Chapter 10: Lost is found
Written by Kavya and Concept by Sidhant First go to previous blogs if you have not already....
Fancy Dear, after hacking the traffic signal footage, discovered that Mr. Ghanshyam had been walking confusedly towards a nearby grocery store. Using additional footage from the store’s security cameras, Fancy Dear tracked him to a construction site 25 kilometers away, where he had been trapped in a truck’s storage compartment for two days, unaware and forgotten. Thanks to Fancy Dear’s skillful hacking, the police managed to rescue him.
But Shree couldn’t let up. Though Fancy Dear had solved the case in just a few hours, she continued the hackathon, hoping to make even more progress, and perhaps, uncover something that would help her find Dev.
Three hours later, just five minutes before the hackathon was set to close, another breakthrough occurred. This one was different—it felt more urgent, and it involved a case Shree had personally tried and failed to solve many times before.
The case was about a young girl named Rina, who had been missing for three years. Her father had posted her disappearance on Locate, but Shree had always felt something was off. Her instincts told her it was a case of human trafficking. After some digging, she had learned that Rina’s father was an alcoholic who had frequently beaten her. He had also been in contact with a boy named Sajan, whose role in the girl’s disappearance seemed suspicious.
A hacker named Bouy had picked up the case and worked quickly. He traced a call Rina’s grandmother had received two months ago, where Rina had mentioned she was in Chandigarh. But Bouy’s digging uncovered that the call had actually been made from Delhi, not Chandigarh. Bouy continued his search and, using his skills, tracked down Rina’s location. He notified the CBI, who conducted a raid and rescued Rina from her captors the next day.
Bouy won the competition, with Fancy Dear coming in second place. Both hackers were given special mentions on Locate, but the victory was bittersweet for Shree. No new leads had surfaced on her brother’s case, but the two lives saved through the hackathon were something. For the first time in a while, Shree felt a sense of accomplishment. And though Dev’s case still hung over her like a cloud, she couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope.
As the hackathon came to an end, Shree sat back at her computer, still deep in thought. Then, a new idea struck her like a lightning bolt. She opened the email from ‘findmein@mail.com’ again, this time with renewed determination. She clicked on the second attachment.
For the first time, the passcode request seemed manageable. After a few attempts, Shree tried the word LOCATE. To her astonishment, it worked.
The attachment opened, revealing a photograph of a Kenyan man. Shree’s heart skipped a beat. She recognized him immediately. It was Chega, a Facebook friend of Dev’s, someone Shree had seen in their conversations before. Why Chega? What was the connection? Why had Dev been in touch with him?
This wasn’t just some joke or hoax. This person knew something. And it looked like Chega might be more than just a casual acquaintance—he was tied to Dev’s disappearance in some way.
As Shree sifted through Dev’s old Facebook messages, she learned more about Chega. They had discussed not only computer codes and hacking but also the political situation in India and Kenya. Dev had been deeply involved in the anti-corruption movement during Anna Hazare’s hunger strike in 2011. The protests had stirred something in him, but his interest wasn’t just theoretical. It seemed that Dev had become increasingly obsessed with the political conditions in Kenya, especially after the violent conflicts in the country.
Chega, it turned out, had been involved in the same political scene in Kenya, where militants had waged brutal offensives against civilians. Dev and Chega had shared many conversations about this during the period when the anti-corruption protests in India and the violence in Kenya had coincided.
But that was all Shree could piece together. She had no concrete answers—just more questions. Why had Dev been talking to Chega? Was Chega involved in Dev’s disappearance? Or was he just another lead in a tangled web of connections?
For the first time in a long while, Shree felt like she was getting closer to an answer, but the truth still felt as elusive as ever. She had learned something new about her brother—about his passion, his connections, and the deeper motivations that had driven him. But how far had he gone? Was he even alive? Shree didn't know. Yet, one thing was clear: she was not done. Not yet.
And neither am I my dear readers...
