Free The Nidhi Kapoor Story by Saurabh Garg Page B

around, he picked it up. Rujuta was yelling into the phone, “Prakash! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, leave it and make your way to Juhu as fast as you can. Nidhi is shooting at the Vie and I can see fire and smoke coming out of the building. I am going there now.” As urgently as the phone had beeped, the line went dead.
    Prakash, without wasting any time, re-dressed and raced outside to his Bullet. He had a 1999 Royal Enfield Classic that he had bought from another police officer a couple of years back. The bike was his escape; the waymusic was Rujuta’s.
    By the time Prakash reached Juhu, the roads were already choked. He left his bike carelessly in one of the alleys and ran towards Vie. As he turned a corner, he could see the fire brigades and the ambulances blaring their horns, flashing their beacons, trying to inch closer to the restaurant. He continued to run, saw the traffic jam caused by curious onlookers, haphazardly parked OB vans and other vehicles of the media hounds who wanted to get some ‘exclusive’ shots, rather than help those trapped inside. The fact that Nidhi Kapoor was shooting at Vie would have made people gather around the lounge, everyone hoping to catch a glimpse of their heroine. “How do these media guys always get to a crime scene before us?” Prakash muttered to himself.
    When he reached the site, the unit members were huddled outside in the small alley leading to the restaurant. Naveen Verma, Kabeer Khan, Vicky Taluja and other important looking men and women were talking animatedly to each other. He identified a few faces but his attention was diverted towards Vicky Taluja, who was shouting into his phone. Right next to him, Verma was waving his hands towards the entrance of the restaurant.
    Thick billows of dark gray smoke were coming out of the door. The air was heavy with smell of charred wood and roasted meat. The area around the entrance had turned dark with soot. The fire had been raging for some time. Prakash could not spot either Nidhi or Rujuta in the commotion. He started to run towards the entrance but before he could move, he saw Rujuta dragging someone outfrom the entrance of the restaurant.
    People milling outside Vie saw an extremely good-looking young girl dragging Payal out from the tunnel of smoke. The first to reach them was Naveen Verma, followed closely by Prakash and Vicky Taluja. Both women appeared unharmed, except that Payal was unconscious, her hair disheveled and her white outfit blackened from soot. Rujuta seemed to be in reasonable control over her senses.
    The pandemonium got louder when Verma called for a medic. Everyone in their enthusiasm to help was actually doing more harm than good by crowding and not letting the medics tend to Payal.
    Rujuta, by this time, had left Payal alone with her well-wishers and had moved away from the circle. She was fumbling with her dress, trying to find her phone when she noticed Prakash. She was relieved at his presence and hurried towards him. She spoke fast, devoid of emotion, “I had to jump into the beach and climb over the wall from there to get into the restaurant. None of these fucking heroes and heroines had the balls to go save the poor girl. I found Payal at the back of the restaurant. She was unconscious, I tried waking her up but when she did not come around, I had to drag her.”
    Rujuta was panting from exhaustion. She continued, “I don’t think there is anyone else in the restaurant. I tried checking. By the time I reached, everyone had come out. The damn place has just one entrance and exit. These people, all rushing out at the same time, didn’t they cause a stampede?” Her black one-piece dress was torn from her shoulder and Prakash could see fresh bruises on her leg.
    “Relax. Take a break. Are you OK?” Prakash asked, flashing a rare smile. This was probably the first time Rujuta had seen him smile. She was pleasantly surprised. She smiled back and replied, “I’ll be OK. Don’t