized that it was Haseena. However, another gunshot echoed then and the person with the green arrow stumbled back. Karishma immediately gripped her phone tightly in response.
'Baat yahi khatam nahi hui. Vidhayak Razia, Lallan thakur ki muhboli behan ne jawabi hamle main SHO Haseena Malik par bhi goli chala di halanki-'
Eyes blowing wide with distress clouding her face, Karishma didn't bother to hear the rest and stormed out of the room.
Racing down the stairs, she urgently dialed a number and cut the call a few seconds later.
"Kishan! Jeep nikalo!" Karishma's voice echoed across the hall as she almost ran out of the haveli.
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"Maddam sir, aapko aaram karna chahiye tha!" Santosh spoke up worried, her gaze fixed on the sling in Haseena's right hand.
"Santu ji sahi keh rahi hain. Ek toh aap na aspataal se bhi turant nikal aayi!" Cheetah seconded.
"Lekin hum bilkul-
"Aap kyun hamesha musibat main padti hain!" Pushpa ji chided her next and Haseena almost sweat dropped under the glare of her beloved juniors.
"Aap log, please shant ho jaiye. Hum theek hain. Aur Pushpa ji, kaam hi aisa hai ki musibat humein khud hi dhundh leti hai", Haseena responded calmly and was about to continue when a bell interrupted her.
"Jakar dekhiye kon hai".
Nodding as the three filed out of her cabin, Haseena's smile disappeared, and she closed her eyes to recall Lallan's body falling to the ground and becoming lifeless.
"Maddam sir, ye koi bahar rakhkar gaya hai".
Haseena opened her eyes to see Santosh placing a fruit basket on her table.
"Hamare liye?" Haseena asked surprised as Santosh forwarded a letter towards her and went out of the room once Haseena dismissed her.
Curious, Haseena unfolded the parchment and as she went over its contents, her heart considerably warmed up and she smiled.
' Aadarniya Inspector Sahiba,
Aasha karte hain ki aapko zyada peeda naa ho rahi ho. Aaj savere hi humein iss vishay main soochna mili aur hum apne aap ko rok nahi paaye-
"Rok nahi paayi toh milne aana chahiye tha na..." Haseena mumbled forlorn.
'-Hum chahte thhe aapse milna parantu aapko duty ke samay asuvidha nahi karna chahte thhe. Aapka pasand ka gyaan nahi tha toh sabhi prakaar ke fal bhej diye. Aasha hain ki aap inhe grahan karengi aur apni sehat par dhyan dengi'.
Haseena laughed looking at the fruit basket. Truly, there was an assortment of fruits, some of which she had never seen.
There, however, was a line at the end, that made Haseena chortle out real loud.
'Vese, Haseen bala toh suna tha humne par Haseena ko bala-yen pasand hai, ye abhi gyaat hua
Miss Singh'
"Not so shy in the letter huh, Ms. Singh", Haseena mumbled fondly after reading that and folding the letter, slipped it neatly into her pocket.
She immediately turned her attention to the doorway then, and true to habits, the three musketeers of MPT quickly fell back to escape being caught.
"Darwaze ki oiling main itni dilchaspi hai toh zara apne isteefe lete aayiye sab", Her careless remark echoed and effectively dispersed the three.
While Haseena picked up her phone and started typing a message, a small smile gracing her lips.