Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 97 : The Accident

“Well, Master Daa,  I have been investigating Mr. Banerjee for a real long time, and during that time I was able to contact a few of the families who raised such kids as per the suggestion of the baba.” Vikram took a deep pause and then master Daa asked “aaannnddd…”

“it was obvious that the suggestion by the baba never worked so they would return the kids back to the baba… however here’s the actual problem lies. After the kids were returned back to the baba… they vanished from the face of the earth…”

“Vanished… how can that happen…”

“That’s the thing sir… after the kids were returned, they were never seen again…”

“And what are the other 2 questions that were bothering you?”

“No one knows how Deepak Singh looks like or his whereabouts and the last thing is why did Mr. Banerjee raise 3 kids on his own?” asked Vikram.

“Hmmm… you are right… after listening to what you just said, I think the answers to these 3 questions would tell us a lot about Mr. Banerjee.” Replied Master Daa.

Vikram continued after a quick break… “I was trying to get that answer from this guy when you guys arrived…” he turned to look at Jessica and said, “Do you want to know who that Occultist is?”

I saw Jessica looking at the face of the man who was chained to the window. “Don’t tell me he is the occultist…?”

“Actually…” Vikram paused and caught hold of the hair of the man and pulled him up. As he squirmed in pain Vikram continued “yes… This is the one…”

I saw Jessica’s face was turning red with anger at what she heard; however, she controlled her cool and continued “and how do you know this is the right person?”

“I have been hunting for this man for 14 years…” as he kicked him in his privates with all his might… he wailed in pain. Vikram used his hands to gag his mouth to keep him silent.

*** What I had just heard felt too absurd to be true. But then considering what Abhinu had faced for 7 years there could be no other explanation to it. However, regarding Vikram’s question that was still boggling me… ***

“As you know Mr. Banerjee raised three kids as a girl… Allen, Aarohi, and this boy Abhinu…”

“Yes…” replied Master Daa…

“I am Allen’s uncle…” replied Vikram.

“WHAT…” master Daa exclaimed in surprise…

*** I had never met Allen but have read about him in Abhinu’s journal. ***

“Yes, you heard it right… I am Allen’s maternal uncle. When Allen’s parents were killed, I was studying at the Imperial College of Management in Nainital. Allen’s dad was a great man, and he has been sponsoring my studies.”

“He really believed that I had great potential and entrepreneurship skill and nurtured my ambition without an ounce of doubt. His guidance and confidence gave me the courage to fulfill my dreams and enroll myself into one of the top institutes of the country.”

“I was never informed about the death of my sister and brother-in-law and later on, I came to know that Mr. Banerjee has performed their last rites too.”

“When did you come to know about their death?” Master Daa asked.

“I was in my third semester. One day I was called by our dean who informed me that they have not received my tuition fee for that semester. They will not allow me to continue my studies unless my fees were cleared. I had to return back home and came to know about the death of my family. I also learned that Mr. Banerjee has been appointed as Allen’s official guardian.”

“When I tried to reach Allen, they made every effort to keep me away from him. When I have shown my desperation, they resorted to putting me behind bars under false allegations. I felt the full wrath and reach of Mr. Banerjee’s political power.”

“During my incarceration, I was able to make friends with some very influential people. One day, one of those friends came over and told me that Allen had committed suicide. My world was shattered, all kinds of thoughts were running through my mind, and at last a concrete plan for escaping the prison and hunt down every single person responsible for the death of my nephew shaped up. However, before the plan of escape could even take place, someone from Pune approached me and promised me that he will get me out of prison, and in return he wants me to join him in the quest to destroy Mr. Banerjee and his criminal empire.”

"And you believed in that man just like that?" asked Master Daa as he snapped his finger and continued "It could be one of Mr. Banerjee's plans too."

"You are right Master Daa..." Vikram paused and continued "the truth is I would not have believed in him, but that man brought me all the investigation details concerning the murder of my nephew. It was the outcome of his 3 weeks of investigation personally conducted by his team..." He stopped and continued "I asked him to give me a week's time to decide"

"So what did you do?" asked Master Daa.

"I had a friend in the police department who helped me get a copy of Alena's suicide case... I went through the police reports and upon comparing it with the reports the man gave me, I was confident that he must have done quite some research on Mr. Banerjee... as I was going through the reports, and the details through which he investigated felt as if he probably hated that man more than me. or he was also a victim. At the end of the week... one of the inmates approached me and asked me what my answer was and I replied that I am ready..."

"The next day a team of lawyers came over, however, they would not release me, no matter what bail papers they brought in. Finally, the commissioner had to step in and what happened during the next few days was something you guys would never believe if you would not have seen it. All the cops from that prison were transferred, with the exception of 3 of them. They were arrested by the vigilance department for taking a huge sum of money from Mr. Banerjee. I was finally free."  

He paused again and continued “I know you might ask me who that person is but sir I have signed a Non-disclosure agreement with that person, never to disclose his name to anyone so I am sorry I won’t be able to tell you… However, all I can tell you is that he is the person who knows the answer to the question of why Mr. Banerjee raised 3 kids...”

“With his help, I spent the last 14 years gathering evidence and looking into the suspicious death of my nephew and concluded that this was a bigger conspiracy than just a mere accident or suicide-related to mere depression as was portrayed. The masterminds behind the conspiracy were Mr. Banerjee, Dr. Sandeep Menon, Baba Young and Deepak Singh.”

“In order to make sure my family gets justice, I needed help as this was something I or that kid from Pune couldn’t do alone. I got help from some of my prison buddies and they introduced me to people who work outside the law. These people introduced me to Tribeni Sir, You," pointing towards Master Daa and continued "Shabnam Mausi, and Koushik”

“For 7 years I have been constantly keeping a watch on Abhinu because I was afraid that Abhinu might follow the same route as Allen to end his struggle of existence and I had to make sure that it never happens. I was able to gain his trust through Shabnam Mausi after he applied her first-aid and in return, she promised that she will protect him.”

“Mr. Banerjee was close; however I was unable to locate the other 3 up until four months ago. I finally saw Dr. Menon in Purulia and at the first opportunity I got, I abducted him. He was in Purulia to check on Abhinu and prepare him for the final stage of surgery. After tormenting him for a few days I finally learned about this Baba Young and whatever I told you earlier.”

Everyone was dumbstruck upon hearing Vikram’s revelations. I wanted to comment on something but stopped upon hearing what he said next.

“Will you be surprised to know that it was Deepak Singh's who was involved in the disappearance of Lt. Col. Banerjee. However, what Deepak Singh didn't anticipate was that my employees were already aware. He is still trying to locate him though." 

"This occultist also revealed that he was also responsible for the murder of my sister and Brother-In-Law. Mr. Banerjee also paid a sum of 30 lakh rupees to Aarohi’s parents so that he can raise Aarohi himself. A few months later they were also killed in a road accident.”

Vikram was feeling sort of breath as he continued to narrate his findings “Once I was done interrogating Dr. Sandeep Menon, I felt that my nephew Allen could never get justice if I give him to the cops, so I called up Tribeni Sir and Master da and handed him over to them. However, before I did that, I chopped off his hands so that even if he was able to escape from Master da, he will never be able to perform another surgery in his life.”

*** My mind had stopped working upon hearing all these. It felt like these people resembled the very monsters our grandparents kept telling us during their bedtime stories.

As I was still trying to digest the facts, something happened. Jessica caught hold of the Occultist collar and started punching and kicking him. The man was wailing in agony and begging us to protect him from her, but none of us felt the compassion or inclination to stop her from hitting him. As a matter of fact, Master Daa also landed a punch or two. ***

During this confrontation, Jessica shouted, “HOW DARE YOU CONSPIRE TO KILL MY BROTHER-IN-LAW AND HURT MY NEPHEW…”

She suddenly gave him a reverse roundhouse which unfortunately landed on his chest, the man lost his balance and ended up hitting the back of his head onto the edge of a table lying on one of the corners of the room. A flow of red liquid began to seep out from the back of his head. Master Daa and Vikram step towards him to check the wound and finally declared that the man was no more. For some reason, Jessica didn’t react much.

“Are you alright Jessica…” I asked.

She looked at me, I could feel that she was worried but tried her level best to hide it from us and replied “I am fine… don’t worry Joe… This was bound to happen… actually we had no intentions of letting him go, it’s just that, I am only disappointed because I was unable to ask him where my brother-in-law is located..."

I couldn’t still believe my eyes, thinking about the murder that happened in front of my eyes. Just this morning I came to know that I was never going to wear a uniform and now I am close to becoming a convict. God, my life has suddenly changed for the worst. I saw Vikram calling someone. I was not sure whom he called, nor I was able to hear the person on the other line. Fear has stopped my other senses from working.

“Hello…”

“Sir… this is Vikram here…”

“Something has happened…”

“It’s Baba Young, he is dead…”

“No sir… it’s an accident…”

Ok, sir, give me a second…” and then he handed over the phone to Master Daa…

Master Daa continued listening to the person on the other line, He kept listening for about 10 minutes, and all I could hear was his repeating “Yes’s” and finally he hung up the call.

“Jessica, Abhinu, Joe, and Vikash, I want you to leave this place right now. Go back to the village.” Instructed Master Daa.

“Vikram and I will be here to take care of the body and meet you back at the village…”

As Jessica was about to say something Master Daa interrupted her “Not a word Jessica… Not a word… Take the kid and leave.”

None of us resisted and proceeded to leave. As we were leaving master Daa continued “and remember… none of you were ever here… and we never met Baba Young…”

Vikash decided to leave the keys of his and Jessica’s bike with master Daa and Vikram and drive the MD5 back to the Village.

                                                        TO BE CONTINUED…

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