Hustle

Ravi was interrogating Sumathi that morning. The interrogation and third-degree is not new to Sumathi. After all, there are 250 cases of theft and robbery in the name of Sumathi. So, when Ravi told her he will not hesitate to torture her she did not fear. That is when the new SP of the police station Rashmi IPS entered the station. She heard the loud noises and cries from the interrogation room and stepped in. She stopped Ravi and asked him what is happening. Ravi started to explain. Madam, this lady was a small-time thief; today she stole 200 crores worth of gold. She cannot do this alone, I want to know the accomplice and where they hid the gold. Sumathi realized the office has something against the lady. She said she will take care of here and asked Ravi to leave.

Rashmi went into the interrogation room to see the lady. The lady looked frail and helpless. Rashmi walked close to her and started to comfort her. Rashmi told Sumathi not to worry as she asked Ravi to leave. She then tried to inquiry about Sumathi's accomplice and the gold. Sumathi remained mute. Rashmi was restless on not getting a response. Rashmi started explaining how she will be in jail for the rest of her life if she does not give them the information. Sumathi finally spoke. Madam, I will tell you everything. But, I have one request. You should help me no matter who my accomplice is. Rashmi was hesitant but she agreed. Sumathi then said who her accomplice was. Madam, it is none other than Ravi sir.

 

A few years ago

Nothing was going Sumathi's way for the 20 years of her life. Her father was killed in a fake encounter. Her mother, an uneducated woman, could hardly make ends meet. Her school knows her as nothing but a Naxalite's daughter. She could be first in class, first in the school. or even won a gold medal for her school she is still a Naxalite's daughter. She survived all that and finished her 12 years of school. After that, she could not even dream of higher education. So she decided to help her mother. This also did not last as her mother passed away very soon. She did not give up right away and decided to continue to work as her mother to survive.

Fate is not letting her live her life. She met officer Ravi for the first time. Ravi was in the area to catch some Naxalites. He heard about Sumathi's father and started harassing her. He started treating Sumathi as one of the Naxalites or at the best an informer for them. Sumathi tried to tell him she is not. But, Ravi did not listen. She had to miss work for this reason, and lost her job in the process. She could not take this anymore and decided to die. She lied on the railway track waiting for the train. But train and life had different plans. A small girl left by her parents on the platform walked towards Sumathi and sat on her lap. She started to cry for her mom. Sumathi started searching for the girl's parents. She could not find them, but she found a reason to live.

Sumathi was trying to find some job to survive. She has now the additional responsibility of taking care of the girl. That is when she met a Ramu, Laxman, Naveen, and Suman. She did not know initially that they were thieves. They promised to give her 1000 rupees a day for a few hours of work. She was hesitant initially as the money was too much. Later they explained to her what she has to do. She had to walk in the area and note down when the families are at home and when they lock home to go to the office. She agreed and started to work for them. After a few days, she understood what was going on but she had no other way to survive. So, she continued to work for them. She decided she cannot just walk the roads without drawing attention. So, she started a saree business with the little money she made. Within weeks her saree business picked up. She started to make it her full-time job. She told the thieves she can no longer work for them. She also gave them back all the money they gave her. They understood and let her go.

She was happy with her newfound life. She made more money selling the sarees to the remote villages. They were happy to help Sumathi. Sumathi on her part with the money she made, constructed a small house. She decided her house will be an orphanage. Any kid left by parents in the town ended up with Sumathi. In less than a few years the orphanage grew to a total of 25 kids. A clerk in the post office fell in love with her compassion. They married soon and had their kid soon. Things finally were looking good for Sumathi.

Fate again had different ideas. One fine day Sumathi was in of her sales trips in a town. She had her normal day and came back home. That night, when she was about to have her dinner there was a knock on the door. The knock is going to change her life forever. Sumathi opened the door to find who it was. It was Ravi, he barged into the house. He arrested Sumathi that night. Her husband was trying to stop Ravi. He asked the officer why he is arresting Sumathi. Ravi with force pushed aside Sumathi's husband. He shouted them saying he doesn't have to answer thieves. Sumathi's husband inquired what happened, the next day. There has been a theft in the area where Sumathi was selling sarees the previous day. The thieves caught were Ramu, Laxman, Naveen, and Suman. Ravi immediately assumed Sumathi is an accomplice and arrested her. The others kept telling she has nothing to do with the case. But Ravi is not ready to listen. She had to spend 6 months in jail.

After she came out she told everything to her husband. Her husband understood. They were ready for their dinner. There was a knock on the door again. It was Ravi coming back to arrest Sumathi. Sumathi said she was home all the time. Ravi did not listen to her. Sumathi was in jail for another 9 months. Like this every time she came out Ravi kept arresting her on frivolous cases. The house of hers was taken by the government in the process as well. The orphanage is still running but in a rented house. The husband is managing it with his meager salary.

After 3 years and 6 terms in jail, Sumathi decided she doesn't want to go back to her home. She no longer wants to disturb the lives of her husband and the kids. With little money she had, she rented a small shop to start a saree business in the town. She wanted to redecorate the place. Took the help of Ramu, Laxman, Naveen, and Suman and started to help her. The work was going on for a few weeks. The work was almost complete. Sumathi that morning came into the shop with all the sarees. There were a lot of crowds outside her shop. She did not understand what was happening. She tried to get into the shop. Ravi was there and arrested her. Once at the police station, she learned what happened. There has been a theft in the jewelry store near her shop. The thieves dug a tunnel to come into the jewelry store. The police followed the tunnel and reached Sumathi's shop.

 

Now

Rashmi did not believe when Sumathi told Ravi is the accomplice. She asked Rashmi to tell her what happened in detail. Madam for the last three years Ravi sir was arresting every time I came out of jail. This time as I came out of jail I went directly to Ravi sir. I told him I want to have a normal life. Asked him what can I do to achieve that. He asked me to start a shop in the town. I did as he told me. He then arranged for the four to come and work for redecoration. I wanted to start as the shop is. He convinced me and they started working. I was coming only once in a while. After a few weeks of work, they said we are ready. I came today morning to start my business. Next thing I know I am here.

Rashmi still did not believe what she is hearing. She said to Sumathi, nothing she said is believable. Sumathi said she can prove everything, on one condition. She should be released if her proof holds good. Rashmi agreed to this. Sumathi started to speak again. The shop that I took for rent is under the name of Ravi sir. He gave all the required surety and proofs. You can see all the equipment bills in the shop are in the name of Ravi. He signed every one of them. She gave the proofs for the same. One more thing madam yesterday she took home a box from the shop. I did not understand what he needed it for, yesterday. I feel he took the box to put the jewelry. If you search his house you will find the jewelry.

Rashmi was still not ready to believe. She anyway sent officers to Ravi's house to search just as a precaution. The officers found the box in the backyard of Ravi's house. Gold worth 150 crores was recovered. Ravi was arrested and produced in court. Sumathi remained in jail until the case was completed. After a few months of this ordeal, Sumathi went to her home. Waiting at home was her husband and her extended family. They had four new guests in Ramu, Laxman, Naveen, and Suman. They no longer had a problem with money. 30 crores were hidden in various accounts for rainy day money.

P.S: Sumathi with the help of four planned the heist. She created the documents in the name of Ravi to make sure he no longer disturbs her. The jeweler is Benami of Ravi. Ravi created the jewelry business with the bribes.