Chapter 2 - A Parent’s Worst Night

At the very moment Kittu was being taken, his parents were still miles away at the party – completely unaware that their night of celebration was about to turn into chaos. They were already late. Every ticking minute was pulling them farther away from their son. The celebration atmosphere of the party kept them from checking the time. This was a gathering of high status families and was definitely a great opportunity to connect to more people. Rahul uncle was introducing my dad to his other friends while mamma got new friends. The party was slowly coming to an end when suddenly a drunk man came running through the main door straight to the beverage counter. The guards rushed behind him, chasing him around the venue. The man was so drunk that he was barely keeping his eyes open- he dashed into one of the dinner tables, got up then dashed into the food counter and behind him the guards. He made a complete mess of the party. He was finally caught, Local police was informed to come and arrest this drunkard. Coincidently the inspector who came for the case was one of my dad’s known.”Mr. Raghav how have you been” - he asked with a smile. He had a little chat and then left. By this time it was already 01:00 in the morning. Rahul uncle was instating my parents to stay for the night and leave once the sun is up. My parents told him about their situation about how there were supposed to return by 11:00 pm and how their son might be still waiting for their arrival. My mamma had been checking her phone all the time, she even tried to call but – No signal. With this they wrapped their celebration and finally left the venue. While on route home mamma tried calling Kittu multiple times – now even with full signal the call just won’t go through. She was tensed but at the same time slightly relieved as it was already past his bed time so maybe he was already fast asleep. They turned towards their colony, finally they were almost home. The car pulled right in front of the main door. They turned towards the door and – the door which was shattered – panic gushed within them as they rushed inside only to find that their son is missing. They looked every corner of the house to make sure they can still find their mischievous devil hiding somewhere. It was not much later they figured this serious. Mr. Raghav came out – contacted the neighbors and started searching for his son. Mamma broke down in disbelieve, how could her precious little baby go missing.

After searching for about 30 minutes. Mr. Raghav decided to involve the police. He rang his Inspector friend and informed him about the entire situation. He rushed to the spot with his team to investigate the case. The neighbors were already alarmed as Mr. Raghav had already involved them. The police started gathering information from the neighbors, no one knew a thing that happened. He figured one of the neighbors was not present for questioning. They stormed towards their house only to find a crime scene. Blood spills on the floor and a dead body with cut marks- signs of struggle and a dead guard dog. This was all too unexpected for anyone present on the scene. This case had now turned into a murder + kidnaping case. The house owners were into real estate business and this seemed like someone from their competitors. The environment which was already filled with emotions like – eagerness, panic, urgency now added a few more elements which made it more intense. A team of specialists were called along with an autopsy team. The entire colony was under CCTV surveillance, its footage was to be fetched ASAP. In no time the surveillance team spotted a break-in through the recording. The intruder was a huge dark skinned man in black attire and a mask. Soon after Kittu was spotted outside the crime scene in the footage and it showed how he was almost chased by the criminal. Mr. Raghav decided to keep all this information to himself and not inform his wife as this can make the situation even worse. Mr. Raghav used his connections and got the entire city locked down. Check posts were setup throughout the city, every junction every lane were being monitored. A team of experts showed up at Mr. Raghav’s residence as they suspected a threat or ransom call from the kidnapers. Seeing all this chaos mamma broke down to tears. She was trying to maintain her composure but a heart of a mother was difficult to explain. She was regretting her decision of leaving their child alone while they went to the party. The neighbors were providing emotional support all they could but all in vain. Mr. Raghav was instructed that no family member is to leave the house until these circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. Raghav’s phones were monitored and every signal they received was interpreted while transmission. It was already dawn and the officials yet had no clue about the whereabouts of the criminal or the kid. It was when Mr. Raghav’s phone rang – it was an unknown number – the officials signaled him to pick the call while they try to track its origin. They advised him to try to keep the talk as long as possible as this increases the chances of its location being traced. He picked the call and said – “Hello, who is this?” and he heard the voice of his own blood, his son mewling - “Dad it’s me, Kittu. These guys have kept me tied and even hit me”. Mr. Raghav said –“Beta… I... I am here beta don’t be scared I will get you back safe” then he heard another voice which seemed to be of an adult man – “Hahaha, I know how much you love your son Mr. Raghav. Prepare a bag with 1Cr, deliver it to the instructed address and take your son”. To this all he replied was – “Listen see my son must be kept safe, if he suffers even a scratch I will make sure that you guys won’t see another day’s sun”. “Even in such dire situations, you dare to threaten me Mr. Raghav. Seems like you have a nerve of steel. With a delay of every hour, a part of your son’s body will be delivered to your doorsteps”. And the call ended. Mr. Raghav looked towards the officials only to know that they failed to trace the caller’s location. This threat left him divested and desperate. He prepared the money as fast as he could and waited for the call. It was already morning but there was no news from the kidnapers. Now even he was losing his patience. At this very moment he got a call, this time from another number. The officials were better prepared this time. He received the call – “Hello...”. “Hello Mr. Raghav I hope the money has been arranged, the location will be sent to you on text, deliver the money within two hour if you want your son in a single piece, be sure to come alone and not to involve any officials”. “Hel… Hello how is my son, I hope he is fine. I have arranged the money and will deliver it within time please don’t harm my son” – is all he could say and the call ended. This time the officials had a lead they were able to locate the source of the call. A team of officials were assembled and dispatched to check the location only to find nothing. The location was in nowhere. It was in the middle of a shallow forest. The kidnaper called again and was surely furious this time – “You were instructed to come alone and not to involve police into the matter yet you acted on your own will so now be ready to face the consequences”. This call left the family terrorized. Mr. Raghav asked the officials to FastTrack the case and appoint more officials onto the case. Within an hour a parcel was delivered to the house. The parcel was scanned by the bomb squad before it was opened. What came out of the box, left the family traumatized. The box contained a finger of a child. This broke every bit of strength which was holding the family upright. Mr. Raghav instructed the officials to leave and not to interfere anymore. “I have seen how much you can help us, thank you very much for your help. You guys must leave right now, I don’t want to see any of you involved anymore” – is all he said before he broke into tears.  The Inspector was really sorry for what he had just seen but still tried to give some strength – “Please don’t give up like this my friend, we will bring your son safe and sound, and I promise that to you just do as I say hereafter” and sent the specimen for autopsy. The location for the delivery of the bag of money was received. Mr. Raghav took off with the bag of cash in his car to deliver it. As soon as he was at the location, he got a call. It was from the autopsy team. He received it – “Mr. Raghav the autopsy reports have arrived….”

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While I was sitting in that dusty room worrying about samosas — this is what was happening on the other side. Fair warning. This one hits differently. Part 3 drops soon and trust me — you are not ready for how it ends.