‘S o, how is the investigation progressing on Meera’s case? The one you are helping with?’ Gokhale asked Aditya. A month had passed since Rohit’s phone call to the Azad Maidan Police Station.
They were returning from a meeting with the Chief Minister. Gokhale had just presented an ambitious proposal to the minister to enhance the dynamic capacity of the severely short-staffed Mumbai police force. The idea was to employ temporary personnel in the police force when demands on their capacity were higher, during events such as festivals and VIP visits, and in emergency situations such as terrorist attacks. The plan also reduced the strain on their already restricted budgets. The minister had a favourable first impression of the proposal and promised Gokhale to give it a serious push in the State Assembly. ‘It is a complicated case, sir. On the one hand, we don’t have reasonable grounds for the arrest of Tanvi Acharya. On the other, we cannot guarantee the safety of Rohit Acharya. We’ll simply have to wait and intervene at the right time. Meera and I met the police psychiatrist to hear his views on the case. We also did a fair bit of research among our archives to see if there have been similar cases in the past,’ said Aditya.
‘And?’
‘This is a unique case, sir. We have to tread very carefully.’
‘I hope ... you’re not getting so involved in the case because of what happened, right?’ Gokhale looked at Aditya, concerned.
Aditya stared out of the window in pensive silence for a moment or two before he replied, ‘No, sir. It is not that.’
‘It was not your fault, Aditya.’