***Lets wind the clock back by 3 hours to get the POV from other side...***

****Short Flashback****

Advay speaking to Chandni just as they started from Banaras....

".......We are on our way and will be there in few hours at the max." Advay reassured Chandni.

As the car raced towards Allahabad, Advay was lost in his thoughts which got interrupted when he received a text from ACP Siddharth.

His face broke into a relieved smile as he read "Trunk securely deposited"

Just then the security guard got a call and asked the driver to stop the car.

"What happened now?" Advay asked in confusion.

"Sir is your tracking device with you right now?" The security guard asked him and Advay remembered that he left the device in his Dark Blue Jacket. As he was feeling too hot he left his jacket in.... he looked everywhere.

"Sir I think the tracking device is still in jacket in the hotel room, because I just got a call from my colleague. We have to go back and get it fast."

Advay swore to himself. As it is they were getting so delayed.

"Sir please try to understand sir, that is the only way our company will monitor your presence, and it is more accurate than any GPS device . Remember what our chief told us before we started for Banaras, how important it is that you keep wearing it on your body all the time...." The Guard paused.

"I know but it just so damn hot here and I removed my jacket." Advay hissed.

"Sir If I may suggest. Just shove it inside your socks sir, it won't irritate you anyway because it is so small... But Sir please don't remove it or my boss will kill me." He pleaded. So they turned the car back and Advay got his jacket and placed the tracking device in his sock now and they proceeded back towards Allahabad.

******

At the same time, Ganesh Bhai got the picture of the person to be kidnapped from Ranjit on his WhatsApp. The picture was grainy but the instructions were clear enough. "Kidnap the old man in the picture, Pandit Krishna Bharadwaj. If necessary kidnap his son too but Krishna Bharadwaj is the main target. Don't harm them, because we need to get information from them first."

"This is just the picture of the old man to be kidnapped. Where is picture of his son?" Ganesh scowled.

One of his henchmen, Madan looked at the picture again.

"Bhai, I will find out and let our men on this job know. You please don't worry." He assured him.

"Don't mess this up Madan. This is our first job in Allahabad and I am doing a favour to Ranjit. And I don't know what the hell he means when he says 'taking his son is not important'. Do we take him or not? We can't make a decision once we are already at the spot. Ranjit had always been an Idiot but I would rather deal with him than a woman. You know how much I hate taking orders from a woman. So if that bitch ever wants to talk to me again, you handle the call OK?" Ganesh Sneered and Madan nodded his head in agreement.

"Who is handling this Job?" Ganesh asked again.

"Our Lala's son Keshav! The kid is really enthusiastic and wants to work under you and impress you desperately. Don't worry Bhai, he is quite experienced in this sort of jobs, in fact a bit too smart and overconfident in my opinion." Madan chuckled.

"Well if he messes this up, he can kiss his smart ass goodbye. I don't want guys like that in my team, frankly. Let's see what he does with this job." Ganesh Bhai sneered and went away, leaving Madan to deal with his tasks.

Madan thought for a moment and decided the best person to confirm identity of Krishna Bharadwaj's son would be Ranjit, and called him straight away. Ranjit was miffed to receive a call from Ganesh's assistant and refused to speak to him, and handed over the phone to one of his assistants.

"We don't have the picture of Krishna Bharadwaj's son. Do we kidnap him or not? If we need to, then you have to send us the picture." Madan was furious at Ranjit's arrogance, but he didn't want to mess up the job because of Ranjit's stupid ego.

"Well we need some time to get the photo." The assistant replied, after consulting with Ranjit.

"Well, when do you want the job to be done? I thought we were supposed to do it tonight in few hours' time. Isn't it? How can you not even get a photo of the guy to be kidnapped?" Madan asked incredulously, inwardly cursing at their unpreparedness.

Ranjit snatched the phone back from his assistant. He decided that offence is the best form of defence, and tried to bully Madan rather than admit his fault.

"Oy Madan, tell me whether you guys are up to this job or not? All we are asking is kidnap an old man and his son, and you are making a big fuss. That old man's son's name is Shiva and his wife is Bharti. They live with him in the house, and the son owns a medical store which is right next to the house. Can't you just confirm who he is before doing the job? Do we have to spoon feed everything to you?" Ranjit spat at him.

Madan swallowed his pride and agreed that they can indeed confirm who Krishna Bharadwaj's son is and cut the call. Why does Ganesh Bhai leave all this kind of stupid work with me? He cursed himself inwardly.

He called Keshav and explained the situation, and asked him to make sure he got Krishna Bharadwaj and his Son Shiva before he started the job. Keshav agreed enthusiastically and reassured Madan that everything will be checked thoroughly and job will be done smoothly.

Little did he know how messy everything will turn out to be in the end!!!

******

Indrani was finally happy that her plan to abduct Krishna Bharadwaj was quickly being put into action. Her instructions to Ranjit were clear enough: Make sure the abduction was swift and smooth and no one, especially Advay Singh Raizada, should be aware of it. Ranjit already found out that Advay and his family were away in Banaras to perform Barsi. Her traitor and useless brother Niranjan was heard speaking on the phone about it.

Indrani's heart burned again with revenge as she recalled how Advay had turned the whole of her family against her. Especially her daughter Chandni, who would never even dream of rebelling against her.

She took deep breaths and tried to control herself. She will deal with Advay once she finished with Krishna Bharadwaj. First she needed to find out what information he actually knew, and how much had he revealed to Advay. Once she got what she wanted, she will tell Ganesh and his gang to dispose of Krishna Bharadwaj, and his son as well if needed. She waited patiently for things to be set in motion.

******

It started to drizzle. Keshav and his gang of men parked their car slightly away from Krishna Bharadwaj's home and waited for their opportunity. Krishna Bharadwaj seemed to be teaching tuition to some kids. Finally the kids left.

Just as Keshav tried to walk towards the house to get Krishna Bharadwaj, a big car came and parked in front of their car, and Keshav had to suddenly change his plans. He walked towards the Medical store instead to buy sometime, but it seemed to be closed. Little did Keshav know that Shiva had gone to meet a major medical distributor that evening, closing the shop for the day.

As Keshav walked towards back towards the house, he saw Advay, clad in a blue shirt and trousers, walking inside the house along with Krishna Bharadwaj, both of them smiling happily. That big car was still blocking their van and obstructing their view. He called his mate Munnah in the car, and asked them to make enough noise so that the big car moves out of their way, and give them the unobstructed view of the house.

They were finally successful and the big car moved away and as Mukesh watched, Advay and Krishna Bharadwaj came out of the house chuckling, and Advay kick started the scooter and demanded Krishna Bharadwaj to sit behind him. As Krishna Bharadwaj rolled his eyes, it reminded him exactly of his own father, and how he hated sitting at the back of the bike when he drove it.

Having his doubts thus clarified, an overconfident Keshav made the biggest blunder of his career, and wrongly assumed Advay Singh Raizada to be Krishna Bharadwaj' son Shiva, completely ignoring Madan's instructions.

Keshav went back to his Van and his gang and followed Advay and Krishna Bharadwaj as they rode in the scooter towards the hospital.

They saw Krishna Bharadwaj getting off the scooter on the busy main road, and Advay parking he scooter in the side lane. They couldn't possibly take Krishna Bharadwaj in front of everyone, so Munnah and Girish got off the Van to tail him, while Keshav remained in the van along with driver, parked it in the side lane and waited patiently. Suddenly they saw a girl running past them towards Krishna Bharadwaj's son calling him something.

Now this is a new complication. Who was this girl? Then they saw her hugging and kissing the old man's son. May be she was his girlfriend. Do girls kiss their boyfriends in public like this in Allahabad? Keshav wondered.

Keshav got off the van and signalled the driver to be ready. He took the hockey stick in the van and walked slowly towards Advay. Just then he saw the old man walking into the side lane, closely followed by Munnah and Girish. Krishna Bharadwaj was in fact coming towards Advay to get the scooter keys, as he forgot to handover them to him. As Keshav walked past Advay and the kissing girl, he heard the girl say " Dekhne Do!!! Mera Pati... Meri Marzi..."

Oh! So she was his wife. There was no time to lose now... the side lane now was completely empty of passers-by. Keshav signalled to Munnah, and Munnah swiftly overpowered Krishna Bharadwaj from behind and placed a chloroform filled cloth against his nose, making him unconscious.

Keshav swiftly turned around and whacked at the back of Advay's head with the hockey stick.

As he noticed that he was still holding on to his wife, he whacked him again.

***** End of flashback********

It took a while for the security guard inside the hospital to notice that Chandni was missing, as he initially thought she had gone inside to be with Kajal Maasi.

She left her purse next to the chair where she was waiting which raised his suspicions. Once he realised something was wrong, he immediately rushed to the front entrance of the hospital, where everything seemed to be normal, just like it should be on a busy main road.

He rushed back to the back door and ran down to the side lane, but all was quiet and dark here too, and the heavy rain wasn't helping much either.

*****

When the first blow hit him, Advay felt such severe pain as if his head had been split into two. And his first instinct was to make sure Chandni was ok, and hold her even tighter. As another blow hit him, he felt everything blacken around him momentarily. As he toppled on to the ground, he felt Chandni scream in his arms, and going purely by blind instinct, he rolled over on the ground, covering her. He could barely open his eyes or talk.

"Dev are you all right?" Chandni's choked whispers were reaching his brain but he couldn't respond. Chandni took a split second decision and acted faint just as Keshav and his mates reached them.

Munnah and Girish carried the unconscious body of Krishna Bharadwaj in to the Van. Just then Keshav heard commotion inside the hospital. Hurriedly they tried hard to remove Chandni from Advay's grip, but he wound his arms so tightly around her, it was proving difficult.

Chandni too seemed unconscious. They were running out of time. Keshav ordered that they both be hauled into the van first. Munnah and Girish together, with difficulty, pulled and hauled a seemingly unconscious Chandni and Advay together inside the van. They slid the door close and turned off the lights of the van just in time, as the security guard opened the back door of the Hospital and ran into the Side Lane.

They waited with bated breath inside their silent dark van, which was now almost invisible among the other parked cars in that side lane.

******

Security guard's eyes quickly scanned the side lane for Chandni or any signs of violence but found none. Cursing himself, he ran back inside as Murli too came rushing to the back door. He walked inside the hospital and took out his mobile and alerted his colleague in bungalow that Chandni was missing.

"But what about Advay Sir, he was supposed to be at the hospital too!! He got down at Krishna Bharadwaj's house and together they were supposed to go to the Hospital. He hasn't come back to bungalow with Nani and others in the Car from Banaras." His colleague replied.

The security guard at the hospital was truly in panic mode now. Advay Singh Raizada at the hospital? And that too with Krishna Bharadwaj? But neither of them have even entered the premises!! What happened to them? As he conveyed his fears to his colleague at Bungalow, they both decided that it is time to alert their agency headquarters.

****

The moment the security guard went inside the hospital, Keshav hurried the driver to start the Van and get out of there first. Their aim was to drive out of Allahabad towards the town of Sirsa on highway 35. Keshav looked back in the back seat. Munnah and his friend were searching the pockets of Advay and Krishna Bharadwaj, so that they can get rid of their mobiles and wallets after emptying them. As additional measure, they began securing ropes to their hands and put a black rag on top of their heads so that they couldn't see where they were being taken to, even if they gained consciousness.

*****

Meanwhile Shikha and Murli were getting worried too. Murli called Shilpa just to make sure once again that Advay was not at bungalow.

"Shilpa, something happened here. Please don't panic or show your panic to anyone yet. Advay Bhayya hasn't reached the hospital. He was supposed to be with that Kishen Panditji. But neither of them are here. Now listen carefully!! Don't say anything to Nani or Meghana Didi. Just call Niru Mama aside and tell him what happened. Try to get more information from him as to what happened exactly while they were coming back. Can you do that and call me back?" Shilpa listened attentively to everything Murli said and promised she will call back in few minutes.

After making sure that Kajal Maasi was sleeping , Murli and Shikha came out of the hospital to talk to the security guard again as to what was happening. Just then Shikha spotted Bharti, one of Chandni's best friends. She seemed to be searching worriedly everywhere for someone. Shikha called out to Bharti. Perhaps Krishna Bharadwaj was safe after all. She didn't want to panic Bharti unnecessarily.

"Bharti do you remember me, I am Shikha, Chandni's sister. What happened? You are looking worried!" She asked her.

"Hi Shikha!! Of course I remember you. Chandni and Advay came to our home just two days ago and she was talking about all of you. It's just this...I am a bit worried. My father in law was supposed to be waiting for me here at the bus stop in his scooter, but I can't find him or the scooter anywhere!" She replied worriedly.

The security guard now gave her full attention and asked her curtly.

"Madam when was the last time you spoke to your father in law?"

Bharti looked confusedly at the security guard but after encouragement from Shikha she finally answered, "I just got a call from him .. Er...may be five minutes ago. He said he was coming on the scooter with Advayji to the Hospital bus stop. As it started raining , he just asked me stay inside. But when I arrived, he wasn't there. Shikha what is happening? " She asked, now beginning to panic.

"Bharti, we are not sure yet but Jijaji and Chandni Jiji are missing too. Chandni was right here in the hospital just 10 minutes ago, but now she is gone. These people are the security guards employed by our Jijaji Advay. Where is your husband Shiva? Is he at the Medical store or home?" Shikha asked.

"Oh my god Shiva.....No.... He wasn't at home all afternoon, he went to meet a distributor. I will call him right now." Bharti took out her phone with shaking hands and began to call her husband.

After speaking quickly for few minutes, Bharti informed them that Shiva was OK at home, and he is on his way to the hospital right now.

Apparently their neighbour observed Krishna Bharadwaj going on scooter with a young man just a while ago. The security guard noted her response and immediately called his office again informing them that Krishna Bharadwaj had also gone missing, and most likely had been kidnapped along with Advay and Chandni. Nothing else made sense. Their chief confirmed back that ACP Siddharth had been informed about this, and he is on his way to the hospital right now. He asked him to get in touch with the hospital security staff to get access to the CCTV footage around the hospital, so they will have some idea as to what happened.

As everyone rushed around and responding to the situation, Shikha suddenly felt terrified and desolate. What happened to Chandni Jiji and Jijaji and why would anyone want to kidnap Pandit Krishna Bharadwaj? She desperately wanted to speak to someone and seek help, and immediately Veer's face came into her mind. Without hesitating even for a moment, she began to call him.

*****

Bharti was relieved to see her husband Shiva hurrying towards her. He was closely followed by Veer and his gang of friends. Murli and Shikha began to explain to everyone exactly what happened.

ACP Siddharth along with his SI Raghuvir Singh and two constables reached the hospital shortly and went straight to the security manager. As they began to search the CCTV footage of all the cameras placed around the hospital, they began to get a clear picture as to what happened. As they watched the side lane CCTV footage, they understood how everything unfolded within a matter of few minutes. The security guard swore loudly, and was regretful as to how he could have missed the black van. ACP Siddharth zoomed in on Keshav and Munnah. The picture was grainy but neither SI Raghuvir nor any of the constables could recognise them, which only confirmed his earlier suspicion... this was the job of an outsider gang.

ACP Siddharth asked the hospital security staff to take a screenshot of the images of Keshav and Munnah and distribute it to everyone via MMS as well as a physical printout. He took a photo of them on his phone as well.

Chief of the security agency which was in charge of Advay and his family called ACP Siddharth again.

"ACP Saab, our tracking device on Advay is thankfully still intact. They have just passed the town of Naini, and are travelling on NH 35. I am not sure where they are headed, but the next major town on the highway is Sirsa." He informed.

ACP Siddharth thanked him and asked him to keep updating the position of Advay every few minutes. The miscreants had a lead of at least half an hour. But it wasn't too difficult now that they can track Advay's whereabouts.

He immediately got in touch district headquarters police station in Sirsa, and the local police station in Naini,, and began to explain what happened, and what their action plan is going to be.

ACP Siddharth looked at the anxious faces of all the family members gathered around him.

" It doesn't make sense for any of you to remain here at the hospital. In fact, considering what happened, I am going to speak to the main doctor here, and even get Kajal Maasi shifted back to the bungalow with a nurse. Please, I request all of you to go back home and wait for our updates. At least we can take care of you better if you are all at one place. Mr Shiva I know how worried you must be about your father, but trust me we will catch the culprits very soon. I have alerted all my teams along the highway so it is only a matter of few hours. I think those Idiots had no Idea who they were dealing with, when they kidnapped someone like Advay Singh Raizada so brazenly. Murli and Shikha, you come with me so we can arrange for Kajal Maasi's transfer." ACP Siddharth spoke very calmly but firmly.

"Siddharth Sir, me and my friends would like to come along with you. Who knows? We could be of assistance, and more over I just can't sit here and wait for updates. I would die with tension. Please sir, don't say NO!!!" Veer pleaded and almost fell on his feet and ACP Siddharth had no choice but to agree.

A relieved Veer winked at Shikha, and she too was glad that at least one of them is accompanying police.

Once he finished speaking to the doctor explaining the security situation and arranged for transfer of Kajal Maasi, ACP Siddharth along with SI Raghuvir Singh and the two constables headed towards NH 35 in pursuit of the abductors, and they were followed by Veer and his friends on their motorbikes.

Murli and Shikha sat along with Kajal Maasi in an ambulance. They were trying their best to console Kajal Maasi, as she felt responsible for everything that happened. If only she never came to the hospital along with Chandni....but the security guard in the ambulance advised everyone to stay calm, and suggested that the abductors would have struck anyway even otherwise. Their ambulance slowly proceeded to the bungalow, closely followed by Bharti and Shiva with the security guards in another car.

*****

Once their Black Van was on the highway, Keshav and Gang travelled fast enough. Keshav kept checking their prisoners, and was worried to see that Krishna Bharadwaj and Advay seemed to be stirring back to consciousness. After travelling for another half an hour, the black van took a sharp right turn after crossing the Tamas River on the NH 35, and travelled for another ten minutes through the sparse woods to reach an isolated farmhouse owned by Ganesh Bhai. You couldn't see any sign of human life for at least a half a kilometre all around the farmhouse. As he gained consciousness, Advay's head hurt terribly, but the first thing he made sure was to check if Chandni was ok.

"Dev!!! Don't worry I am ok!" How much ever she tried to be brave, Chandni voice was filled with fear.

"Dev Beta Tum!! What is happening ? Why did these people abduct us?" Krishna Bharadwaj asked anxiously. Advay and Chandni knew there was someone else in the van with them, but they were dismayed to realise it was none other than Kishen Chacha.

"Hey old man, shut your mouth or I will make sure I will put so much chloroform in your mouth that you will be lying dead for another two days!!!" Keshav shouted at them and they remained quiet but alert to their surroundings.

Once the Van reached the farm house, Keshav and his gang pulled and dragged Advay Chandni and Krishna Bharadwaj inside.

"Remove these fowl things on our heads. We don't know where we are anyway. Or are you guys such cowards that you don't want to show your faces to us?" Advay taunted them.

Keshav hurled such profanities at Advay that Chandni felt disgusted. But seething with anger at being challenged by Advay, and confident that their victims wouldn't have a clue as to where they are, Keshav removed their blindfolds.

Advay began to shout back at Keshav but Chandni pleaded with him to stop.

"Dev!! Please. This is not the time to lose temper or talk back. Please listen to me."

"Yes!! Listen to your wife and get your head sorted otherwise I will make sure you will never open your mouth again arrogant son of a***" Keshav swore again and Advay's blood boiled listening to his foul language.

"Oy Madam please tell your husband that if he wants to stay alive, not to mess with me. By the way why are you calling him Dev when his name is Shiva??" Keshav asked, all his eyes focused on Chandni.

Advay and Krishna Bharadwaj looked confusedly at each other and Chandni observed Advay's fleeting sign through the corner of her eyes. It took a moment for them to realise what happened, and in their anxiety to keep up the misunderstanding, each of them blurted out their own explanations.

"Dev is my son's pet name at home" Said Krishna Bharadwaj.

"I can't call my husband by name right, that's why I call him like that." Chandni tried her best to give a coy expression.

"Yes she knows me from my childhood, so she is used to calling me like that!!" Advay explained.

Keshav yelled at everyone to shut up once again.

"Oy Buddhe, (oldman) you come with me. You are the special guest here." Saying that, he dragged Krishna Bharadwaj along with him, closing the door behind him, leaving a worried Advay and Chandni wondering what was this all about.

^------------------^

Writing action sequences is quite tricky because there's so much choreography involved especially if there are multiple people and things are happening simultaneously at various ends. Getting the exact sequence of events while not missing any important points is crucial and I hope I have explained clearly what happened here.

By the way all the places and the terrain, I have researched before using them here. Any Allahabad readers here?? please give a shout!!!

Please feel free to ask/correct me if you have have doubts/found mistakes. I will be happy to explain/correct myself.

The major takeaway from this is that Keshav was supposed to kidnap Kishen Chacha and along with him Shiva. But kidnapped Advay instead. The human element, and how this whole confusion started right from Madan/Ranjit's interaction and then finally ending with Keshav's perception played a huge role in what decisions everyone took. It is quite common not just in this case but for everyone else too. Don't you agree?

Waiting eagerly for your feedback.

Lots of love

Sesi