SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (31)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (4) : A CRIME THRILLER

When he went to the police station, next day, to resume his duty, Inspector Vishwas could not believe that he hired Mrs. Laxmi without checking her background. He was so grateful to her for bringing his boy safely back to him that he had acted out of impulse rather than thinking rationally.

He called Rashid, a colleague, who handled the Social media and internet search. He showed Laxmi’s photo and asked him to check whether she was on social media and get information on her. It was at this moment that he thought of searching for Monica Aggarwal’s presence on the social media. He checked her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profile. It seemed as if she was not very active on any of her social media account. She posted hardly one or two messages per year. Those messages were always about the necessity of having good moral values, more philosophical. She focused her attention on fidelity and faithfulness to the spouse and preserving the sanctity of marriage.

” Strange, ” thought Vishwas, ” She only loves to preach but kills people under the pretext of punishment for their crimes. It’s a pity that her profile is incomplete.” SI Gautam observed him and asked, ” Are you searching for information on Monica, sir? She’s a professional killer and doesn’t leave any trace of her crime. I have an idea. Do you remember speaking to her brother, Kunal, while we were investigating Poonam Mehta’s death? Why don’t we speak to him and ask for Monica’s whereabouts? We can always scare him into spilling beans on her.”
Vishwas replied, ” That’s a good idea. I completely forgot about Kunal Mehta. Wait a minute! I just realized something. I have only searched for Monica Aggrawal. Aggrawal is her name after marriage. Why didn’t I think of searching for Monica Mehta? “

Vishwas searched for information on Monica Mehta, a resident of New Delhi. Bingo! She was involved in a violent protest, seeking justice for Asha Gupta, a 22-year-old student commerce student from Lady Sriram college, who was raped repeatedly and left to die on the streets. The police suspected Vishwas Kumar, a new cadet in training for the police. He was caught picking Asha and sent into custody but was let off due to confession by Vishwas’ father, Shekhar, that he had raped her. Inspector Vishwas remembered everything. He actually caught Kunal and his friends with their pants down and forcing themselves on the poor hapless girl in November, 2006. He had given his statement to the investigating officer, Kapil Shrivastav, implicating Kunal and his friends but they denied his accusations and turned the tables on him. They insisted that Vishwas and his friends gang raped her and that Kunal and his friends came to save her. Kunal’s father, Dipak Mehta, was a wealthy businessman having political connection. He bribed the officer to register complaint against Vishwas.

The post mortem report was fabricated but Vishwas’s father couldn’t see his innocent son being framed for a crime, he didn’t commit. He could not watch his son’s lifelong dream of being a police officer, dashed to the ground. He pleaded with Dipak that he was ready to take the rap and also offered him cash to drop charges against Vishwas. His father, Shekhar, committed suicide in jail. His mother died of a broken heart.

Vishwas wanted to strangle Kunal but he also wanted him alive to prove his innocence to Monica, who was Asha’s best friend. Asha had succumbed to her injuries and Monica vowed to avenge her death. Kunal created a monster by feeding her with a bunch of lies.

Vishwas shared his discovery with Gautam who was shocked. He knew why Monica wanted him dead but he was also bothered by the fact, why did she wait 16 years to avenge her death? He said, ” It’s time for us to meet Kunal. Let’s go.” He and Gautam started for their intended visit to Kunal. Unfortunately, a truck started trailing them. Vishwas saw it but remained calm. A cop can’t panic. The chase game began. The truck kept gaining speed and tried to veer them off the road. Vishwas was dismayed to find the brakes failing and hit a tree forcefully. Gautam escaped with a minor scratch but Vishwas was bleeding and lost his consciousness. Gautam called for an ambulance and admitted him to the hospital. He informed Vishwas’ wife, Shalini, who left her son, Harish with their neighbors.

Gautam was sure that there was a foul play and it could be an insider job. There was a dirty cop in the pay of Kunal Mehta, the criminal mastermind. He checked upon Vishwas until Shalini arrived. He requested her to stay for a while and that he would come back to spend rest of the night, taking care of Vishwas. His condition was stable and responding to the treatment. Gautam returned to the police station and found Constable Ram Prasad speaking to someone. Gautam hid beneath Vishwas’ desk and watched him saying, ” I am sure Saheb, Vishwas must be rotting in hell. Our man, Champaklal, must have crushed his skull. You need not worry, Sir. Fortunately, I overheard Vishwas and Gautam discussing a cold case that involved you. You are my benefactor and I will never doublecross you.”
Gautam was stunned to see the ever kind, sincere, hardworking, loyal, Constable Ram Prasad, betraying the police force in such a manner. He recorded everything in his smartphone.

Meanwhile, he received a call from the hospital that someone had attacked Vishwas and he was battling for life. Gautam left the place stealthily to avoid being seen by Ram Prasad. He met a sobbing Shalini. ” What happened, Ma’am? ” he asked her. Shalini replied, ” I went to the restroom just for 5 minutes. I heard a nurse scream and hurried back to see a masked man leaving the hospital. He had knocked down the nurse.”
“Is Sir alright? ” he questioned her. She merely nodded. ” Damn it! ” he cursed, ” There must be someone else involved besides Ram Prasad. Otherwise, how did the stranger know the location of Vishwas? He didn’t even tell Ram Prasad.” He said, ” I am sorry you have to go through all this. Did you mention that you were coming here to anyone that you know? ” He surmised there were two possibilities. One, a spy working for Kunal and the other, phone tapping.

Watch out for the next episode of Catch me if you can with more drama unfolding, next Friday.

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