UP 6276 - the bus to Jaunpur

Police Inspector Jamal Khan was returning to his home after a long day in Lucknow, India. He was extremely tired. As he rode his motorycle from the police station to his house he was looking forward to relaxing soon.

At about 8:21 pm he receives a call on his cell phone.

Man on the phone: "Inspector, Inspector! Uttar Pradesh state bus UP 6276 has left for Jaunpur more than an hour ago. It will reach Jaunpur around midnight. There is a small package on one of the last seats. It is wrapped in brown paper. It has a time bomb and it will go off in less than an hour."

Inspector Jamal: "What nonsense is this! Who are you? What do you want?"

Man on the phone: "I want you and your colleagues to ensure I have 76 lakh rupees in 45 minutes. I don't care how you do it. I just want it. The money needs to be wired to my colleague Rishabh Manchandani. He is in Brussels. I can give you his account information. Either you help or all the 53 people on the bus along with the driver will die soon! I will call you in 15 minutes again!"

The man on the phone disconnects the call. Inspector Jamal rushes back to his station. Alerts are given and police between Lucknow and Jaunpur start looking for the bus. Police in different cities in the state work together to foil this evil plan.

About 12 minutes later, Sultanpur police stop the bus near a village. Their officers board the bus and rush towards the back of the seats. They see a small package. It did look suspicious and was covered in brown paper. The officers take the package to outside safely and then open it carefully. They were astonished that the package did not have a time bomb but had a piece of paper with the words 'Ha Ha Hath' on it. The officers immediately call Inspector Jamal about this.

In a few minutes the man on the phone called Inspector Jamal as well.

Man on the phone: "So, you found about our decoy! Ha! Whether we get our money or not the bus that actually has a package with a bomb will explode in an hour! You can't do anything about it! I just want some passengers to die!"

The lunatic disconnected the phone. Inspector Jamal was very worried about what was going on. He thought for a few minutes and figured that the clue Ha Ha Hath was a reference to the town he used to work in before (Hathras). He quickly called the main Lucknow bus station.

Inspector Jamal: "How many buses are going to Hathras from Lucknow this evening? Tell me quickly!"

Bus station clerk: "Saheb ji, this evening 3 buses are going there." Then he gave the licence plate numbers of each bus to Inspector Jamal. He quickly relayed it to the police teams between Lucknow and Hathras. The police along with their bomb disposal squads stopped each bus before Hathras in the next 30 minutes or so. Fortunately, two buses did not have anything. The third bus has had a suspicous package in one of the back seats covered in brown paper. The bomb disposal squad took the package outside and after a few very tense minutes were able to diffuse the bomb. The driver and 39 people miracously escaped death that night.

Inspector Jamal was informed that everyone was safe on the buses and the bomb was diffused. His task today and in the coming few days would be to catch the man on the phone before he continues his dangerous game of terror in the Uttar Pradesh state. He and his colleagues were up for this difficult challenge.

In a few minutes he gets another call. The man on the phone keeps calling from different numbers.

Man on the phone: "Inspector! Inspector! A small victory, aha! You have more hurdles to face before you even have a remote chance of catching me!"

He disconnects the phone. Inspector Jamal is a little angry but he is confident that he and his colleagues will catch this dreaded criminal very soon.

He tells his colleagues at the station, "Boys! Let us continue working! We will work all night and tomorrow if we have to but I want to catch this wretched criminal as soon as possible!"

His colleagues agree in unison and help him in their ongoing work searching with other police teams in the state so that the man on the phone could be nabbed very soon.