Uthkanta

Few Days Ago...

Preeti, a beautiful and lively girl, went to college just like every other day.

She had her morning coffee and breakfast at the canteen.

Chatting with her friends, she headed to class. While the teacher was delivering the lecture, Preeti suddenly fainted and collapsed.

The students around her are panicked and scared, they'll rushed her to the hospital.

But... on the way to the hospital, Preeti took her last breath.

Doctors couldn't determine the cause of her death. Her classmates, faculty, and family were went into deep sorrow, and her death remained a mystery.

Within a few months, more students Prasad, Pramod, Pranitha, and Prithvi from the same college were died.

One after the other, five students passed away two girls and three boys.

All from the same college, the same age group, but no clear cause of death.

The college management and students began to assume these were suicides due to a lack of interest in life.

A year passed…

Even though the deaths weren’t forgotten, the college decided to move on and welcome new students with a “Freshers’ Day.”

The event began with entertainment and full of enthusiasm.

Hoping to build strong bonds between seniors and juniors, the principal addressed the gathering:

“If anyone is caught ragging, strict action will be taken. We must all live like a family here.”

Juniors responded with surprise, and seniors with respect. The college atmosphere turned cheerful again.

Three peaceful months passed…

But one morning… tragedy struck again.

A newly joined student named Poorva Raj was found dead in his hostel room.

This time, his parents couldn’t bear it and filed a complaint at the police station:

“Our son died only after joining college. This isn’t a natural death!”

Acting on the complaint, the police started an investigation.

They questioned students and faculty, and collected evidence.

Eventually, they declared it a natural death and suspected lack of will to live. The college was not held responsible.

Everyone believed it except his parents, who returned with broken hearts.

But…

Days later, Another student died. No explanation. Just silence.

With no leads, the police remained clueless. These senseless deaths formed a pattern.

The government handed over the case to CBI Officer Durga.

She began investigating the case.

The police shared all the files and videos they had collected so far.

Durga read every file and watched every video. Yet, no clarity. No single piece of evidence.

She thought, “The answer lies where the crime happened.”

So she visited the college.

She began her inquiry inspected hostel rooms, spoke with students. 

And then, she noticed something unusual:

All the students who died had names beginning with the letter ‘P’:

– Preeti

– Prasad

– Pramod

– Pranitha

– Prithvi

– Poorva Raj

Durga was stunned: “This is no coincidence… this is a clue.”

She immediately met the principal and shared her observation, requesting full details of the deceased students.

Though hesitant, the principal handed her the files.

As Durga left with the files in hand, a strong wind blew. The files fell to the ground.

She gathered them carefully and headed to her office.

On the way, she received a call from her housemaid:

“Madam… the boy isn’t feeling well. Please come home soon.”

Durga wasn’t married. But she had taken in a boy named Babu, the son of Ramu and Janaki, a couple who once worked at her home.

Back when Durga worked in Mumbai, she had encountered a gangster called Rasheed Bhai.

In revenge, Rasheed’s brother Rafiq planted a bomb in Durga’s home.

Durga wasn’t home at the time, but Ramu and Janaki sacrificed their lives to save their son.

Afterward, Durga was transferred to Hyderabad, and she brought Babu with her.

Present Day…

She took Babu to the hospital, where his health began to stabilize.

That night, while reviewing the files again, a peculiar paper caught her attention.

It read: “They’re going to kill me.”

Durga was surprised. She had no idea where the paper came from.

She observes the handwriting carefully.

“If this handwriting belongs to one of the died persons this is a key piece of evidence.”

The next morning she went to college and began collecting class notes, projects, diaries from friends of the died persons, also she enquired all students about the handwriting.

But she left with no solid clues.

Disappointed, she returned to the station and there she noticed something important: a man writing with his left hand.

Immediately, a thought struck her:

“Were any of the deceased left-handed?”

She rushed back to the college and cross-referenced handwriting samples.

Only one sample matched to the mysterious note that is Pranitha's hand writing and she is the principal’s daughter.

Durga confronted the principal:

“Sir, this is your daughter’s handwriting, right?”

The principal replied, “No, it’s not,” and walked away.

Durga silently followed him.

The principal returned home and entered a secret room.

Durga observed everything and followed him inside.

To her shock, she found another man identical to the principal.

It was principal's younger brother.

He was an evil man who had kidnapped his brother to steal his property and assumed his identity as the principal.

He had collaborated with canteen staff to poison the students, Also he manipulated doctors to report the deaths as natural, all part of a plan to shut down the college and build a luxury hotel on the land.

Present principal is talking to the real principal:

“Your daughter found out about me. I killed her that same day in my room.

But she was smart. She wrote a note saying she was being killed and hid it in the student list. With out checking that I handed over the note to CBI officer Durga’s. I didn’t realize all the victims had names starting with ‘P’. Now Durga suspects me.

You must take my place and get caught so I can escape as your brother and build my hotel. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill your son too!”

As the conversation went on, Durga came in and fight with present principal. She rescued the real principal and killed the another one.

The next day…

Students walked in with smiles and laughter.

Durga looked up at the sky and silently thought,

“Pranitha… even in death, you brought out the truth.”

This wasn’t just a case. It was a path walked selflessly for the sake of truth.

The End.