CN, that day evening.
âAre Godu yeh kya? Ashwini aai shouted at the top of her voice. Kitna kaam badh gaya hain. Aur main akeli. Koi help karne nahi aata. Virat comes running. Especially when his Mom uses that tone. She is standing with his police uniform in hand. âYeh billâŚinfant formula aur diapers ka..aur yeh? Her hand holds a colourful plastic rattler. Virat does a facepalm.
âAai, wo na main mere friend ke bacche ke liye laya tha, bhool gaya..Kal deta houn!â He practically snatches the bill and the toy from his motherâs hand and high tails from there. Luckily, nobody has watched this cozy exchange. Phew⌠nobody should know about this secret mission of his. Yesterday he just escaped with the skin of his teeth as a woman walked into the cubicle in the NICU. He peeped cautiously from his hiding place and jumped out of his skin. Sai! What is she doing here? What all does she know? As it is, she wouldnât have recognized him, he was totally gowned as per the NICU protocol. She introduces herself to the baby as his maushi. Shruti and Sai are friends? How? She leaves soon, but whatâs this? Why is the lady officer tailing her? He makes a mental note to ask.
Across the corridor, Sai is getting ready for evening bath. She has made this as a habit, it not only freshens her, it also gets rid of all the hospital dirt. The first thing she removes is her ID, hangs it by the clothes hook on the door. Normally it is not asked for. Aaj ke din bahut kaam aaya. Otherwise nobody would have allowed her in the special ward and Shruti in it.
Shruti: the name brings a smile to her face. The shower starts. The topper from her school, her role model when it came to academic excellence. Her Aaba had pointed out to her. Iske jaisi padhai karna. Tumhe dr banna hain. Phir ek din GC se gayab ho gayi. Aage graduation bhi kiya. Aur shaadi?
The shower stops. That was the nagging thought of the day. She met Shruti, her child, but her husband was not to be seen anywhere. Shruti didnât even mention about him. Sai makes a mental note to ask about her husband today. She towels herself dry and dresses up for the night. Its going to be another long day tomorrow. Lost in her thoughts, she forgets the most vital thing needed for the next dayâs duty: her ID, still hanging on the hook.
Across the city, the lady officer is talking to her senior officer. I got her name. Sai. I will keep an eye on her in the hospital. But I need another lady officer to keep an eye on her outside the hospital.
Her senior leans forward. I have a better idea. She already knows you. She might notice you following her everywhere. I will send some other lady officer in your place tomorrow. You take tomorrow off from the hospital, and go through our archive if this Sai, or whatever her name is, can be identified? You have seen her. She might have a past recordâŚ
Next day at CN:
Sai has a bright spring in her step. She is dressed well today. Looking forward to meeting Shruti and catching up with her, she forgets her ID, still dangling over the bathroom hook. It is discovered by Ashwini Aai, long time after Sai has left for the hospital. She yells for the only idle person in the house.
âPatralekha! Kuthe aahes? Lavkar ye..â (where are you? Come here soon!)
Patralekha, who is eavesdropping as usual, runs away and answers. âAale⌠(coming) Aapne bulaya, Ashwini Mami?â
âEk kaam kar, tu abhi free haina, yeh ID Sai ghar main bhool gayi hain. Usko dekar aayegi?â
Patralekha thought it over. Virat and Sai both not in the house, there was nothing for her to do. âTheek hain Ashwini Mami. Mujhe thoda mere Aai Baba se milna bhi hain, dono, ek saath kar ke aaungi. Aap badi mami ko bata dijiyega..â
âHaan main bata doongi. Ab tu cab kar le aur jaldi jaâŚâPatralekha rolls her eys. Sai! Mera bas chale to is ID ke cord se uska gala daba doongiâŚ
Sai, on the other hand, is having a tough time explaining to the main gate security that she is an intern there and has forgotten her ID at home. Normally the hospital security would have let her in, but given the sensitive case, doesnât budge. So she decides to take a day off and texts Dr Naresh about her inability. He also rolls his eyes at the security. Afterall, Sai is a better companion compared to the poker faced security. Also, a new lady officer is around, she is far better looking. SoâŚhe doesnât mind.
Sai decides to spend the day in a mall nearby and also have some junk food at the Naag Nadi khau galli. Ek arsa ho gaya wahan jake. She is totally unaware that a plainclothesman is following her. The instructions to him are quite clear. Follow and trace. There will be a contact somewhere. This might be the sleeper cell we were trying to trace since the last yr.
Meanwhile Patralekha conveniently forgets about the ID once she reaches her parentâs house. Spends quite sometime chatting and gossiping, remembers in the evening about the ID. Rushes to the hospital and hands over the ID to the main desk security. The main security keeps it in a locker to handover at the next possible opportunity.
Meanwhile, in the police archives, the lady officer, who had seen Sai, was sitting and looking at the face shots of known Naxalites and their sympathisers. She draws a blank. She tries the computer next.
Search string: Sai. Hits: 4 million. Next she types. Sai, medical intern. No of hits: 2 million. For Sai, Gadhchiroli, medical intern, the hits are 50,000. She remembers something at the last moment before giving up.
New search string: Sai, Gadhchiroli, 12 topper, medical intern. No of hits: a single one. Bingo! The data reads: Sai Joshi, daughter of Inspector Kamal Joshi, now deceased. Currently studying medicine in Nagpur Medical college. Married to IPS officer Virat Chavan.
The name strikes a cord. Wasnât that the same person involved in the mission that killed Sadanand Pawte? Shrutiâs husband. Aahaa.. The lady officerâs eyes gleam in anticipation. She remembers the police officerâs uniform in the changing room of NICU and the name tag on it. Got you.
Minutes later she is briefing her senior officer. Her enthusiasm transfers to her senior instantaneously. This is larger than you think. A top ranking police officer involved in a Naxalite? Imagine the stink when the press comes to know.
âSir, shouldnât we alert the DIG, his superior?â
âBefore that, we need proof. I am asking for him to be under watch. Also his phone will be tapped. Maybe this is the sleeper cell we were looking for since whenâŚâ
The lady officer left after receiving precise instructions.
A soft knock on the door and the plainclothesman who was following Sai comes in. His report is also hinting at certain possibilities. The woman, after leaving the hospital, went to the bank, wherein she spent sometime in the ATM. Withdrew some money, then went to a mall and window-shopped for some jewellery. Didnât buy any. No interaction with anyone except bumping into a man who had his face covered with a scarf. The internâs bag fell to the ground, which was picked up and handed back with apologies. The man vanished soon thereafter. This is the CCTV footage of the whole incident. The senior officer reviews the CCTV clip with utmost concentration. At one point, freezes, rewinds, fast forwards, then again rewinds a dozen times at least. The manâs face is covered with a scarf, except at one place, when the scarf slips and he hastily covers it back. The image is blurred but the forensic team decodes it in no time.
Sadanand Pawte!
So the ID was forgotten with a purpose?
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