Sampurnaa's pov:

I woke up in the morning today fresh and ready to begin my day. I showered quickly and dressed up in my regular formals leaving the blazer though.
I had a meeting with the team today. The boys and I were supposed to go to the red light area today in disguise to delve deeper into the working of underworld organizations that stalked, kidnapped, and forced women.

I was to be disguised as a sex worker while the others were going to act as human traffickers who had come for trade. We were going to enter as many places as we could in disguise. Security was obviously going to be provided for all of us.

I had asked Mr. Chakraborty to meet me the next day so I could give him an insight into the happenings in the red light area. He had agreed and had also asked me to get him the CCTV footage of Sridha's college and a shop or ATM within a 2km radius of where Sridha had been captive.

This was a risky string operation and none of the other girls were willing to take part in it. They had agreed to monitor our moves for security reasons but had blatantly refused to risk themselves for the sake of evidence. I had obviously not informed my parents or brother about me going back to the forbidden area. I knew I would never be able to convince them in a million years so it was not even worth the try.

I did not know what was in store for me or my team... But we had to do this!
For the sake of exposing criminals and criminal activities in and around India.
After all, you must know and face the darkness to find the light.

...

I reached the office by 9 am. Senior, Peter, Abhijit, and Vinay were already present there. I went and greeted them.

Sir asked me, "Sampurnaa, I hope you know what you are about to do. You still have time to think! Think about it before you take a haphazard decision. You have a family too! Consult them before doing this! You know the risks involved. Even though police protection will be provided, you have to enter some places totally alone without anyone following you... "

I cut him off as politely as I could,
"Sir, my decision has already been taken. As per informing my family is concerned, you know better what any sane parent's advice would be. My decision has been taken. I am going to go for it. And I am not returning empty-handed with my team!"

My teammates and Seniors looked apprehensive, but they had known me long enough to know that I was not backing off anytime soon.

We were supposed to leave at 12 noon so we could check what happens in broad daylight and during the quiet hours in the afternoon.

Just before leaving, I decided to call Baba,

Me: "Baba?"

Baba: "Yes child?"

Me: "Do you trust me?"

Baba: "Why do you ask me this at such an odd time out of the blue? Of course, I trust my princess!"

Me: "Then shono(listen), whatever I do shall always be with good intentions and never bad. Amay trust Koro (trust me always)!"

Baba: "Why are you speaking like this?"

Me: "Just remember this! I shall meet you later tonight... I love you Baba and I always will."

I know I revealed nothing yet I felt better after this telephonic conversation.
......

At precisely 1, we reached our destination. Abhijit and Peter were going to go around together posing as human traffickers who were interested in sex workers and prostitutes.

I had been dressed up in something I had never dreamt of wearing. I had to wear a Saree which had been pleated very thinly across my chest, a v-neck blouse, and flowers in my hair. Almost dressed like the rest of the women here.

I was supposed to walk around, speaking to other women, and try to extract internal information through them. Vijay was supposed to follow me from close and observe the people I interacted with for any suspicious behavior or activity. 3 policemen had been assigned to us for security reasons. They were going to shadow us.

We had a brief conference call with our seniors and studio correspondents who would record all that we saw and encountered and would go live for any curious or exciting find.
And then we began to walk the lanes which were nothing short of nightmares for any girl not unlike me...
...

I have been walking around for 3 long and tiring hours trying my best to fit in the role by playing with the free end of my Saree and even my hair strands. I was walking in a coy manner and creepy men shamelessly raked their eyes over me.

I felt disgusted at their behavior but I had to be on my way without reacting in any way that could raise suspicion.

Two women approached me from one of the buildings. They were asking me which building I was from. I had no idea about any of them so I randomly pointed at one of them.

"So you are from Roop Manzil?" one of them asked in Hindi.
"Yes, I arrived here just yesterday. Someone brought me here so I had no idea where I had been brought to," I replied in a convincing tone.

The women nodded and then asked me about the men who ran Roop Manzil.
I was honestly blank but I had to answer to avoid suspicion.

"Actually, since I am new here I don't know anyone here but I guess I shall get used to this place soon, " I answered with a small smile.

They nodded in an understanding way and then spoke in a hushed tone to me, "You know there was a girl who had been newly brought to our place, Jannah. She was here for a week. Freida ma'am and Rafi Sir who run the place had picked her up out of many girls whose photographs had been sent by the college peon Manu. She was a really beautiful girl and we had successfully kept her as a hostage but she escaped 3 nights ago."

I pretended to be surprised but somewhere I had truly been shocked. Out of all those I could encounter with, destiny had offered the evidence and statements I needed right on a platter.

The woman continued after looking at my expression which fortunately did not give me away, "She also ended up killing a man who had been in the room with her. The police were not informed because of some confidential reasons but who would have imagined that that innocent college girl would even kill someone...."

She continued but I barely listened.
One thing was clear and that was the police's unawareness regarding the 'murder' of the man. The reason was not specified and that had to be found out soon but for now at least I had ample information.

The women continued their blabber and I listened inattentively. Their talks were going to be recorded anyways. Moreover, the hidden camera in my Saree had managed to capture their faces which would help later while we had to look for the people who had been involved.

I nodded and asked tried asking them more about the people who ran the brothels and about the girls who worked there.

It became clear from their replies that most of the women had initially been forced to work as prostitutes after they had been kidnapped and sold. They had to accept their fates however and had lost all hopes of returning to their normal lives after a few years of working.
Some people worked specifically to shortlist girls, kidnap them and then sell them. They were like brokers who were paid a commission by those who ran the red light area.

The women also told me that many of the women who worked here had been forced by their husbands into all this and many had been doped by those who they got married to and had found themselves here forced to work as prostitutes.

I heard them through and ensured that all this got recorded.

They asked me to keep meeting them during my free time and also offered me to join them for afternoon gossip sessions on Fridays at Jannah.

I nodded as this would be a brilliant way to pry and get to extract further information but I also had to come here each day this week at least to show my face to the women around, so these women do not suspect my sudden appearances and disappearances.

I moved ahead through the narrow lanes where women and men loitered around keeping an eye on all of them when a face caught my attention. The man was clearly wearing a well-put-together disguise which to anyone unfamiliar with the art of putting on a guise, would never be able to recognize. However, as a well-disguised journalist who had specifically been taught how to disguise, I could, despite the layers of make-up and clothes that had been expertly put on. I knew then and there when I saw him that this was a place of mysteries where you enter with one mystery and then get entangled into many more. The man in question was someone whose news if released today, would send the media and the public on a tremendous roller coaster ride. They would go nuts! He was the...
......................................................................
To be continued...
---------------------------------------------------------
A/N:

A cliffhanger for you all so it feels like a thriller.
I shall try to update soon.
This is a humble request to the readers... Please do bother to vote and comment. If there is anything you would like to tell me about the plot, then please do comment🙏
Thank you for giving my book a read😊

Cheers,
Shubhadittya