Chapter 28 Shots Fired

“People, please don’t panic. I know you all are scared but a terrorist has entered the society and he is dangerous. Be very careful while moving or opening your house to an unknown person. We need to evacuate this building. It’s just a matter of few hours. Please cooperate. I am sure, we are gonna catch him. We just need your cooperation,” Debjit requested the residents.

They started the evacuation process. There were 7 towers in the society with 12 floors in each tower. It took around five hours to evacuate everyone from six towers and only one was left. It was dawn now and the sun was rising in the crimson gold sky. It was identified that the fugitive was in the 7th tower. He was suspected to be hiding on the top floor, as the residents there were refusing to come out. But the force entered the floor and started to help residents to come out.

The police covered the building from every side; leaving no chance for the suspect to escape. Debjit was sure that it was Avinash and he was eager to catch him. The police took every precaution to ensure that the civilians were safe and then began to fire. The suspect was firing from the round stairs of the 6th floor all the way down.

Opposite firing by Debjit also began. He sent some officers all the way up. The suspect targeted the officers who were going up. It hit one of them and severely injured him. The officers, however, didn’t give up. They kept climbing up securing all the floors one by one while also evacuating people who could be the soft targets. All of a sudden, there was complete silence. The police thought that Avinash had ran out of ammunition. When the officers almost reached the top floor, an LPG cylinder got tossed towards them and the suspect came out. Before the officers cold react, he shot the cylinder leading to a huge blast and causing immediate panic and hustle in the area. The explosion created havoc on the floor. Debjit, who was on the 8th floor, tried to contact the officers through his walkie-talkie but couldn’t get a reply from them.

Debjit got furious, he took out his second gun and, without even wearing a bullet-proof jacket, entered the building and ran up the stairs. By now, Avinash had climbed up to the rooftop. On the way, Debjit saw that the police officials were seriously injured in the blast. He didn’t stop. He sent a signal through his walkie, to get the first aid.

Avinash obscured himself somewhere on the rooftop as Debjit started searching for him. Avinash was hiding in a storeroom, desperately looking for something that he could have used. Then, he rushed out of there and fired continuously at Debjit and the other officers. It led to the death of one police official. Shiv Sir got a setback as he tried to help the fallen officer. In this time, Avinash moved out with a heavy ladder and came towards them. Debjit looked him straight in the eyes and fired a full round. All the bullets hit him on various body parts, but the last one did the maximum damage. It hit him on his head and Avinash fell to the ground. Lifeless.

The adrenaline was rushing in Debjit’s veins. It was like an intravenous drip. His heart felt like it would explode any second and he couldn’t really believe his eyes as he looked over Avinash lying dead in front of him. He went close to him with a million things running across his mind. He knew he had to uncover the mask on Avinash’s face. His chest was hammering with emotions. He was scared from within. The shot on the front was gruesome, his whole head was blown off, and blood kept dripping from his face to the floor. Finally, he removed the mask. It was difficult for him to correctly see his face because of the blood scattered all over it. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood off. His suspicion turned into conviction as he wiped clean the blood from the corpse’s face. It was Avinash and Debjit had no problem in recognizing him.

...

Debjit was waiting outside the forensic department. Seven hours had passed away and he was eager to know the full post mortem report of Avinash’s body. It was a priority case and Debjit wanted to get the post-mortem done as soon as possible. He was worried that with Avinash death he won’t be able to find his daughter again. He didn’t move from his seat, for the almost the entire time and then, finally, the doctor came out

“Doctor, what’s the final report? he stammered a bit. “We have identified that the suspect who was killed in the

encounter is not Avinash Sampath.”

“He is not Avinash…?” Debjit was utterly stunned. “Then, who is he?”

“The person’s been identified as Utkarsh Dhiman.”

Debjit’s face fell faster than a corpse in cement boots. His skin turned pale and his mouth fell wide open. He was taken completely aback by this revelation. He had thought the person who died was Avinash but, in actuality, it was Utkarsh. He was unable to comprehend what had just happened.

“How’s it possible?” Debjit asked the doctor, he was still unsure and in disbelief of what he was hearing.

The Doctor took him inside the forensic ward where he had examined the body. He showed him the face of a dead body and pointed towards the marks.

“Can you see the surgical marks on his face?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, what marks are they?”

“These are plastic surgery marks. He got a plastic surgery done to look like Avinash Sampath.”

As the doctor was explaining it, Debjit’s mind ran into a flashback. He remembered the tunnel that was found in Ukarash’s house. The plastic surgery instruments, the operation theatre. He recalled Advait’s words.

“Advait was right. The surgery was done in that operation theatre to give Utkarsh the face of Avinash,” he said to himself.

“To the world it seemed like one but, in actuality, there were two. Masterstroke Avinash Sampath.” Debjit marveled at his intelligence.

...

He came out of the Forensic Department And called Advait to pass on this crucial piece of information to him.

“Advait, there is a twist in the story,” Debjit said.

“What happened, Sir? What are you talking about?” he asked.

But before Debjit could answer, he was gathered by media personnel as they started asking him questions relating to the case.

“Is there any television nearby you?” Debjit asked. “Yes sir” Advait said.

“Then switch it on and put 24x7 news channel.”

“Sure.” Advait switched on the television and Debjit’s live interview appeared on it.

“Doctors are saying the person is not Avinash?” “Is that right?”

“Any views on it?” The media flooded him with questions.

“Last night, the person who died in the encounter was Utkarsh Dhiman, not Avinash Sampath. Avinash is still absconding but we will catch him soon,” Debjit announced

“Who is Utkarsh?” one of the media people added. “Utkarsh is the childhood friend of Avinash Sampath,”

Debjit clarified and started to move towards his car while still being chased by the media. They had more questions, but Debjit didn’t stop to answer them. He got into his car and drove away and while driving towards the police station, he received Advait’s call.

“Advait, you were right,” Debjit said.

“Is it true, that Utkarsh is dead?” Advait was still in doubt. “Yes.”

“How is that possible?”

“Remember that plastic surgery thing?”

“Yes Sir, I do. That’s quite out of the box. I am stunned. They were two, not one. They were protecting each other”

Advait said.

“Now, only one is left and it’s a direct warning signal to him”. Debjit was furious.

“Utkarsh is dead and Avinash will not keep silent. He will attack us,” Advait said.

“That’s precisely what I want. In order to take revenge, he will attack us and that’s when we will catch him.” A wry smile appeared on his face.

“But what he is going to do is still unknown to us,” Advait remarked.

“Won’t let that happen. Tell me what’s the progress there?”

“Today, I am going to Abu-Dhabi. I contacted Burjeel Hospital there and they are saying that they do have a patient named Kapil Sampath. I am gonna check if it is Avinash’s dad or not?” Advait told him.

“I think it is him. We are getting close to him. Good job.” “Thank you, Sir.”

“Okay, once you reach there, keep me updated me on this”.

Debjit came back to the police station and tried to find a way to search for the informer who had gone missing twenty- four hours ago. He was the person who could have gotten him to Avinash and Debjit knew it. He was looking at his phone again when his senior entered his office.

“I think you have an important update on the case, Debjit,” the senior officer said.