The Unknown Caller

"Hello, your father's life is at risk now. Go protect him"

An unknown caller said to Mr. Ashwin on the phone call in the middle of the night and ended the call. As soon as he heard these words, his heart started beating fast. Although he was an intelligent policeman who knew that this call could be a trap or a fraud, he wasn't able to ignore the call. He immediately called his father but no one picked it up. He started feeling restless and his mind got filled with bad thoughts. He immediately took out his car and rushed to his father's home. Shivering with fear he somehow reached there and opened the door with the extra key he had. To his surprise, his father was perfectly alright having a peaceful sleep with no sign of any danger. He felt relieved. Without disturbing this father's sleep, he got back into the car and started driving back home.

On this way back home, he was very angry thinking about the person who had lied to him on the call. As he was about to reach his home, he saw a strange looking man on the road asking for lift. "I am new to this city, unfortunately all the hotels in this area are full and no taxis are available at this moment. Can you please drop me to Andheri? My friend lives in that place, I can get some space there", the stranger requested. Without giving much of a thought Mr. Ashwin agreed. During their journey, they started having some talks. The stranger told him that he had moved to this city for better carrier opportunities. As they moved little ahead during their journey they saw a woman fallen on the ground asking for help. Mr. Ashwin immediately stopped the car and rushed to help her. She was an young lady looking weak and tired. She told him that she worked nearby and while returning from her work, she suffered severe weakness and became unconscious. After hearing her sad story, he felt bad for her and decided to help her. He immediately called his subordinates and ordered them to drop the lady safely to her home. The lady thanked him and left with the policemen and Mr. Ashwin continued his journey with the stranger. “The world has became a less happier place now”, the stranger said to which the officer nodded. “Thankfully we have some amazing people like you who are always ready to help”, the stranger continued. After hearing this the officer smiled but after sometime the atmosphere in the car changed As soon as they reached a quiet forest which came in their route, the stranger took out a gun and pointed it towards Mr. Ashwin. With a threatening voice he exclaimed, ‘So dear gentleman, now help me too. Stop this car ! Give me all your money and get off this car now!". The situation started becoming tense. The stranger showed his real self, he was not a traveller but a robber. Mr. Ashwin started looking for his gun to react but wasn’t able to find it anywhere. “You stupid man ! That lady was also a part of my plan. I took your gun while you were helping her, now you have no choice”. The evil smile of the stranger made things look more dangerous. But thankfully Mr. Ashwin was a trained official who knew the right steps to be taken in such a situation. All of a sudden, he took the break which gave the vehicle a heavy jerk making the gun drop from the stranger's hand. As soon as the weapon got dropped out of his hand, Mr. Ashwin reacted immediately and with his full energy pushed the stranger out of the car and punched him. The stranger fell on the road and finally surrendered.

When he took him to the police station, it was revealed that he was the leader of the one of the most wanted gang of Mumbai who looted people who travelled in car at night. "No one could have ever guessed I am going to rob at that road, how did you came to know?", the stranger shouted while being dragged to the jail.

When Mr. Ashwin thought about the incident some questions came in his mind. Who was the unknown caller ? Was he a secret helper ? If yes, why didn't he reveal himself? Was this just a coincidence or was this a part of a plan? The mystery continues and it was still unsolved.