Ishq Bin Jiya Na Jay by Meesha Hyder

About this novel

Ishq Bin Jiya Na Jaye (Urdu: عشق بن جیا نہ جائے) by Meesha Haider is an Urdu cat-and-mouse thriller romance between a police officer and a thief. SP Shahram Haider is known for his encounters, and Sitara leads a gang of gold thieves called the Star Group.

The novel opens with a shock: “Sir, I want to resign,” SP Shahram Haider announces, dropping a bombshell on his superior. Nobody stops their most capable officer as he walks out, because everyone knows why – in the last ten months his life has completely changed, all because he joined the “Stars mission”.

The story then goes back ten months. Shahram is given an important task: catch the Star Group, a gang of planners who are sharp, cunning and, he admits with disgust, very intelligent. Every robbery is spotless, always in a rich home, and the latest was their fourth. Shahram vows that this time they won’t escape – their lives are now written on his pistol’s bullet. He is given a hand-picked team of Pakistan’s most capable and honest officers – among them Inspectors Danyal from Faisalabad, Rabeel from Hyderabad, Danish from Lahore and Yasir from Karachi – and told his superiors want the five thieves, dead or alive.

ایک ایماندار ایس پی، ایک ذہین چور، اور ایک خطرناک کھیل۔

Meanwhile, the gang’s leader, Sitara, sits cross-legged watching the news about her latest theft, laughing at the police’s helplessness. Her teammate Shahzain brings bad news: their case has been handed to SP Shahram Haider, who is very honest and is known for going straight for encounters. “So should we be scared?” asks Adi. Sitara is calm – they always carry death in their hands, and anyway, this next robbery will be their last. When Shahzain reveals Shahram’s new team on a chart, she studies it closely. Shahram, meanwhile, welcomes the team and briefs his officers: the Star Group has two girls and three boys, and they only rob people who hide black-money gold from the tax authorities, so the victims can’t even complain. Studying the pattern of their targets, Danyal works out that the next victim’s name will begin with “S” – the gang is spelling out S-T-A-R-S.

Meesha Haider sets up a sharp, suspenseful game of wits with a strong heroine and a stubborn hero, and the title promises that love will complicate everything.

You can read Ishq Bin Jiya Na Jaye online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Meesha Haider: Keh Hum Naraz Hain Tum Se, Farz Karo Hum Tary Hote and Mujhe Tumse Mohabbat Hai, or see all Meesha Haider novels.