I 0:15 pm: Barat has arrived but the bride is missing. She had gone to a beauty parlour almost four hours ago and was supposed to be present at the ceremony by now. Bride’s mother calls his son Ahsan who had gone to pick his sister from the parlour but he’s not responding his number. Even the bride’s number is switched off. The bride is accompanied by a friend who had come from abroad but her number is not known to her mother. Time is progressing, so is anxiety. Her mother then gets a hold of the parlour’s number from a relative and dials it. Receptionist at the parlour informs her that the bride, Kalsoom left almost an hour ago. It is hardly a 15 minutes’ drive from parlour to the marriage hall. Where has the bride gone?

10:45 pm: Bride’s mother is now completely upset. She calls her husband, who is in gent’s portion of the marriage hall and informs him about the situation. He asks her to relax and sends his nephew, Hamid, to check on the bride. Hamid, a police official, goes to the parlour and talks to the lady in charge. She tells him the same thing that the bride left a long time ago. There is a CCTV camera installed at the gate of the parlour. Upon seeing its recording, it is confirmed that the bride along with her friend left almost one and a half hour ago, in Ahsan’s car. Hamid returns to the marriage hall, checking en route but there is no breakdown or any sign of accident.

11:30 pm: The matter now gets serious. There is no indication of kidnapping. CCTV footage clearly revealed that the bride sat in her brother’s car. Rumour of runaway bride is spreading fast. Bride’s father takes groom Khalid’s father to a corner and explains him the situation. They are old friends and business partners too. The situation is freaking them out. Besides worrisome, the ceremony is turning into an embarrassment. People are now starting to leave the marriage venue. Hamid suggests to call the local police for help. He raises a question, that although the CCTV footage of parlour’s gate indicates that Kalsoom along with her friend sat in Ahsan’s car but was the car being driven by Ahsan?

11:45 pm: Police is informed.

12:45 am: Inspector Imran, who arrives at the scene ensures them that he will sort this matter out before sunrise. He takes along Hamid and fathers of bride and groom to the parlour. The parlour’s camera footage only reveals that the bride and her friend sat in Ahsan’s car. Inspector Imran looks around and finds the CCTV camera of a school nearby, which is facing the parlour.

1:10 am: Inspector Imran wakes up the school guard and checks the recording of the school gate camera. Ahsan’s car had gone past the school gate that got lit just enough to look inside the car. Recording of school gate camera reveals that Ahsan was driving the car when he left the parlour with his sister and her friend. But there is someone else also sitting on the front seat. Nobody recognises him. A new question is raised now, who is the stranger sitting with Ahsan?

1:35 am: Ahsan’s cell number is now switched off. Inspector Imran calls a friend to find out last known location of Ahsan’s and Kalsoom’s cell numbers. It was past mid night and it would certainly take some time to find that out as time, is what he did not have.

2:10 am: The investigation party returns back to the hall. The ceremony is now officially called off. All the remaining guests also left.

2:20 am: Groom Khalid slips aside from the ongoing investigation and calls someone. He whispers in his phone to release the bride as his purpose of kidnapping has been achieved. He immediately disconnects the call and joins back the group.

Khalid and Kalsoom had been engaged since their childhood. As they grew up, Khalid developed liking for some other girl. So he had refused to marry Kalsoom. However, his father made it a matter of his prestige and threatened him that if he won’t marry Kalsoom then he will disown him.

2:30 am: There is still no news about the missing bride. Inspector Imran is asking various questions from the family members to get any hint about the bride’s intentions. He is also contacting his sources to acquire leads about the kidnapping.

3:00 am: Khalid walks to a corner and calls the kidnapper again. This time he annoyingly asks as to why the bride has not yet been released. Kidnapper tells him that he wants more money. Khalid gets furious because he has already paid a hefty amount for this purpose, but the kidnapper warns him that he will reveal his kidnapping plan to the police. Khalid is now in shock. He calls his friend through whom he had hired the kidnapper. His friend promises him to settle the issue and asks him to come to his warehouse at West Wharf right away.

3:07 am: Khalid excuses from the investigation party on pretext of severe headache. He takes his car and drove straight to his friend’s warehouse.

3:10 am: Inspector Imran has reached a deadlock. His promise of resolving the case before sunrise seems farfetched. He watches the groom’s car leaving the parking area. He suddenly remembers something. He asks the bride’s father if Ahsan’s car is insured and to his amusement, it is insured. A wide smile appears on his face. He knew that insurance companies install trackers inside cars, which can tell their precise location. He gets the name of the tracker company from insurance helpline. The rest was easy. He then calls the tracker company and gets current location of Ahsan’s car.

3:25 am: The whole party is speeding towards the port.

3:55 am: Police reaches the main area of the given address and searches around. Ahsan’s car is spotted parked outside of a warehouse. Inspector Imran storms through the open gate and finds Ahsan, Kalsoom and her friend tied up to a pillar. There is nobody else there. The kidnappers have probably escaped after hearing the police sirens. Police secures the scene and takes custody of Ahsan’s car to collect evidence. Inspector Imran tells bride’s father, that he will come to his house at noon for recording statements of Ahsan, bride and her friend. Kalsoom’s father takes all of them in his car and rushes back home. They were all traumatised and needed rest and comfort.

4:20 am: As they were leaving, Fajr call is heard from a nearby mosque. Inspector Imran has fulfilled his promise. They all departed in a hurry. Nobody noticed the presence of a decorated car in the dark spot, at a little distance from the warehouse, except for Inspector Imran. •