• Crime - English

    The Last Stop at Churchgate

    July 23, 2025 - By 

    Mithilesh Sharma 1 The last train of the day hissed into Churchgate station like a tired animal, exhaling its mechanical breath into the near-empty platform. The digital clock above flickered—11:17 PM. A young woman in a pale blue kurti stepped off the 10:45 PM Borivali fast local, clutching her jute bag close. Nikita Majumdar. Her phone buzzed once in her pocket, but she didn’t check it. The cameras caught her image in three places—exiting the ladies’ compartment, walking past the stationery kiosk, then disappearing behind the pillar near the service stairwell. After that, nothing. The next time anyone saw her,…

  • Crime - English

    Blueprints for a Murder

    July 4, 2025 - By 

    Sahana Iyer 1 The rain hit Pune like it meant to peel the city apart—needles of water carving through dust and metal as if the monsoon had something personal to prove. Meghna Deshpande stood at the edge of her balcony, her coffee cooling in her hand, watching the glassy sheen on the road below reflect a fractured world. Her morning had been like any other—emails, contractor calls, a delayed tender for a flyover near Shivajinagar—until the courier arrived. No sender, no company seal. Just a brown kraft-paper envelope, damp at the corners, addressed in shaky black marker to “Meghna Deshpande,…

  • Crime - English

    The Vanishing of Viraj Mehta

    June 16, 2025 - By 

    Chapter 1:  It was the sort of evening that wrapped Mumbai in a damp silence—one of those monsoon nights when the rain doesn’t roar, but hisses steadily, like a whisper of secrets meant to be hidden. The streetlights near Colaba Causeway flickered through the drizzle, casting shimmering reflections across the wet tarmac. Viraj Mehta, the 42-year-old diamond merchant with a reputation as clean as the stones he traded, checked his Rolex for the fourth time as he exited his office building. He had ended his day like any other: signing off ledger sheets, taking calls from Dubai, and checking shipments…

  • English - Horror

    The Fifth Floor at Dadar Heights

    June 11, 2025 - By 

    Karan Mehta 1 The humidity hit Nisha Deshmukh like a slap as she stepped out of the cab in front of Dadar Heights. Her cotton kurta clung to her back, damp with sweat. It was past 11 p.m., but Mumbai’s summer showed no signs of cooling down. The street outside was quiet, punctuated only by the occasional honk from a distant rickshaw. A few stray dogs lazed near an old lamp post, while the flickering light overhead cast long shadows across the cracked pavement. She looked up at the building—five stories of faded pink paint, streaked with years of monsoon…