The next morning…
Inspector Vikram chose a new direction for the investigation.
"Finding out where the rumor started… that's the most important thing."
Vikram, along with Head Constable Ravi and Constable Pankaj, headed straight toward the village temple—
the same place from where the announcement had echoed across the entire village.
There was silence outside the temple…
Inside, the faint sound of a bell could be heard.
Vikram walked directly up to the priest.
"Namaste, Pandit ji… I need to ask you something important."
The priest folded his hands politely.
"Namaste, sir… please tell me, what is it?"
Vikram asked,
"This loudspeaker… the one used for bhajans and village announcements…
who operates it?"
The priest replied without hesitation —
"The younger priest, Prakash, handles that."
Vikram immediately glanced at Ravi.
"Ravi, bring Prakash here."
Within a few minutes, Ravi and Pankaj returned with a thin young man.
He looked nervous.
Vikram asked sharply —
"Name?"
"Prakash… sir…"
"You handle the temple loudspeaker?"
"Yes, sir…"
Vikram's voice turned firm —
"Then the announcement made that day… about Salim…
who made it?"
The color drained from Prakash's face.
He lowered his gaze for a moment.
"No, sir… I didn't make that announcement…"
Vikram fixed his eyes on him.
"Answer clearly. If you lie, you'll go straight to jail."
Prakash's voice began to tremble.
"I'm telling the truth, sir… it wasn't me…"
Vikram stepped closer.
"Then who did it?"
Prakash took a deep breath…
and slowly began to speak —
"Sir… it was afternoon that day…
there weren't many people in the temple…"
"Then suddenly, 4–5 unknown men came…"
"They forced their way into the loudspeaker room…"
Ravi and Pankaj exchanged glances.
Prakash continued, fear evident in his voice —
"I was alone, sir… I couldn't stop them…"
"They pushed me aside… and locked the door from inside…"
"After a while… the announcement started playing on the loudspeaker…"
Silence filled the temple.
Vikram asked,
"Do you remember their faces? Can you recognize them?"
Prakash shook his head.
"No, sir… their faces were covered… I couldn't recognize them…"
Vikram fell silent for a moment.
His mind was racing.
Then he asked another question —
"Why didn't you tell this to the police earlier?"
Prakash lowered his head again.
In a low voice, he said —
"Sir… I thought… maybe it was true…"
"Everyone in the village was saying the same thing…"
"So I didn't think much about it…"
Hearing this, something changed in Vikram's eyes.
Now, the pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place —
Unknown men…
Forced announcement…
Fake evidence…
Vikram murmured to himself —
"This is not an ordinary incident… this has been planned…"
Ravi said quietly,
"Sir… that means someone deliberately provoked the entire village…"
Vikram nodded.
There was no longer anger on his face…
Only sharp focus and determination.
"This is a conspiracy… a very big conspiracy."
"Now only one question remains…"
He paused, looking toward the temple entrance —
"…who is behind all this?"
Outside, the sunlight was harsh…
But now Vikram had his first solid clue.
And the truth behind this case…
was slowly beginning to surface.
Now only one question echoed in his mind —
Who were those 4–5 unknown men… and who sent them?
Was this conspiracy connected to the haveli…
or were even bigger names yet to be revealed?
What do you think, what is the real truth, and what will happen next?
Comment your guess below 👇
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