The Naroda Massacre

Confrontation I

The Next Day

On the 24th of September, Divyesh and Raj were hanging out since their school had declared a holiday due to the incident that occurred on the 22nd of September. They were at their usual spot—the small, abandoned farm near their apartment. The cabin in the middle of the farm was made of worn red bricks, and its isolated location connected to a busy road on the left side of their building made it a perfect hideaway.

No one ever visited this place, which gave them the privacy they craved as teenagers. Sitting in the cabin, the two discussed the growing crisis that had taken over their lives.

Divyesh broke the silence, "So, you think Karan Malhotra—or whoever is behind him—is actually right?"

Raj sighed, a hint of frustration in his voice. "I'm disappointed it took me this long to figure out. There's no way one person is behind this. There's a group of individuals—maybe two or three—who orchestrated all of it. When the first incident happened on the 9th of September, the facts didn't add up. No reasons for the deaths were discovered, and I started considering the possibility of a virus—something new, something we hadn't encountered before."

Divyesh nodded thoughtfully. "But something changed your mind?"

Raj's expression darkened. "Yes. The incident in our school two days ago. The entire batch of fourth graders—teachers included—wiped out, except for three students. And still, no cause of death. What do you make of that?"

Divyesh hesitated. "I don't know... I'm lost here."

Raj continued, "After Karan Malhotra's theory aired on television, I started rethinking my conclusions. It wasn't entirely my fault; I was working with incomplete facts. But now, I see the full picture."

He leaned closer, his voice intense. "Think about it. The virus theory doesn't fit. The deaths on the 9th just... stopped after a few hours. And it didn't spread. Then, after fifteen days, it struck again, but this time it only affected a specific class. The teacher survived while the students died. If it were a virus, the teacher would have been affected too. And what about the other staff members? They were fine."

Raj's eyes narrowed. "Here's the kicker—there was no common factor among the victims. No shared allergies, no matching age group. Nothing."

"So, it can't be a virus," Divyesh concluded.

"Exactly," Raj said. "A virus would have spread, but this didn't. That's why I had to approach this from a completely different angle. Theories about supernatural causes? Rubbish. A terrorist attack crossed my mind, but terrorists always claim credit for their actions, and no one has. I started looking for another connection—something like water or electricity. If it was electricity, there would've been clear evidence. So it had to be the water."

Raj paused, then added, "Whoever's behind this is poisoning Naroda's water supply. They're using something that's already present in our bodies—maybe nitrogen. Whoever it is, they have a deep understanding of chemistry—"

"Just like you do," interrupted a voice from the shadows.

Both Raj and Divyesh froze as a tall man dressed in an extraordinary fashion stepped into view.

Divyesh broke the tension. "Who are you?"

The stranger ignored the question, eyeing them carefully. "Isn't this a dangerous place to be, especially with everything going on?"

Divyesh frowned. "No one comes here, so—"

The man turned to Raj. "Why so quiet, Raj?"

Raj felt a chill crawl down his spine. "How do you know my name?"

The man smiled. "Raj Jha. Father's name: Pankaj Jha. Mother's name: Soni Jha. You're fifteen years old, a brilliant student at Quantum Heights School, attending on a scholarship."

Raj's heart pounded, but he didn't falter. "So, you're the one pulling the strings behind PANM."

The stranger's face tightened in shock, his calm demeanor cracking for a moment. "How did you—?"

Raj smirked. "It's not hard to connect the dots, especially when you're a fan of the greatest detective India's ever known. Nice to finally meet you, Detective Arjun."