315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jzIFGZii7
Story: Soumyava Goswami
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENCPqK3zb4
After the world was freed from the terrifying phase of lockdown and the coronavirus, people were still struggling to recover from its after-effects. Just then arrived Bengal’s greatest festival — Durga Puja. With the arrival of the Goddess, people began to forget their sorrows and embraced joy once more. Everyone believed Maa Durga had brought happiness, blessings, and prosperity with her. “Now, nothing bad will happen. From now on, everything will be good,” people told themselves with hope.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJey2ZzgxSI
On Shashthi, the first day of the festivities, the streets overflowed with crowds. Laughter and excitement replaced despair and gloom. But just then, tragedy struck.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMgGKceIzY
In one single night, five priests from Kolkata’s biggest puja pandals were murdered on their way home after rituals. No one knew why. Fear and disbelief spread like wildfire: “Who could kill priests during Puja?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvqiZTu5fA
The Chief Minister immediately ordered the police to capture the killers and ensure no further incidents disrupted the festival. Police from multiple jurisdictions launched investigations, but conflicting working styles created confusion. With no progress, panic grew across the city. Citizens feared visiting pandals: “What if we too are attacked like the priests?” The entire nation began asking the same chilling question: “Why were the priests killed?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyRI5i2Xo4
Initial inquiries revealed the murdered priests had no known enemies, no interlinked conflicts. Their families confirmed they had lived peaceful lives. Then who killed them, and why during Puja?
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENHt7zfJ65
When 24 hours passed without an arrest, the case was handed over to the CBI. At midnight, Nizam Palace, the CBI headquarters, came alive. Branch head Rahul Sharma declared a red alert and summoned his top officers: forensic specialist Rima Dutta and her assistant Kuntal Roy, technical head Aditya Roy and assistant Priya Dey, senior officers Vinay Sarkar, Mohit Dubey, and Amir Ali.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpS1jSV3md
Rahul addressed them gravely:
“By now, you all know — five priests were murdered last night. This is no ordinary crime. There is planning behind this, possibly even terrorism. What do you think?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnw9XGkKq06
Vinay said, “During Puja, the city is crowded. Terrorists usually carry out bomb blasts then — killing hundreds at once. But here, only priests were targeted. Why?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMdlqYI8cH
Rima suggested, “It could be the work of an anti-Hindu extremist group. Killing those directly linked with the religion.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmF4cES0u1
Amir added, “But then why only priests? Every devotee is religious. Killing the crowd would have been easier.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aWLIbS9P5
Everyone nodded thoughtfully.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxwI1UFlzl
Rahul divided the work: Rima to examine the bodies, Aditya to scan national and international databases, Vinay-Amir-Mohit to comb through CCTV footage.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2yaf58VqU
Results came in two hours later.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tdf5BQxSI
Rima: “All victims weren’t killed by the same person — different patterns suggest multiple killers.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsdEeTPz8R
Aditya: “No match in databases. No record of priest-killers worldwide.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X1gUkxBfZ
Vinay: “Nearby CCTV cameras were deliberately shut down moments before each murder.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TSL0AfpyA
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBwjbrKp6i
Rahul grew tense. For now, he ordered tight security for every pandal and 24/7 police protection for priests. Yet one question haunted all: “Who wants to stop worship by killing worshippers of God?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthH3ps18C0
Fifteen Years Ago…
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Wim5fPqwu
In a small district lived a boy named Rishi. From birth, he was different from others — calm, quiet, thoughtful. Unlike other children, he never fought for toys or sweets. He spent his days in silence, often sitting under the big neem tree in his village, staring at the sky. His father was a farmer, his mother a homemaker. They loved him, but his silence troubled them.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VMRdt2F5C
“Why doesn’t our son talk like others?” they worried. Doctors assured them Rishi was healthy. He simply had an unusual temperament.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRqDThJ39m
At school, Rishi had no friends. He never laughed or joined games. Classmates teased him as “mad.” He ignored them. Only one teacher, Ananya Madam, believed in him. She often said, “This boy is special. He thinks deeper than his age.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyN035dMu9L
Rishi’s world revolved around questions. He always asked, “Why is God invisible? Why can’t we see Him if He is everywhere?” Priests, teachers, and even his parents failed to satisfy his curiosity.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5GmTLH6AO
One day during Durga Puja, while the entire village celebrated, Rishi wandered into the temple and asked the priest:
“Does Maa Durga really exist? If She exists, why can’t I see Her with my eyes?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotPcaOT9LK
The priest, shocked, scolded him:
“Blasphemy! How dare you question the Goddess?”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBNo6GMP9x
The crowd beat Rishi and dragged him out. His parents were humiliated. From that day, villagers branded him “atheist.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50RLBicCcT
But inside Rishi, questions only grew stronger.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWFsUweXG3
The Tragedy
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr8dtTHctS
One night, while returning from the fields, Rishi’s father collapsed with a heart attack. The poor family begged the village priest to pray for his life. The priest performed rituals, chanting loudly: “Maa Durga will save him.” But Rishi’s father died before dawn.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3zRMUHQHv
Young Rishi stood frozen. His mother wept helplessly. That night, sitting by his father’s body, Rishi whispered to himself:
“If God cannot save my father, then God is dead.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vUa7t4evL
That single thought took root in his heart, burning like fire.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ057iUO3HGg
Years passed. Rishi grew into a young man. He studied science and philosophy secretly, reading everything he could about atheism. He concluded: “God doesn’t exist. And those who worship Him are fools.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFoaxAalQ6
But his hatred didn’t stop there. He began to believe priests — the ones who preach false hopes — were liars who exploited the weak. “They sell lies in the name of God,” he thought. Slowly, obsession consumed him.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhV2sdveHls
Rishi decided: to prove to the world that God is dead, he must eliminate God’s representatives — the priests.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyexS1jENFH
Back to the Present
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRruEd9wAuJ
The CBI investigation deepened. Rima found strange symbols carved on the bodies of the priests — a circle with a cross inside. Aditya traced it to an underground atheist cult spreading across the internet: “The Death of God Movement.”
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKi0iBqjg9g
Further digging revealed a mastermind — a man named Rishi Sen, missing for the past five years. Last seen traveling across states, leaving behind a trail of small-scale temple vandalism, but never murder.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP7qolMAvC
Now, during Bengal’s grandest festival, he had escalated his war. His followers — young, brainwashed men — were carrying out his mission: to kill priests and declare to the world that God is dead.
The Final Question
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2sJKM8bpG
Rahul and his team realized they weren’t chasing random killers, but a dangerous ideology led by a ruthless man. If Rishi wasn’t stopped, more priests would die, faith would shatter, and chaos would engulf the city.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa7q8BVno9
But Rishi was no ordinary criminal. He was brilliant, calculating, and believed his mission was holy — a holy war against God Himself.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMq2h7tIUo
And thus began the deadliest manhunt of Kolkata’s history.
315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUJLfryg4y
and then Add to home screen.