Chapter 22

RR through our eyes (Chapter 22)

 

No edits from Mano (Multimedia) this week as she is on travel.

 

It was difficult for Rudra to explain his feeling in one word. If a counsellor had asked him at that moment, "How do you feel ?" Rudra could have said a lot. A man of few words would have been ready to put words to his feelings.

He was thirsty

He was tired

He was hungry

He was frustrated

He was impatient

From the time he left the haveli in the morning till now which amounts to around 7 hours he has been on the road. First to meet the informer who had called him in the morning. The informer claimed to have some information about the kidnappings which has happened in the recent past. The informer was found by one of his team members who was assigned to digging up more information  about the girl Radha who was abducted along with the minister’s daughter Megha.

Kidnappings are usually made so that the victim can be exchanged for money. And a ransom call is very important to confirm this. In most of the cases where there is no ransom call – like in this case at hand – the kidnapper has personal vendetta. Either against the victim or one of the victim’s family (a dead or a living person). There is another type of kidnapping where the victim is hand in hand with the kidnapper and usually helps each other to plan it. So that the elopement can be made to look like an abduction. And there are very few cases where it is next to impossible to understand the reason. Because there will be no relation at all. The victim could be such a random person who was chosen just because he or she was present there due to their ill fate. And till this informer came forward it looked as if the team has hit a road block and the case looked more like a random forceful holding.

Megha  had come to Jaipur along with a few other friends and stayed in a posh hotel for two days visting the tourist attractions in the city before proceeding for a wedding in a village near Birpur.  There were ten of them in total staying in the hotel. Six boys and four girls. The wedding was of their classmate Radha who was from Jetpur.

Yes, the first thing Rudra doubted was the possibilty of a girl from such poor background getting admission in a reputed college in the South. But there was nothing suspicious there. Radha, was a brilliant girl and had got selected in a scholarship program conducted by the religious college where Megha also enrolled in. The religious institution was known to reserve a big percentage of their seats for poor students from all over India who were brilliant.

With that clear explanation, the focus shifted to Megha. Last few days Rudra had gone through the history of the daughter of the minister from the South and probably knows more about her than she herself will ever know. The minister’s trusted security personnel were very forthcoming with all details of not only the girl but the entire family as well. Their only intention was to get Megha back home safe and sound. There was nothing which looked mysterious or out of place about her. No lover, no hidden husband, no family feud, no political rivals ( the minister was quite a popular one down South) no step brother or step sister with revenge. Zilch. The team had absolutely nothing more at hand to explore.

 

And that is when Rudra started thinking whether this is all about Megha or is it about her classmate Radha. Maybe she did not want to get married. Or wanted to go away with someone else.  Thus started another round of history digging. But here again it turned out to be a case of a very innocent poor girl who was looking forward to her wedding. A wedding to her childhood sweetheart. Who was a real hard worker and who helped her right through childhood to achieve her dreams of becoming a civil servant. It seemed ill fortune that she invited her rich friend and got herself kidnapped just before the wedding.

Rudra’s team had talked to all the other informers and leads. This was the only one remaining and that too so far away in Birpur. His team had been working endlessly for the last few days and were heaving a sigh of relief that Sunday is here. None of them had any energy left. And thus Rudra decided to follow up on the lead himself. Along with one of the security guys from the minister’s side.

They learnt from the lead that kidnappings were increasing in the villages. That too of kids and young girls. Usually there will be a ransom call and once the money is provided the victims will be let out somewhere in the middle of the desert at night. This was the only one where he came across a case with no demand for ransom. And this was the only one where more than a person was kidnapped at the same time. Usually these kidnappings were never reported – neither to the police nor to the BSD. Was always handled by the village people. By putting together their savings and offering it to the kidnapper. Most of the cases the sums asked were not very high. Once in a while the sum demanded was high and then they will go to ThakurSa and beg him for money. In the end money was always given to the kidnapper which led the poor to become poorer. The victims were never hurt. They always returned intact though they were almost starved for couple of days.

Rudra identified the pattern now. These were all connected to Tejawat. Rudra was aware that Tejawat had stopped all the fake weddings and related terrorism due to lack of people at his side. After all it was Rudra who was successful in reducing his team to next to nothing with the help of BSD. Tejawat was always on BSD radar. And rudra had enough clout in BSD to get alerted if any terrorist activities happened around Tejawat. Even after starting on his own Rudra was connected to BSD and acted as their special consultant in many border related cases.

 

Rudra wondered what Tejawat was up to now. Kidnappings that too of very poor people will not get him any money. He himself provided the ransom for a few. But Tejawat was not somebody to go around helping people without an ulterior motive. It has to be investigated. It must have escaped the notice of BSD as it had no direct bearing with the border activities. But for the more pressing issue at hand, he has to talk to BSD to get some intelligence about Tejawat’s men so that they can be followed in case this kidnapping also is somehow related to him. Maybe Radha was the target. And Megha, the minister’s daughter, just happened to come across the kidnappers and was also taken away. But if Radha was the target why was there no demand for money ?

The minister would have called them four times within the span of those hours. There are times when even the most powerful will be at the mercy of the villains and turn to God for courage and hope. Questioning their own career decisions. And the minister was no different. He was wondering whether he thrust his daughter in the mouth of danger by opting to be a public figure. Whether without knowing he made any enemies who were out to get his blood. Rudra could hear clearly the frustration in the helpless father’s voice. Worried for his daughter, yet not able to be physically present here lest the press make a field day of the whole affair. A father hoping against hope that the daughter will be found soon safe and sound. In the final call Rudra updated the minister about their line of thought and the possible connection with the local kidnappings. And disconnected the call promising to call him the moment there is a breakthrough.

Before heading back to the haveli Rudra discussed the further steps with the minister’s security. The ride back home was ridden with the flash backs for Rudra. The visit to Birpur did nothing to lift his spirits. Nor did the helplessness in a father’s voice. On the contrary he was reminded of all the atrocities the villagers suffered at Tejawat’s hands. The pain he himself went through when he lost many of his people in the Baarat encounter. Then his thoughts wandered to Shantanu and what happened to Paro years back. The pain she would have suffered when she was shot. The pain Rudra suffered when she was away for seven long years.

Rudra was sure his visit to Birpur will definitely be reported back to Tejawat by his aides. Tejawat also will be alerted to the fact that Myrah looks like Paro. If he is not already knowing this fact. Should be very careful going forward. Should tell Myrah also to be careful about where she goes and whom she talks to. Cannot afford to lose her again – neither to death nor to kidnapping. Come to think of it was Myrah’s kidnapping in some way connected to Tejawat? Should discuss this with Aman after going back to the haveli.

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Soon after lunch the men shifted to the living room. And the ladies joined a bit later after giving instructions to the servants. Very rarely did the Ranawats have the servants to clean up after the lunch. But with marriage preparations going on and with so many people in the house it was not possible for the Ranawat ladies to handle all the kitchen chores.

The packets kept coming out from Poonam’s suitcase. Chocolates for the kids, superman costume for Dhruv and Sourabh. Barbie doll for Koel (it was her first) Multiple paints, brushes and games for the children. Beautiful gold bracelets and perfumes for the women. Watches for Samrat, Sumer , Kakusa and Aman. Such expensive gifts and so many of them would have looked like a showing off of wealth from anybody else. But none of the Ranawats felt it because each of the gifts had something very much to their liking – like the colour or the design or the precious stone selected – which showed that Poonam had checked about the likes and dislikes of each member of the household including Sunehri and family and taken those points into consideration while buying. And all this was achieved within the last few days. And this genuine affection touched the Ranawat family.

“Naani, yeh game toh bahut accha hai. Mujhe bahund pasand hai. How did you know I like it ? “ Dhruv asked Poonam. “Waise I can call you Naani right ? And you Naana ?” Dhruv addressed the last question to Rajeev.

“Ofcourse beta.” Rajeev replied before Myrah could give the same answer. And Myrah’s face suddenly lit up. She was the only one who was kind of lost and worried till then – obviously about Rudra’s absence.

And Rajeev noticed it. He put Myrah at ease,” He will be okay. Must have been stuck with the office work. He will be here anytime soon.”

“Yes Naana. Nothing will happen to Papa. He is very brave. And strong.  You know Naana, Papa saved Mummy from a bike accident. You should have seen the way in which he sprung into action and pulled Mummy out of the bike’s way from the middle of the road.”

“Accident? When and how? Myrah, you never told us. And Rohit, you also did not inform us!!” Poonam was quite angry with this new piece of information. Dhruv felt as if he has said something wrong. Because of him now Mummy and Rohit uncle got scolded by Naani. Dhruv’s worry was what caught Myrah’s attention than her mother’s anger.

“Dhruv, it is fine. You did not say anything wrong. “Myrah patted his head.

“Aunty, I do not know anything about this accident.” Rohit answered, clearly not interested in taking any misplaced blame.

Now Mehras’ eyes were on Myrah demanding an explanation. “Well, it was my mistake Dad. I did not see the bike and walked across the road. Luckily Rudra saw it and pulled me away in time. I knew you will worry about me. As I did not get hurt I did not mention it to you guys.”

“You need to keep your eyes open when you are walking on the road. Be careful is all I can say. Am glad Rudra was there to save you.” Rajeev sounded relieved.

“Rudra always protects Myrah. He is always present to save her. Whether from falling or from the bike or from the kidnappers!!” Shatabdi said it without thinking. And realised that she has dropped another bomb from the looks on the faces of Rajeev and Poonam.

Rajeev was clearly angry. Angry that her daughter got kidnapped and nobody informed him. He got up, first looked at Myrah and then at Rohit. Mohini had the brains to keep quiet for once. Kakusa tried to calm Rajeev. “Nothing happened to Myrah. Within a few hours Rudra found out about her whereabouts and got her back safe the same day itself.”

Rajeev did not even acknowledge Kakusa’s words. He was filled with the fear.  What if something had happened to her? What if he had lost her? Seven years back they had almost lost hopes on her survival. But God helped them through those dark times. Saved Myrah’s life though she lost all of her memory. Now again she went through another trauma and he was not even aware of it?

“You got kidnapped and they asked for a ransom. I just cannot believe such a thing happened. Who did it ? And you did not think it important enough to inform us?” Rajeev literally shouted at Myrah and kept asking her questions without giving her anytime to answer. “What else are you keeping from us? How could Rudra find you ? Thank God he saved you. But first tell me why were you kidnapped in the first place?”

 

“Bewakoofi thi iski. Because of her sheer stupidity and nothing else!!” came the angry reply in a reverberating voice. Rudra was back. And that was his first statement to Rajeev Mehra.