• Crime - English

    Raktarekha

    July 8, 2025 - By 

    Niharika S. Rao The Lok Sabha was unusually loud for a Tuesday. It was Budget Week, and the chamber buzzed with tension as news channels lined up outside, their OB vans broadcasting red-tickered hysteria. Inside, Home Minister Veer Pratap Singh stood tall in a beige Nehru jacket, sleeves rolled to the elbows like a man ready for war. His voice thundered across the hall, echoing with the force of someone who had weathered revolutions and riots. “And let it be known,” he declared, slamming his hand on the podium, “this government will never bow to blackmail. The truth will be…

  • English - Suspense

    The Third Locker

    June 28, 2025 - By 

    Chayan Ghoshal Chapter 1: The Letter The newsroom smelled of overbrewed coffee and paper dust—an aging beast barely held together by buzzing tube lights and worn-out keyboards. Subhasree Roy sat in the far-left corner, tapping absentmindedly on her laptop, staring at an unfinished draft on land scam allegations against a corporator who would likely never be touched. Her fingers paused when a slim white envelope was slid under her mug—no sender’s name, just her name in capital letters, “SUBHASREE.” She frowned, looked around, but the intern who was passing her chai had already turned away. She opened it slowly, curious.…

  • Crime - English

    Redial

    June 26, 2025 - By 

    Part 1: The Dead Number Rehan Mehta’s phone buzzed once. Then again. Then it stopped. Half-asleep, he groaned and turned over in bed, pulling the blanket over his head. The digital clock on his desk blinked 2:13 AM in a harsh red glow. Whoever it was could wait. But then he saw the notification: 1 new voicemail from Unknown Number. He sat up. Unknown numbers weren’t unusual in his line of work — Rehan was an investigative journalist for The Daily Ledger. But voicemails at 2 AM? That was new. He plugged in his headphones and hit play. Static. Then…

  • Hindi - फिक्शन कहानी

    सत्ता का जाल

    June 24, 2025 - By 

    विनय प्रताप सिंह भाग 1 लखनऊ की वह रात सर्द नहीं थी, लेकिन शहर के सियासी गलियारों में एक अजीब ठंडक फैल चुकी थी। विधानसभा के बाहर अचानक बिजली चली गई। पूरे परिसर में अंधेरा छा गया, जैसे किसी ने जानबूझकर समय को रोक दिया हो। मुख्यमंत्री यशवर्धन त्रिपाठी की कार का काफिला ज़रा देर के लिए ठिठका, फिर सुरक्षा की तैनाती दोगुनी कर दी गई। मुख्यमंत्री का चेहरा भावहीन था, पर उनके माथे पर पहली बार चिंता की महीन लकीरें उभरी थीं। उसी समय सचिवालय की चौथी मंज़िल से एक छोटी सी फाइल ग़ायब हो गई। उसका नाम था—ऑपरेशन…

  • English - Fiction

    Shadows of the State

    June 23, 2025 - By 

    Ravi Srinivasan Part 1: The Letter and the Leak It started not with a murder, but with an envelope—sealed, unmarked, and slipped under the newsroom door of The Dakshara Daily on a monsoon-drenched morning. The building still smelled faintly of damp paper and printer ink when Ananya Raghavan picked it up. She was the first one in, as always, her raincoat dripping near her desk, the hiss of boiling water already building in the pantry behind her. She slit the envelope open with a metal ruler, her journalist’s instinct prickling even before the contents were revealed. Inside: a single typed…

  • Hindi - फिक्शन कहानी

    धुंध में सिंहासन

    June 21, 2025 - By 

    अनिरुद्ध तिवारी भाग १: खामोशी की हलचल धरणपुर की सुबहें शांत होती थीं—कम से कम बाहर से देखने पर। लेकिन जो लोग सत्ता के गलियारों में रहते थे, उन्हें मालूम था कि यहां की चुप्पी अक्सर किसी तूफान से पहले की खामोशी होती है। चुनाव छह महीने दूर थे, पर मुख्यमंत्री सुरेश राजे का चेहरा जैसे पहले ही हार मान चुका था। काले घेरे उनकी आंखों के नीचे गहराते जा रहे थे और पार्टी के भीतर बगावत की आवाज़ें तेज़ होने लगी थीं। इसी बीच धरणपुर के जिला कलेक्टर राघव त्रिपाठी को एक गुप्त चिट्ठी मिली। सफेद लिफाफा, बिना किसी…