KAREENA: A Love Story

23. Trouble In Paradise

A/N: It gets rough before it can get smooth. Apologies in advance.
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Haseena Mallik took one sweeping glance at her team, and braced herself. They were probably not going to like what she was about to tell them.

'Jaise ki aap log jaante hain, Best Thaana Competition jeetne ke liye lagbhag sabhi thaanewale koi na koi immoral tareeqa azmaa rahe hain. Lekin SHO Bulbul Pandey ki tarah itne corrupt practices aur koi nahin kar raha hain.
'Humne iss barein mein DSP Sir aur SP Sir se baat kii. Unko bataya ki kaise Bulbul Pandey apne thaane ke cases humare paas bhej rahe hain. Nayi FIR register bhi dikhayi. 'Department ne Bulbul Pandey ko ek official warning bheja hain. Hopefully ab woh sambhal jayenge... Lekin... lekin current FIRs jo bhi humare thaane mein register huye hain, usey humein hi solve karna hoga. Janakipuram Thaana kshetra ke cases bhi.'

The shocked silence that followed was finally broken by Santu. 'Madam Sir yeh unfair decision hain. Aur anyway Janakipuram area mein humara investigation karna bhi rules ke against hain na?'

Haseena sighed. 'Hum jaante hain Santosh Sharma. Lekin department ko darr hain ki agar Bulbul Pandey ko force kiya gaya yeh cases apne under wapis lene ke liye, shayad woh jaan bujhkar unko delay karenge or worse, jaise taise lipta denge. Iss chakkar mein agar kisi begunah ke saath nainsaafi huyi, ya phir koi civilian media ke paas gaya toh badnaami puri department ki hogi.'
Haseena shrugged helplessly.

'Matlab Bulbul Pandey ke failaye huye raite ko sametne ki jimmedari humare sar par hain? Kaahe?' demanded Karishma.

'Aur Bulbul Pandey ki iss harqat ke liye unn par koi action nahi liya jayega?' asked Pushpa Ji.

'Humare seniors ne decision liya hain ki abhi unhe sirf official warning dii jayegi. Agar iske baad bhi Bulbul Pandey ne phirse rules tode, tab action liya jayega,' said Haseena.

'Madam Sir,' said Cheetah indignantly, 'Uss Bulbulwa ke niyat mein nahi hain niyam follow karna. Woh koi aur paintra soch kar nikalega humare Mahila Police Thaana par musibat laane ka. Baad mein jo hoga so hoga, lekin abhi toh hum competition haar jayenge na!'

Before Haseena could reply, Karishma spoke up. 'Bulbul Pandey jaise logo ke khilaaf action nahi liya jaata hain Cheeteh. Kaaheki uski dosti hain na upar level ke logon se. Woh akela chori nahi karta hain, mil baant kar karta hain. Aise log kuch bhi karke chhoot hi jaate hain. Action toh hum jaise chhote mote imaandar officers ke khilaaf liya jaata hain. Ek galti, ek chook aur SHO se sidha SI ke position par demotion.'

Haseena carefully observed Karishma as the latter tried to suppress her anger. And her pain, at the memory of the humiliation. Haseena wanted to hug her in front of the entire team. But she had another bad news to share.

'Ahem, ek aur baat hain. Ek nayi IG Madam charge lene wali hain aur unka plan hain deparment ko streamline karne ka. DSP Sir ke through humko yeh secret baat pata chali hain ki department soch rahi hain unn saare thaano ko bandh kar dene ki, jinki position ratings chart par niche ki taraf rehgi.'

Everyone immediately bristled. Even Billu, who had been listening from inside his jail, rushed out and joined the collective voices of dissent.

'Phir toh hum gaye Madam Sir. Humara thaana ekdum bottom position pe hain. Maine aaj subah hi check kiya,' said Santu tensely.

'Kya!!' exclaimed Cheetah; quickly turned towards Haseena and pleaded, 'Madam Sir, ek na humara aisa personal level pe request hain, agar ee thaana bandh ho jata hain na toh pleej humara aur Santu Ji ka transfer ek hi thaana mein karwa dijiyega!'