Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 31- Intuition

CHAPTER 31

INTUITION

"Laxman ka phone aakhri baar 7:24 par Delhi mein on hua tha. 15 minute ke liye on tha, aur phir band ho gaya. Uske baad on nahi hua", Ustaad ji said.

Karan tapped the pen on the table. "15 minute mein kisi se baat, koi message?"

"Nahi, Sir ji. Kuchh bhi nahi."

He hummed. He took the map, pinning it up. "Phone flight se gaya hai. Mumbai ki."

"Sir ji, aapko kaise pata?" Sanju asked.

"Laxman ne mujhe 2 baje ke baad call kara tha. Agar woh 7:30 baje Delhi pahuncha tha, toh flight toh leni hi padegi. Deolali ke paas major airport Mumbai ka hai. Uske alaawa Nasik ka airport hai. Nasik ke airport par itni raat ko Delhi ki koi flight nahi chalti." He uncapped the pen. "Phone yahan se Mumbai gaya. Earliest, 5 baje pahuncha hoga. Ustaad ji, pata kijiye. 5 baje ke aas paas Mumbai se Delhi kaunsi flight jaa rahi thi. Aur jinhone board kara, unki list aur details nikaaliye."

"Ji, Sir ji", Ustaad ji said.

"Sanju, jahan se Laxman ne mujhe call kara tha, wahan jaa. GPS ke hisaab se bahut door nahi gaya tha before his phone was switched off." She nodded, moving out of the debrief as well. "Faizi, Delhi mein apne network ko activate kar. Police se baat kar. Dekh, yeh jahan uska phone on hua tha, wahan par koi clue mile toh."

Karan stared at the map, his mind swirling with the information he had. The door opened and he glanced away. Ustaad ji came in, holding a file. He held it out. "5:05 par ek flight nikli thi. 7:15 par land hui. Par Laxman jaisa dikhne waala koi nahi hai."

"Sab passengers ki list hai?" He asked. He nodded. "Yeh dekho ki kisne recently ticket khareedi thi."

He flipped through the pages, flipping them before holding out some forms. "Yeh paanch log hain, Sir ji, jinhone take off se sirf 6 ghante pehle ticket khareedi hain."

Karan took the pages, reading through the details. A couple of businesspeople, some employees. Nothing out of the ordinary. But there rarely was ever on the surface. "Details nikaalo. Verify karo sab kuchh. Ek ek cheez check karo inke baare mein."

"Ji, Sir ji."

'Sir ji, academy ki baat hai.'

'Pata nahi kiski aankhein kahan hai, Sir ji.'

'Par un logon se toh achhe hi hain, Sir ji, jo fauji hokar bhi desh ke nahi hain.'

'Kab kaun dhokha de jaaye, pata nahi, yeh toh phir machine hai.'

Karan's grip tightened on the table. 'Kya Laxman ko spy ke baare mein...'

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Academy mein kuchh toh locha hua hai", Bala said. Koel paused in her chewing, before continuing and glancing up at him.

"Kyun? Kya hua?" Suman ji asked.

He glanced around. He shrugged slightly. "Pata nahi. Par sab special agents kaafi tension mein lag rahe hain." He leaned in slightly. "Abhi Karan Sir ji, Faizi Sir ji, Sanju madam aur Ustaad ji ko idhar udhar jaate dekha. Itne serious toh woh chhape se pehle bhi nahi the. Aur woh the, na, humaare attacker, chalte phirte beizzati ki dukaan- Raghav Sir ji- woh bhi badhe serious lag rahe the."

'Kahan ho tum? Tum... tum theek ho, na?'

'Ho na ho, this has something to do with that call', Koel thought. 'Sounded so serious. Aur Faizi bhi itni jaldi mein bhaag gaya tha. Mujhe kuchh achhi feeling nahi aa rahi hai. Kuchh hone waala hai kya?'