Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Delhi Crime’ is a crime drama that follows the investigation into the cases that are based on the real crimes that happened in Delhi. The second season opens with a new case where DCP Vartika Chaturvedi and her team have to go up against a gang of criminals who go on a killing spree, the aftermath of which leaves everyone dumbfounded. There are lots of twists and turns this season, with a special focus on the moral code followed by the cops. There comes a time when they have to choose between what’s easy and what’s right, and in the end, that’s what makes a difference. Vartika and her team’s quest to find the culprits and bring them to justice reveals to them the heinous nature of a group, which boils down to the nefarious intentions of one woman. How is she caught and why did she commit the murders in the first place? Let’s find out. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Delhi Crime Season 2 Plot Synopsis
Following the events of Season 1, we meet Vartika Chaturvedi and her team of police officers living a comparatively quiet life. They are thrown back into the turmoil when a quadruple murder in a posh area of Delhi takes place. It is a case of robbery, but the mangled state of the dead bodies leaves the cops wondering how someone could possibly do such a thing. The MO of the murders suggests that it is the work of the infamous Kachcha Baniyan gang, who have been AWOL for a very long time.
As the city falls into a panic when the news of the serial killer gang is revealed, the police officers, once again, find themselves in a very tricky situation. The public and the media hound them, while their superiors constantly breathe down their necks to solve the case by whatever means necessary. Meanwhile, the personal lives of the officers are also affected by this. To help them with the case, a retired police officer, who has an experience with tribal gangs, is brought on. But he turns out to be more trouble than it’s worth.
Delhi Crime Season 2 Ending: How is Karishma Caught?
When the cops arrive at the first crime scene, they take one good look at it and decipher that this is the pattern of the notorious criminal gang which has been operating in the county for decades. All the signs point toward the fact that the serial killer/robbers are back. However, Vartika’s gut tells her that something is off about the crimes. At times, it looks like the culprits are young and reckless, but they also prove to be in control of the situation and barely leave anything behind.
After a thorough investigation into the tribal people in Delhi, who are suspected of being a part of the gang, it becomes clear that this is the work of a copycat. Someone is trying to distract the cops by pointing them towards the gang while trying to slip away unnoticed. Because they are so careful, the cops have to wait for the criminals to make a mistake, and to their good fortune, it eventually happens.
The jewelry that was robbed from the house of the Aroras, the first victims, resurfaces in a different area of Delhi. An old woman sells it at a jewelry shop, claiming that it is her family heirloom. She turns out to be the grandmother of a man named Guddu, who is directly linked to the gang that has been perpetrating the crimes. The cops follow him to a garage where a scuffle between them leads Guddu to fire his gun and officer Bhupendra Singh is shot in the chest. As he is rushed to the hospital, the police receive a call from an elderly couple who realize that they might become the next victims of the murderous gang.
While Singh is treated for his injury in the hospital, Guddu reveals that he’d been working with three other people – Babloo, Thermal, and Karishma. It turns out that Karishma had worked as a beautician, and was the connecting thread for all the victims, who’d visited the parlor she used to work at. She knew who was rich, who lived alone and was vulnerable enough to be robbed without it being too risky. She was the one who created a list of potential victims, who were then sequentially targeted by the gang, who used the MO of the Kachcha Baniyan gang to throw the cops off their trail.
With the cops busy investigating the tribal people, no suspicion would fall on them and they’d be free to do whatever they wanted. It is also revealed that Karishma and Babloo are in a relationship and Thermal is Babloo’s nephew. This makes Guddu the only outsider in the group. After the third murder, the men decide to stop their killing spree, divide the money and move on with their lives. Karishma, however, has other plans.
While Guddu is in police custody, a conflict arises among Karishma, Babloo, and Thermal when the men discover that all of the money is gone. Karishma reveals that she used it as a down payment for her beauty parlor, which angers them. Babloo and Thermal attack her, demanding the name of the person to whom she gave the money. In the end, however, Karishma proves to be a better brain and brawn than them. By the time the cops catch up with them, she has killed both the men and has run away to safety.
After all the avenues have been explored, Vartika becomes convinced that there is no way to locate Karishma now. Just when she’s given up hope, a new detail emerges, regarding the phone call records. A series of calls at the early hours of the day is found to have been made to a restaurant. This comes off as suspicious because no restaurant opens so early in the morning. When the owner is questioned, he reveals that he’d been approached by Karishma, who asked him to look for a place for her gang for a few days. She gave him money upfront, and she looked like someone from a well-off family, so the man found a place for her without ever going into her credentials. With Karishma’s address in their hands, the cops form a trap to corner her. After a little chase, she is finally caught.
Why Did Karishma Commit the Murders?
When asked why she commit the murders, Karishma Solanki reveals that she just wanted to live as rich people do. The only reason Karishma put together the gang and committed the crimes that make one’s soul lurch is that she wanted to have a better life. She’d been married and had a child, but she left them behind because she felt stifled. She worked in beauty parlors, but she wanted the one that she could call her own. For that, she needed capital. Once, Mrs. Arora told Karishma she’d help her with the money, but she later retracted her promise. This made Karishma very angry and she also realized that if she wanted something, she’d have to take it for herself, by hook or by crook. Her anger, mixed with her intense need for money, led to a series of murders that created panic in the entire city.
Why is Vartika Transferred From Delhi?
With the capture of Karishma, the serial killings are brought to an end. It is also particularly satisfying for the police department because instead of just blaming the crime on DNTs and washing their hands off the case, they track down the real culprits. At one point, it looked like Vartika might have to cave under the pressure from her superiors to arrest Azaad and Jugnu Pardi for the gruesome crimes. With the public in a panic about the serial killings, everyone wants someone to put the blame on, as soon as possible.
Azaad and Jugnu’s presence around the area puts them in just the spot where the cops can declare them the murderers and leave it upon the courts to decide whether or not to find them guilty. The problem is that there is concrete evidence that they didn’t commit the murders, considering that they were busy robbing someone else around the same time. However, the robbery was never reported. On top of that, Azaad and Jugnu belong to de-notified tribes, who are already painted as “born criminals”. No one would bat an eye if they were arrested.
While she could have done what was asked of her and moved on from the case, Vartika decides to do what was right. Despite the clear instructions from her superiors, she admits in the press conference that Azaad and Jugnu had nothing to do with the murders and they will not be arrested. Following this, she focuses all of her time and resources on catching Karishma and her gang, at which she succeeds against all odds.
Such an act should surely mean appraisal from her superiors, and so, she is promoted to DIG. However, the higher-ups can’t digest the fact that she went against them, undermining their superiority. So, to punish her, they transfer her to a remote place. This means that she’ll have to leave her established life and career in Delhi, and will most likely have to stay away from her family.
The trope of the transfer to “remote places” has often been used in Bollywood movies as the punishment for cops who have to pay the price for their courage. While it might look like ‘Delhi Crime’ has fallen into the same pattern, the transfer of Vartika Chaturvedi feels similar to IPS officer Chhaya Sharma, on whom her character is based. Four months after the gang rape, which Chhaya had investigated, she was transferred to Mizoram. It was alleged that this had something to do with the media coverage that painted the Delhi police in a bad light and accused them of not being more efficient. Someone had to be held accountable for that, and so Sharma received her transfer.
However, it was clarified later by the officials that Sharma’s transfer had actually been finalized a year prior to the gang rape case. Due to a partial modification, it was delayed and she had to stay in Delhi while solving the case. Her move to Mizoram had nothing to do with any blame game. In the show, however, Vartika’s sudden transfer is directly linked to the defiance of her superiors because she is more intent on doing the right thing rather than sending innocent people to jail just to save the face of some politicians and the police department.
Read More: Delhi Crime Season 3: Everything We Know
