jury
The right to trial by an impartial jury is a defendant's constitutional right; explore this pivotal duty to assess the evidence, deliberate and deliver a verdict.
The Phone That Rang at Midnight
M Mehran The phone rang at 12:00 a.m. sharp, slicing through the silence of Inspector Mira Das’s apartment. She had been expecting sleep; instead, she got a whisper that froze the blood in her veins. “Inspector,” the voice trembled, “there’s been… a murder. And I think I’m the next one.” Mira sat up straight. “Name?” A shaky breath. “Arman Rafiq. I don’t know who else to call.” The line went dead. She stared at her reflection in the dark window—tired eyes, hair undone, the kind of face that carried too many ghosts. Arman Rafiq. She knew that name. Everyone did. Ex-accountant turned whistleblower. The man who stole secret files from Sahara Finance, exposing their money laundering to the world. Rumor said the company wanted him erased. Now it wasn’t rumor anymore. 1 Arman’s apartment was small, silent, and already carrying the metallic scent of fear. The door was unlocked. Mira stepped inside with her hand on her weapon. “Arman? Police.” A figure jumped from behind the counter. Mira raised her gun—then paused. A terrified teenage girl stared back at her, hands shaking. “He said you’d come,” the girl whispered. “Uncle Arman told me to hide if something happened.” “Where is he?” Mira asked. The girl pointed to the bedroom. Arman lay on the floor, eyes open, a crimson stain blooming across his shirt. His breathing was ragged—alive, but slipping fast. “You… came,” he coughed. “Listen to me. They’re coming for the files. You have to take them. Don’t let them get erased.” “Who did this?” Mira demanded, kneeling beside him. He swallowed hard. “The one pulling strings… someone in your department.” Mira froze. “My department?” Arman nodded, voice barely a ghost now. “There’s a mole. They’re cleaning house. Next…” His breath hitched. “Next is… you.” His eyes glazed over. Silence. Arman Rafiq was gone. 2 Mira turned to the girl. “What’s your name?” “Lina,” she whispered. “You’re coming with me,” Mira said. “You’re not safe here.” Before they could move, the apartment lights cut out. Footsteps in the hallway. Mira grabbed the girl’s hand. “Closet. Stay silent.” The doorknob turned. A man stepped inside, wearing a mask and holding a silencer. He scanned the room like a predator. Mira stayed still, breath locked behind her teeth. The man checked Arman’s pulse. “He’s dead,” the intruder muttered into a radio. “Finish clearing the place.” He reached for the bedroom closet. Mira moved first. One shot. The man dropped. The radio crackled. “Team Two, report. Team Two?” Mira grabbed Lina and the drive that Arman had hidden beneath loose floorboards. Then they ran. 3 They drove through Karachi’s sleeping streets, neon signs flickering against the wet pavement. Lina stared out the window, tears cutting silent paths down her cheeks. “Why are they after you?” Mira asked. “My uncle said the files show everything,” Lina murmured. “The fake accounts. The bribes. Names of politicians. Even police.” “Which police?” Lina hesitated. “He said the person hunting him was close to you.” Mira’s heartbeat thundered. She had trusted every officer in her unit. Or thought she had. She parked under a bridge. “We need a place they won’t look.” Lina looked up. “Where?” Mira met her eyes. “Sahara Finance headquarters.” 4 They slipped into the building through the underground loading dock. It wasn’t difficult—too quiet, too easy. As if someone wanted them inside. The elevator dinged open into a private office. A man stood beside the window, city lights haloing him like a crown. Deputy Commissioner Harris Khan. Mira’s commanding officer. Her mentor. “I figured you’d go for the files,” Harris said calmly. “You always were predictable.” Mira drew her gun. “You killed Arman. Why?” “I didn’t kill him,” Harris said, stepping closer. “But I ordered it.” The confession fell like a blade. “He had evidence,” Mira said coldly. “He had lies,” Harris corrected. “The kind that destroy governments, businesses, the country’s economy. Do you think justice survives without money? Without power? Someone has to maintain the balance.” “Balance?” Mira spat. “You’re protecting criminals.” “I’m controlling them,” he snapped. “There’s a difference.” Mira raised her gun higher. “Give me a reason not to arrest you.” “You won’t pull that trigger,” Harris said. “Because if you do… every officer in this city will hunt you. And the girl. Think carefully, Mira. Is truth worth losing everything?” The silence stretched like wire ready to snap. Then Lina stepped forward. “My uncle died for the truth. Someone has to finish what he started.” Harris sighed. “Then I suppose this is where it ends.” He reached for his gun. Mira fired first. 5 Screams echoed. Security flooded the building, but Mira had already grabbed Lina and the files. They sprinted into the stairwell, down eighteen flights, through a back door, and into the escaping night. Hours later, they sat in a tiny internet café. Mira uploaded the files—every document, every secret, every recorded bribe. She didn’t hide behind anonymity. She signed her name. Inspector Mira Das. The city would wake up to a storm. 6 When the police bulletin came out minutes later, Mira already knew what it would say: Mira Das. Wanted for treason and murder. She looked at Lina. “I can’t protect you if you stay with me.” Lina nodded. “I know. But you did the right thing.” Mira brushed a tear from the girl’s cheek. “So did you.” They parted at the bus station. Lina disappeared into the crowd, swallowed by morning light. Mira pulled up her hood and walked the other direction, disappearing into the city she once swore to defend. Tonight, she was no longer the hunter. She was the hunted. And somewhere in the shadows, a new page of justice was beginning—written not by the system, but by those brave enough to break it.
By Muhammad Mehran16 days ago in Criminal
The Last Confession
M Mehran Detective Ayaan Malik had seen every shade of crime in his twelve years with the Karachi City Police—murders wrapped in lies, robberies disguised as desperation, betrayals hidden behind friendly smiles. But nothing unsettled him like the case of Zafar Qureshi, the man newspapers called The Gentleman Criminal. Zafar was unlike the others. No loud threats, no reckless violence. His crimes were elegant, almost meticulous—high-profile robberies targeting corrupt businessmen, politicians with offshore accounts, men already drowning in stolen wealth. To the poor, Zafar was a whisper of justice. To the authorities, he was a ghost with a taste for irony. Ayaan wanted him caught not because of duty, but because the criminal understood him—too well. 1 The letter arrived on a rainy Tuesday. No stamp. No return address. Only a single line: “Meet me tonight at the Al-Haroon Textile Mill. Come alone. —Z.Q.” Ayaan stared at the signature as thunder cracked across the sky. For months, he had chased Zafar’s trail—security footage with blurred faces, fingerprints wiped clean, informants with trembling lips claiming they never saw anything. This letter felt like a door finally opening. At midnight, Ayaan reached the abandoned mill. Broken windows. Rusted machinery like skeletons from another era. He stepped through the entrance cautiously. A voice echoed from the darkness. “You’re earlier than I expected, Detective.” Zafar Qureshi emerged from the shadows wearing a tailored coat, his posture calm, almost regal. He looked less like a fugitive and more like a professor interrupted on his way to lecture. “You called me,” Ayaan said, hand hovering near his gun. “Why?” Zafar smiled faintly. “Because the story ends tonight. And endings deserve honesty.” 2 Zafar told his story like a man reciting history, not guilt. He had once been a respected financial advisor. His clients? The powerful and the immoral. He watched them exploit workers, bribe officials, and bleed communities dry. When he exposed them, no one listened. When he protested, he lost his job. “A system that protects thieves forces better men to become criminals,” he said. “So I became exactly what they feared.” He robbed only the corrupt—stole their hidden money, exposed their secrets, leaked their accounts to journalists. At first, Ayaan wanted to believe him. But motive never excused a crime. The law didn’t bend for poetic justice. “You still broke into houses. You still threatened people,” Ayaan said. Zafar’s eyes hardened. “I never spilled innocent blood. But the men I exposed? They would have. They still might.” Thunder rumbled outside. Raindrops spilled through holes in the roof like tears from the sky. “Why confess?” Ayaan asked. Zafar hesitated. And for the first time, Ayaan saw fear in his eyes. “Because they’re coming. The men I ruined… they hired someone. A contract killer. I am dead tonight, Detective. I just want the truth to live longer than I do.” 3 Gunshots shattered the silence. Ayaan dropped to cover as bullets sliced through metal and concrete. Three figures stormed into the mill, faces masked, movements sharp and professional. Zafar returned fire with a concealed pistol. “Detective! Whether you hate me or not, fight now—judge me later!” Ayaan didn’t want to fight beside a criminal. But instincts answered before pride could argue. He fired back, hitting one of the attackers in the leg. Zafar’s shot disarmed another. The third retreated into the shadows, waiting. The mill went still again, except for the storm outside. “You shouldn’t have come alone,” Zafar said breathlessly. “You asked me to.” “I didn’t think you’d trust me.” Ayaan almost laughed. “I don’t.” A bullet whizzed past, grazing Zafar’s arm. He staggered, dropping to one knee. The final assailant stepped forward, gun raised. “You ruined powerful lives, Zafar,” the man sneered. “Now you pay.” Ayaan fired first. The attacker fell. Silence swallowed the mill once again. Zafar sank to the ground, blood darkening his coat. “Go,” Zafar whispered. “Leave before the others arrive. You can still save yourself.” “I’m arresting you,” Ayaan said, kneeling beside him. Zafar laughed weakly. “You can’t arrest a dying man.” “Watch me,” Ayaan snapped, pressing a hand to the wound. Zafar shook his head. “This is my ending. But the files… the proof… it’s real. In my office, behind the painting of the harbor. Bring them to light. Don’t let my story be twisted.” His voice trembled—not from pain, but urgency. “You’re a good man, Detective. Better than the system. Don’t let it turn you into a villain like it did me.” His breath slowed. One last exhale. Zafar Qureshi—the Gentleman Criminal—was gone. 4 Morning arrived like a confession. Police swarmed the mill. Reporters circled like crows. Ayaan stood in the doorway, exhausted and hollow. Captain Rahim approached. “Where’s Qureshi?” Ayaan looked at the body, covered in a white sheet. “He’s done running.” “And the evidence? The files? Were his claims true?” Ayaan’s mind burned with questions he could never ask again. “Yes,” he answered quietly, even though he hadn’t checked yet. “They’re true.” Because he wanted them to be. 5 That evening, Ayaan stood in Zafar’s office. Behind the painting as described—folders, hard drives, names that could shatter careers and topple empires. Proof that justice wasn’t just broken—it had been sold. Ayaan closed the drawer, hands trembling. He had two choices: Hand the evidence to the authorities and trust a corrupt system. Leak it, expose them, become the villain the world needed. He heard Zafar’s final words echo in his head. “A system that protects thieves forces better men to become criminals.” Ayaan locked the office door behind him. Sometimes justice didn’t live in the law. Sometimes it lived in the shadows. And maybe tonight, the shadows had a new owner.
By Muhammad Mehran16 days ago in Criminal
The Epstein Files: What the Latest Disclosures Reveal—and What They Don’t
The name Jeffrey Epstein remains deeply embedded in public conversation, years after his death, largely due to renewed attention surrounding the so-called Epstein files. These documents—released in stages through court orders and legal proceedings—have sparked intense debate, speculation, and misunderstanding across media platforms. To grasp their true significance, it is essential to distinguish between verified facts, legal context, and public assumptions.
By KAMRAN AHMAD24 days ago in Criminal
The Epstein Files Explained. AI-Generated.
Introduction The case of Jeffrey Epstein is one of the most shocking criminal cases in recent history. Even years after his death, people around the world still ask questions about what really happened and who else may have been involved. One major reason for this continued interest is the release of the Epstein files.
By dua fatima24 days ago in Criminal
The Epstein Files Explained: What They Are and Why They Matter. AI-Generated.
In recent years, the name Jeffrey Epstein has become linked with one of the most disturbing criminal cases in modern history. Epstein was a wealthy businessman who was accused of running a large sex-trafficking network involving underage girls. Although Epstein died in jail in 2019 before his trial could take place, many questions were left unanswered. One of the biggest questions has been about the so-called “Epstein files.”
By sehzeen fatima24 days ago in Criminal
The Dead Man’s Last Call
M Mehran The phone rang at 2:09 a.m. Detective Jordan Vale was halfway through a stale donut and a stack of paperwork when the sound sliced through the silence of the precinct. Unknown number. Local area code. He almost ignored it.
By Muhammad Mehranabout a month ago in Criminal
The Night Detective Rios Broke the Rules
M Mehran Detective Elena Rios had never broken a rule in her life—not the small ones, not the big ones, not even the ones no one remembered existed. The department used to joke that if you opened her wallet, a laminated copy of the city code would fall out.
By Muhammad Mehranabout a month ago in Criminal
