Kalpana enters the place with ACP Umran — it's a huge space. ACP Umran, moving with great caution, orders the rest of his team members to position themselves at the entrance and exit, and tells Kalpana to stay right beside him.
Geetika and Suraj also manage to slip inside by making themselves look just like the gang members. This is proving to be a massive network — the way its people and branches are spread out. Since there are men stationed all around, Kalpana moves forward carefully. Suddenly, she spots someone, and before even a split second passes, she places her palm over his mouth, silencing him exactly the way she had done the very first time. Then, softly to herself, she says—"I am a Squadron Leader, aren't I?"(Saying this, Kalpana hides behind a large door.)
She has reached the place where children are kept together. Among them are both boys and girls, their hands twisted behind their backs and tied, and their mouths gagged with cloth. Their clothes look like they haven't been changed in ages — in fact, they might be the very ones they were wearing when they were brought here. Seeing this, Kalpana whispers—"My God!"
While speaking, Kalpana touches the Bluetooth device in her ear and says—"ACP, the children are here — on your right."
ACP Umran replies in an equally low voice—"Okay, I'll come."
Kalpana silently keeps scanning the children's faces, one by one — searching intently. Yes, she is looking for Gaurav. She points subtly toward the children and signals with her eyes—"Look, there… the kids."
And ACP signals back—"I'll go from the back." (He makes a small gesture with his finger.)
Her eyes then fall on one particular child — an extremely beautiful boy with patches of dirt on his skin. His tiny hands are cruelly bound with rope, his clothes are filthy, and his eyes keep getting covered by the gag. The moment she sees him, Kalpana's heart speaks out in a rush—"Gaurav!"
A spark lights up in her eyes. Outside the door to this room, two burly guards are standing. Acting cleverly, Kalpana moves toward the window of the room and tries to get inside — with the utmost caution. She manages to succeed. The children look toward her, but she presses her finger to her lips, gesturing for them to stay silent.
Then, with his tear-filled eyes, Gaurav looks at Kalpana — and he recognises her in an instant. He tries to get up, but stumbles. Kalpana immediately drops to her knees, rushes to him, cups his head in her hands, and pulls him into her chest. As she does this, a strange emotion floods her heart. Gaurav begins to sob in muffled gasps, and Kalpana, in a soft voice, says—"Calm down, calm down, child. I'm here now, yes? Shh… shh
Kalpana looks at all the children and unties the rope around Gaurav's hands — but keeps his hands positioned behind him. She whispers in his ear—
"Keep your hands right there, okay?"
(Gaurav nods his head in agreement.)
Signalling Gaurav to sit back down, she gestures to all the children to remain silent and stay in their places. Kalpana rises slowly, stepping toward the side of the door. One of the guards now enters. As soon as Kalpana sees that he has stepped inside and moved two steps ahead, she strikes his neck exactly as she had done back in the "Atrangi Club" incident, disabling his active nerve cell and knocking him unconscious. The man collapses on the spot. Kalpana drags him aside so that the other guard won't notice.
She moves toward the door, intending to take down the second man in the same way, but before she can, he turns around, spots her, and is startled. Before he can make a sound, he feels something press against the back of his head. He turns quickly and finds ACP Umran standing before him.
ACP Umran says—
"Don't move!"
Saying this, he pushes the barrel of his gun against the man's head and forces him inside. Once the man is completely inside, ACP punches him in the face. The man falls to the ground. ACP signals for silence so no noise alerts the others nearby, then says—
"Where are the rest of your friends? Speak, or else—" (and he pushes the gun against the man's forehead again).
The man gestures that the others are over there. Kalpana quickly closes the door first, then unties the ropes and gags from the children's hands and faces. Meanwhile, Umran ties up both of the goons.
Kalpana hugs Gaurav again, and seeing this, all the children quietly rush to cling to her without making a sound. Witnessing the scene, ACP Umran looks at Kalpana with a tenderness in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Geetika and Suraj are silently capturing all the evidence on their camera. Geetika whispers—
"Suraj, this looks like a huge racket."
"Quiet, and hide the camera. If anyone sees us, they'll take us out. Come on, move." (The two of them move ahead.)
Back there, Kalpana sits all the children down in one place and says to ACP—
"ACP Umran, let's get the children out first."
"No, Panda. That won't be safe. We don't know how many men are outside. We have to catch them first or at least figure out exactly where they might be. And then there's the matter of the children's safety. It's too dangerous to move them without knowing the situation. It's safer to keep them here for now. I'll call my team officers to be stationed here."
Kalpana completely understands ACP Umran's reasoning and says—
"Okay."
She then tells Gaurav—
"Child, don't go anywhere from here. And all of you, you must not leave this place. Stay together."
In his innocence, Gaurav hugs Kalpana again without saying a word. Kalpana's eyes fall on his wrists — delicate, tender wrists, marked with deep grooves left by the ropes. The marks clearly show how tightly his hands must have been bound. Kalpana takes his wrists gently into her hands, kisses them, and asks—
"Son, do you recognise the uncle who tied your hands? Can you tell me anything to identify him? Yes, what does he look like? That's all you need to tell me."
Gaurav looks at Kalpana with a face full of surprise and questions. Stroking his face, Kalpana says—
"You're very smart, aren't you? Yes, you must know something. So tell me… think, child, think. Is there any feature of his face that I could use to recognise him?"
(Saying this, Kalpana begins gently wiping his face with her hand.)
Top of Form
Gaurav suddenly remembers something, and with a burst of energy — but still speaking softly — he says,"Didi, that uncle had something on his left ear…"(He points to the spot just above the earlobe.)"Right here… and its color was blue, Didi."
Kalpana instantly understands what Gaurav is trying to say and what identifying mark he is describing. She says—"That's enough, son, that's all I need. Now I'll be able to recognise him easily. See, I told you — you're so smart. You are Gaurav Mahashaya. Alright, now all of you stay together and don't go anywhere, no matter what happens. Until either I or this sir come back to you, none of you will move from here."(She explains all this to the children in a low, calm voice.)
Two members of Umran's team arrive, and Kalpana and ACP Umran leave the spot. Along with the rest of their team, ACP Umran gradually manages to corner the suspects. Now Kalpana's eyes search for the ear described by Gaurav.
Eventually, they come across a group of four or five men who are still unaware that ACP Umran and Kalpana are here with their team. These men look dangerous — and they are armed. Kalpana and Umran take cover behind the walls, observing them carefully. One of the men suddenly bursts into loud laughter while taking a drag from his cigarette and talking animatedly. The sound draws Kalpana's attention to him.
The moment she sees him, the veins in her temple tighten. She clenches her right fist, and her eyes take on a bloodthirsty glare. She starts to move toward him, but before she can, one of the men points in the opposite direction and shouts—"Who's there? Someone's over there! Go see who it is!"(He points with his finger for his companions to look.)
The remaining three or four goons pull out their guns and start firing toward that direction. The ones they are shooting at are none other than Geetika and Suraj, who had been taking pictures of them and have now been spotted.
Kalpana looks in shock toward the direction of the gunfire and says—"Not again… No! Even here, this brainless woman!"(She tilts her head up toward the sky, as if asking God.)"Why? Why is it always necessary to send her? Why you?"Kalpana gets visibly frustrated.
She starts moving toward the two of them. The goons are now intent on killing Geetika and Suraj. The pair are ducking and running, hiding wherever they can, doing their best to protect their heads. Eventually, they take cover in separate spots. Kalpana reaches Geetika first and, with anger in her eyes, says—"You people! Do you even realise how much—"
Geetika stares at her in shock and cuts in with the same tone as before—"Why should you care? And you! What are you doing here, huh? You're here, and that's why all this is happening. Last time, you were there and three goons were after us, now here we have four chasing us!"
"You always show up to take credit, and because of you, every job gets messed up. Back there, that man escaped because of you, and here you've started a shootout! Wherever you go, you ruin the situation!"
The two start arguing again, while from a distance, Suraj — still hiding — is watching them, though his gaze lingers more on Kalpana… or rather, gets stuck on her.
Geetika says again—"No, it's you — the situation gets messed up because of you! You must have done something here too, that's why they spotted us. We were taking pictures very carefully."
Suddenly, a bullet hits the corner of the wall near where they are hiding. Kalpana instantly grabs Geetika by both shoulders and pulls her to her side as quickly as possible, leaning over her slightly. If Kalpana hadn't done this, the bullet would have hit Geetika's right shoulder. From a distance, Suraj is watching all of this unfold.
Kalpana moves so quickly and abruptly that the two of them end up very close. Geetika's nose gets pressed against Kalpana's long neck, and she starts trying to breathe through her squashed nose. Because of this effort, her breaths become slightly deeper. Kalpana doesn't even feel her warm breaths, but Geetika is keenly aware of Kalpana's scent.
Kalpana's chest is clearly bothering Geetika, and a strange feeling starts to stir in her heart. She tries to move her nose from Kalpana's right side to the left, but Kalpana's hold is so strong that she can't move her nose at all. Geetika is perhaps now beginning to realize just how powerful she is. Meanwhile, Kalpana's sharp eyes are keeping track of every single activity happening in the room — her gaze, her mind, everything is fully alert.
Just then, Kalpana sees the same man she has been looking for approaching from behind Suraj, aiming a gun at her. She quickly jerks away from Geetika and moves toward Suraj at incredible speed — faster than fast. In the process, Geetika's camera slips from her hand and falls to the ground, rolling a short distance away. Kalpana reaches Suraj with lightning speed, shoves him aside, and grabs the gunman's weapon hand. As soon as she pushes his hand upward, the gun fires, and the man collapses to the ground.
But the bullet hits the ceiling instead, causing some debris to fall, which lands on Geetika's camera and damages it. Geetika sees her camera and shouts, running toward it to save it. Just then, her attention shifts to Suraj — lying on the ground, bleeding from his head. When Kalpana shoved him to protect him from the bullet, he had collided with a broken flower vase lying nearby, injuring himself and knocking unconscious.
Geetika, panicking, runs to him, crying out:"Suraj! Suraj, open your eyes! Suraj! Suraj!" (and she starts to cry).
Kalpana, meanwhile, lands a powerful punch squarely on the goon's jawline, forcing him down to his knees and making him drop the gun from his hand. Standing a little distance away, Geetika turns, grabs Kalpana by the collar, and — crying — says:"You! Who do you think you are? You can't see anything beyond yourself. You don't notice anything! Not a human life, not someone's safety — you don't care about anyone's life!" (She's angry, but her eyes are also full of tears.)
Kalpana looks at her in surprise. Geetika continues:"Look! Look what you've done! What have you done! You… you murderer!"
Kalpana keeps her focus on the goon to make sure he doesn't try anything else. She glances at Suraj, but her eyes quickly return to the goon — because he's moving toward Geetika, reaching for her hair. At once, Kalpana grabs Geetika's wrist, pulls her aside, and delivers a sharp kick between the goon's thighs, making him clutch himself with both hands and crouch down in pain.
Then Kalpana grabs Geetika by both shoulders and says:"Stop blaming me and take your friend to the hospital. Come on, hurry up — don't waste time."
There is intense anger inside her — right now, both Kalpana and Geetika are feeling the same emotion.
Narrowing her eyes in irritation and rage, Geetika says:
"You! You are such a lowly human being. You are utterly terrible. Utterly terrible."
Hearing this, Kalpana, holding a volcano of fury inside, gives Geetika a light push to her left so that she would look at Suraj and take him away from there. Geetika moves towards Suraj, and two members of ACP Umran's team, who were coming to help Kalpana, are sent towards Geetika at Kalpana's signal. Kalpana herself advances towards the goon, who is still bent over, and kicks him on the jawline, knocking him flat on the ground.
The officers she had signaled quickly reach Geetika and leave with Suraj. Now Kalpana has the perfect moment to release all her pent-up rage. She places her right booted foot on the goon's fingers and presses down with all her strength. As she pushes harder, the man begins to scream.
Kalpana suddenly grabs his collar, pulls him up in front of her, and locking her blazing eyes into his, says:
"What now? Does it hurt? When you ruthlessly tie the delicate wrists of innocent children, you don't feel this pain, do you?"
(With her full strength, she punches him in the face again.)
He falls to the ground. She strikes his right elbow with her boot, cracking and breaking his arm on the spot. He screams in agony. ACP Umran runs over and stops just behind Kalpana, as if his own feet had frozen him in place — but he doesn't stop her.
Kalpana, still seething with rage, grabs the man by his collar again, lifts him, and says:
"You like using your strength on those innocent souls? Flaunting your power over hands softer than flowers? Where is your power now, huh? Where is your strength now? Go on, try it on me. Show me your strength."
Saying this, she grabs the ear where he's wearing an earring, and as she twists it, he screams loudly. She keeps shifting her hand's movement, then says:
"Hurts, doesn't it? Do you feel it now? If it were up to me, I'd give you such pain in your backside that every time you sat down, no matter where, you'd remember me. Wait! I should just finish you off right here."
She picks up the gun lying nearby, walks to him, points it squarely at the middle of his forehead, and places her finger on the trigger, beginning to apply pressure. Just before she can pull it—
ACP Umran speaks:
"Stop, Kalpana. Stop!"
(He takes the gun from her hand.)
Kalpana looks at him, and ACP says:
"No — why dirty your hands by killing him? If you want him to suffer, I promise you, he will. Don't worry. But none of us has the right to kill him."
(Now, he is following the letter of the law.)
ACP Umran kicks the man in the backside, and the remaining team members take him away. As he's leaving, the bloodied goon turns to look at Kalpana. She stands straight, hands on her waist, chin lifted, looking ahead.
The goon says:
"You won't be spared either. You'll be blown away, just like your—"
(He says no more.)
An officer standing nearby punches him in the face. Hearing this, Kalpana starts stepping forward and says:
"You sick of brain!"
(trying to get to him again to hit him)
But ACP Umran stops her, holding her arm:
"Pandah, relax. Calm down. Right now, we have to go to the children — they are waiting for us, and they are our priority."
Kalpana replies:
"Alright."
Agreeing with ACP Umran, they start moving towards the children. Then Kalpana says:
"First, we have to take them to the hospital."
ACP Umran agrees, and together they head to the hospital with all the children. Kalpana carries Gaurav in her arms — he has fallen asleep. Her eyes keep going to the rope marks on Gaurav's wrists, now turned from red to blue but still clearly visible.
As they make their way to the hospital, night silently gives way to the first light of morning. They arrive at the hospital, and all the children are checked by the doctors.
Kalpana approaches a doctor and says…
"Doctor, the children are okay, right? I mean…"
(Kalpana knows very well what happens in cases of child trafficking. She's deeply worried about the children's organs, and especially about the girls.)
The doctor reassures her that all the children are safe, but they are very weak, their organs have been damaged, and they have been beaten. Hearing this, Kalpana runs a hand over her head, rubs her forehead, and says,
"Look at this… this is our country, and these are our 'safe' children—the ones we call the future of the nation."
While she's still talking to the doctor, Kalpana's phone starts ringing. She excuses herself, walks to a quiet corner, and picks up the receiver. Putting it to her ear, she says,
"Yes, right now."
"Where are you? Panda, I've been calling you nonstop! Are you okay?"
"Relax, I'm fine."
"Where are you? Are you sure you're okay? Why haven't you shown up yet?"
"Oh come on, relax. I'm in the hospital."
(The moment he hears "hospital," Avi gets even more worried.)
"Hospital? Are you alright? Should I come there?"
"Calm down! I'm absolutely fine. I'll tell you everything when I get there. Just give me 20 minutes, I'll be there. Okay? Now hurry up, don't waste time—out of your 20 minutes, 19 have already started ticking."
She ends the call, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and goes back to the doctor.
"Please, keep the children under your care."
"Yes, the children will be kept under observation for at least 12 to 24 hours—that's mandatory. As I said, they're weak, so we'll treat them as well."
Kalpana feels assured and gets a firm promise from the doctor: until she returns, the children will not be handed over to anyone. With that assurance, she walks out of the hospital corridor.
Just then, she sees Geetika coming toward her, holding some medicines. Kalpana doesn't want to face her, but her own feet carry her forward. When Geetika notices someone in front of her, she lifts her head and sees—it's Kalpana.
The sight of her sends Geetika's temper through the roof. Right there in the hospital, in a choked, angry voice, she says,
"You! Move! Get out of my way. You're here? Stay away from me!"
Ignoring her anger, Kalpana says,
"Look, Miss Journalist, I just want to know—how's your friend? Is he alright? Was he badly hurt?"
Hearing this, Geetika's voice rises even more. Before things can get completely out of control, Kalpana grabs her by both shoulders and steers her into the side fire exit.
Geetika starts yelling,
"What's it to you? You're an extremely, extremely despicable woman. You're cruel. What's it to you? I hate you—I hate you! I'll pray to God that I never, ever see your face again. I hate you, Squadron Leader Kalpana Pandey!"
Kalpana shakes her by the shoulders and says,
"Listen, I have nothing to do with you. I don't care if you hate me, despise me, or curse me—I don't care about anything of yours. I only wanted to know about your friend, understood? And keep yourself away from me. I've told you from the start, but you keep crossing my path. And if, because of you, something had happened today, I would have killed you right there. Understand?"
Kalpana says this looking directly into her eyes. Geetika's ears feel like they're burning, and she says,
"You have absolutely no idea what you've done, do you?"
"I haven't done anything, understood? And whatever I did, it was necessary. Now go stay with your friend, take care of him—he needs your care. I hope you at least know how to care for those who care for you. And stop wasting so much energy on me. I hope we never meet again."
With that, Kalpana leaves. She mounts her Bullet motorcycle, slides her sunglasses over her eyes, lifts her chin, and rides off toward her base.
Meanwhile, Geetika walks into the ward with the medicines.
"Namaskar 🙏"