Chapter 4
It was early morning at 6.30 am and yet the air was irritatingly hot. But no weather can change Vedant's habit and his addiction for dark coffees. He sipped his steaming black coffee turning to Page 5 of the newspaper. Politics- a subject he hated but something he loved reading. The intricate strategies weaved by the illiterate politicians of the country always fascinated him. The uneducated ministers were capable of mindboggling plans which a multiple degree holder or a top class university pass out could never ever dream off. Every happening, every incident in the country was a result of some political agenda of some masked politician living in some corner of the country. If all those incidents were connected, a vicious battle between two strong political parties would emerge, with the public being the collateral damage. The other reason for Vedant to read these wicked proceedings was to save himself from being the ignorant twit during profitless professional meetings. Besides, these political fallacies directly or indirectly hit him at his work and information of these political plays was required for him to plan his moves during investigations involving the creamy layer. He wanted to be ready to hit back anytime and not let his investigation be run by political showstoppers. He wouldn't permit political influence to direct the stream of his cases. To add to the idiocracy, in today's world, corporate espionage was on the high and the business class seemed ready to stoop down to any level- dealings with politicians and the underworld, to acquire their targets.
'Good morning!' wished the sweet voice of his lady. You are in early?'
It's been two months since he had requested Indira to come back to him, two months since he had openly apologised for his foolish reasons behind divorcing her, two months since he had confessed his guilt of not being able to save their child, two months since he had disclosed his inner dilemma of wanting another chance to be with her, two months since he had proposed his unbreakable and unconditional love for her, two months since she had forgiven him and reciprocated his love, two months since she had moved back to be with him after 7 years, two months since they both had been living under the same roof- divorced, but together, two months since he had felt pure happiness in his life.
Vedant considered himself lucky to have Indira back in his life, again. She was a strong and independent woman, empathetic and understanding. She perfectly saw where he came from and took the needed steps to straighten all the wrong things that happened in their lives, credit to him. They lived in the same house together, but in separate rooms. They decided that they would be companions for life, yet would also give some space for each other. They didn't want to force their reunited relationship.
'Coffee on the table,' said Vedant with a radiating smile. A small twinkle in his eyes shone. His companion had that impact on him from the beginning, brightening his life.
'Thank you,' said Indira pouring herself a cup. Did you get any sleep at all?'
'No. Just came back 30 minutes ago. You said you have some meeting today?'
'Yes. National Conference. I am presenting a paper. I am already running late. The cab has been waiting for me for 20 min now. Can you make your own breakfast? I'll have something at the venue."
'Of course! Don't worry about me. But don't skip your breakfast,' said Vedant lovingly, but concealed. She always brought out a different side of him. He prayed his team didn't seem him in this concerned avatar.
Indira gulped down her coffee like water and rushed out of the house with a hasty goodbye. She wanted to invite Vedant for her conference. It was a big day for her. Her first conference after she had settled in India. But she wasn't sure if he would be able to take some time out of his erratic schedule. She knew a new case had been born and it would be unfair of her to expect him to keep his work aside to attend her session, especially when he wouldn't be able to make head or tail of it. On the other hand, she also knew if she had invited him, he would have forced himself to attend the session just to keep her happy. With renewed energy from that thought, Indira jumped into the cab, on her way to the conference.
Vedant closed the paper and glanced at the front page news once again. How much ever you restrict and restrain the media, news always got out. The incident at the hospital and the death of Rafi were reported, surprisingly with respect. The presence of Shlok Karmarkar at the crime scene made the hot headline. "Business Tycoon at the murder scene- Witness or Suspect?" A big beaming picture of a little younger but handsome Shlok Karmarkar graced the article. The Karmarkars weren't going to be happy and if they weren't happy, the Commissioner wasn't going to be happy. He was still unable to deduct the catch behind his team getting direct responsibility of all the cases involving the Karmarkars. Usually, most of the cases directed to him were the ones which the local police failed to crack or the ones which needed reinvestigation. On the other hand, the team's reputation was flying high among the police circle for closing the most number of cases within a short period of time. He knew the Commissioner must have been pressurized from the top to give special preference for this case due to the active involvement of Karmarkars. At least he was glad that his team wasn't drowned with multiple cases at the same time.
******
The office of the Crime Control Squad was deserted completely taking Vedant by surprise. His team had slowly begun following his orders and presented themselves for work on time for the past couple of months. They were in a profession where it was impossible to have fixed working hours. This considered as an excuse, his team had started turning up very late for their work stating they were bound to stay back late anyway. Vedant had to issue strict orders to his team to be in office by 9.30 am on normal days. If their day weaved into a late night one, they can turn up late the next morning. Today being a normal day and the time striking noon, Vedant looked at his empty office with queerness. Adding to this impossible situation was- even Agastya, the epitome of punctuality and perfectness, wasn't at his workplace. He looked at the length and breadth of the squad room, peeped into the dark meeting room, until his eyes landed on his office door. The door wasn't completely closed and through the little gap he could slowly hear hushed voices piercing the silence. He walked to his room and opened the door silently to witness his team surrounding his work table with all their eyes glued to his computer monitor. Agastya had taken the seat in front of the monitor like the commander of an army.
Vedant cleared his throat informing his arrival. It had the necessary impact as his team jumped in shock and looked like rats caught in its traps. There was no way out.
'What are you people doing in my room, on my computer?' asked Vedant menacingly. Deep down, he didn't mind it but it was out of protocol and definitely out of bounds.
'Charulatha committed suicide, Sir. We were just checking the news updates,' said Sagar, his eyes back on the monitor.
'Charulatha? Who?' asked Vedant. Had he missed an important happening of the country?
'She is a popular TV star. Tall, thin and se...,' Sagar stopped right in time. He continued with a new sentence. 'The lead of Tum sirf aur sirf mera hai? She committed suicide yesterday night.'
'That's sad,' said Vedant genuinely, yet with no idea who the actor was. That still doesn't explain why you are all in my room without my permission.'
'Sir. Only your IP address has access to high profile cases. We don't have that access,' said Sagar with great annoyance. We just wanted to see if she had any cases in that section. So we forced Agastya into break into your system- which wasn't very difficult for him, was it Agu?' Sagar smirked looking at Agastya with pride, patting his back strongly.
Vedant stood glaring at his team. His team was a wonderful combination of wit, charm, compassion, maturity and cunningness. The number had to be cut down after their recent appraisal. Vikram, after his previous rash decision, which ended up in a shootout at a public place, was transferred to Narcotics. Charith, for his excellent performance, was transferred to Central Database Management Unit. Now Vedant was left with Sagar and Heera as his investigating officers with the former being a senior, Agastya- his technical genius and Ruby- his mind reader psychologist. With part of the forensic department shifted to the same building, he had Dr Shakti for company most of the times during his case discussions.
'Shut the computer and assemble in the squad room, now!' ordered Vedant receiving immediate response. His team immediately scurried out of the without a word.
The team adored Vedant. He was their boss, by designation. But in addition, he was like a father to all of them. He helped and guided them, taught them the work intricacies and most importantly, let them make mistakes and learn from them. He always gave them all the opportunities needed to explore their own potential, to challenge themselves. They had a lot of friendly and meaningless banter with him, teased him for his old fashioned lifestyle, but he had never minded it. In fact, he always joined them in their fun. So, even when he shouted at them or got angry, they never took it to heart but tried to look at the reason behind it. Vedant wasn't someone to lose his cool and throw his anger at his team. So when he did it, it had to be something really critical. He never expected them to be a cop like him. He believed each one had one's own style of working and should stick to it. He trusted his team immensely and never allowed one individual to bear the brunt of any mistakes which occur during investigation. They always stood as a team and faced the consequences together. This made them one strong work family.
The team took their positions in the squad room, around the big oval table. Everyone had their share of fun, but when it came to work, they were as serious as a heart attack. Vedant stood in front of the discussion board, tapping a black white board marker on his left palm, rhythmically.
'I assume you people have completed the ground work I had asked you to do on the three cases in our hand before you invaded my room and trespassed by computer?'
'Sorry Sir,' replied Heera instantly. She always felt like a school kid in front of her boss.
'Go on,' said Vedant.
'Local police handed over all the statements taken from the hospital- doctors, nurses, ward boys, security, everyone whom they thought might have seen something,' Heera began the discussion. 'Statements have also been collected from Karmarkars' security head- a one Sam Kingston, and from his men. Going by Sam's statement- we have a team of three men who were involved in the assassination of Rafi. One- who shot Rafi and fell off the building and died. The other two- Rafi's visitors- they fled the scene when the electricity was ceased. We have images of them taken from the CCTV. It has been faxed to all the police stations.'
'Are they in our database? Previous record?' asked Sagar.
'No. No records. Search is on to find who they are,' replied Heera.
'According to the Karmarkars, the assassination attempt was on Shlok but it went wrong and Rafi was killed. They also believe the previous accident, which killed their driver, was also an attempt on Shlok,' stated Vedant.
'Do we go by their theory?' asked Ruby.
'Never! Never ever go by what the victim's family believes or doubts. Always go by the evidences we have in hand. We look at it like any other case, through our eyes- and not through the eyes of the family of the victims,' said Vedant strongly. As much as the family believes a murder attempt at Shlok was made at the hospital, I feel otherwise. I thought Shlok's presence at the scene was made sure before Rafi was assassinated so as to pin the murder on Shlok- the only other person in the room. The man by the window was never to be seen or found. But nothing went according to the plan.'
'But why try to frame Shlok?' asked Heera.
'To disgrace him I suppose. Or to put him out of action,' suggested Ruby. 'The company would definitely drown if their head turns out to be a murderer.'
'Do we have the accident report on the driver's accident? What do we know about that?'
Sagar pulled out the file from his table. 'The report says it's a straight forward collision, Sir. According to the report, the car was smashed on the sides and the front. The truck, which rammed on the car, was out of control. Both the drivers stood no chance. But-' Sagar looked around with a triumphant face. He loved to keep his team hanging in anticipation.
'OK! What have you found out? PLEASE tell us,' said Ruby acting the pleading.
'Ha-ha-ha,' Sagar gave a fake laugh, not amused by Ruby's attitude. 'The pictures tell a different story. Looking at the pictures, I don't think this could have been a straight forward accident.'
'Why?' questioned Vedant.
'The distances don't match,' said Sagar. He placed a photo of a long Mercedes car, now short, smashed into a tree. 'From the report, we know the damage was to the front and right sides of the car. This picture shows the car smashed on its face very cleanly, with the nose squashed completely. For this intensity of damage, the car must have been travelling at a very high speed. The tyre marks show the brakes being applied, at least 3 metres from the tree. The brakes must have been applied when the car and the truck must have collided. If it was a head on collision- the truck must have jumped from the other side of the divider to hit the car, which I think is possible only in sci-fi movies. The truck could not have crossed the divider without damaging it and there is no sign of any damage done on that stretch of divider. Hence the accident couldn't have been a head on collision. The car must have been hit from behind. Both the drivers lost control. The car hit the tree. The truck struck the divider- the divider present at least 2 meters after the tree- and somersaulted to the other side of the road.'
'The next time you irritate me and I want to throw you out of my team- I will send you to the Accident Crash Analysis Unit,' said Vedant, which was actually a compliment. 'So, according to your theory-'
'Rafi hit the car from behind either by accident- like he slept off or something- or there are equal chances that he hit the car deliberately and tried to roll it off the road.'
'Visit the accident scene, Sagar. Coordinate with the ACAU also. I want confirmation from them and a detailed report on this incident. See what you can find. What about our three victims?'
Heera read from the file she had prepared from the reports submitted by the area police. 'Rajeev Mehra- Karmarkar's driver. Age 59. He has been with the Karmarkars for the past 30 years. He is a loyal servant to the family. The senior Karmarkar always prefers to have Rajeev as his driver. Rajeev drives only for him and for no one else. He stays in the staff quaters within the Karmarkars premises. He had a wife who died 12 years ago. No kids. Shlok Karmarkar was the last to see him alive. They both were travelling back after attending a book launch. Shlok got down near Bayer's pub. Rajeev drove back home alone. Got killed.'
'Good,' appreciated Vedant. He wrote down the name Rajeev on the board. 'Accident or murder or mistaken murder?'
'Either accident or murder,' said Sagar. 'It couldn't be mistaken murder like the way the family believes it to be. If the plan was to kill Shlok Karmarkar, then there should have been someone watching the car Shlok and his driver were travelling in. In that case, surely they would have seen Shlok get down at Bayer's pub. They would have aborted their plan but they didn't. Rajeev was still killed which means, the incident could have been an accident or Rajeev was the actual target.'
'May be the car wasn't tailed. May be someone just sent the information to Rafi that Shlok has started from the event,' contradicted Heera. 'Rafi waited for the car and rolled it over not knowing Shlok wasn't in the car after all.'
'Rajeev doesn't seem to be someone to have enemies,' said Ruby. 'If someone wanted to kill him, it must have been to attack Shlok indirectly. Hurt Shlok by killing people close to him.'
'You are making the case very filmy, don't you think?' asked Sagar.
'It's a realistic movie,' said Ruby with a slight wink.
'Rajeev couldn't have been the target. No one knew Shlok would get down on the way. The plan couldn't have been to kill Shlok along with Rajeev,' said Heera.
'May be they didn't care for Shlok,' said Sagar.
'No,' said Vedant, hearing all the theories. 'As Heera said- Rajeev couldn't have been the actual target. Rajeev could have been collateral damage but not Shlok. Such an elaborate plan couldn't have been made to kill a mere driver. If the plan was just to kill Rajeev- there were numerous other ways to do it.'
'So you are going with the family's theory that Shlok was the target but Rajeev got killed,' asked Sagar.
'Actually,' said Vedant with a sudden smile. 'What if the first attempt was also to frame Shlok? Shlok got down on the middle of nowhere, and his car gets into an accident after that. Coincidence? Why did he get down? Did he know something? Was it his plan to kill his driver? Such questions lead to one simple result. Shlok becoming the prime suspect. Same theory applies to Rafi too. Rafi is shot in Shlok's presence- he becomes the prime suspect.'
'Superb Sir,' said Heera in admiration.
'So whoever is behind, they want Shlok to be framed for a crime. But you don't think Shlok can be a suspect? You don't think he has a hand on any of this?' asked Sagar. 'I think we need to consider him a suspect as well and not a victim.'
'I think so too,' seconded Ruby. 'I think we shouldn't jump the gun and treat Shlok as a victim. May be he did have a part in all that and is playing the victim now.'
'Thank God you people have learnt something in these months,' said Vedant with a little pride. 'Yes. We shouldn't decide anything without investigating properly. Shlok- if not a suspect would still be considered as a person of interest. His status in society or his position will not in any ways influence our investigation or the way he is treated. We just have to be careful to keep the media away from yarning spy thrillers.'
There was a spread of agreement.
'Rafi. Tell me about him.'
'Mohommed Rafi. 35. Truck driver. Works for Max logistics for the past 4 years. Wife and 2 kids. Lives in Kripa Colony. No record,' said Heera.
'Was Rafi on duty on the night of the accident?' asked Sagar.
'According to the manager, Rafi was given a week's leave after a strenuous 2 month schedule he had worked on. So, on that night, he wasn't on duty. The truck he was driving was an empty truck with no load. He had taken the keys from the office,' informed Heera. 'He was gravely injured in the accident, was admitted in Yeshwantraj hospital where he was killed 2 days after.'
'Why was he killed?' asked Vedant to instigate a discussion.
'Was he the intended victim or was it Shlok Karmarkar?' asked Ruby.
'At the moment- Rafi is our victim,' said Heera. 'Let's not think about intended targets, just for our own clarity.'
'And sanity,' added Sagar.
'Rafi has a clean record, there is no indication that he was involved in anything illegal,' said Heera.
'Check his finances,' said Vedant. 'No criminal record doesn't mean he is clean. What about Jana Yadav? Anything on him? And the two men on CCTV?'
'Work is still on Sir. We are waiting for other police stations to respond,' replied Heera.
The discussion entered a pause as silence prevailed. Vedant was the first to break it.
"Fine. We have two cases in our hand. Rajeev's accident or murder and Rafi's murder. Jana's death is clearly defined and hence let's not take that up for the moment. Just check Sam Kingston's statement about the shooting incident. I need a copy of the incident report too. Let's not confuse ourselves thinking who the target was and if the wrong man was killed. Pursue the case step by step. Heera- you will take on Rafi's case. The usual phone records, financials and family. See if you can connect Rafi to Rajeev or Jana. Sagar- you will follow Rajeev's case. Visit the accident scene. I want to know how exactly the accident happened and if there are any chances of the accident being a murder. Agastya- Check on the book launch Rajeev and Shlok attended. May be we can find a reason why Shlok got down on the way. Ruby and I will look into the Karmarkars.'
'How do we approach Shlok?' asked Ruby.
'Let's decide that after we get a statement from him. The Commissioner feels Shlok's life is under threat and someone is definitely behind to kill him. True or not, we have to make sure Shlok is safe. Assuming his life is under threat, we need to find out who the possible people are who want to harm Shlok. Possibly one of them is responsible for the other deaths. What do we know about this top business tycoon?'
'Shlok Karmarkar- Head of Karmarkar empire,' began Agastya reading from his monitor. 'He is 69 years old. He worked as a small time mechanic before he started his own company. His business is primarily into automobiles- both bikes and cars. Within 15 years of its start, his brand had emerged into one of the top automobile brands of our country. He has also delved into hotel and real estate businesses recently. He was honoured with numerous awards for his excellence in business and his contribution to our country's economy. Karmarkar automobiles has tie ups with numerous top automobile companies of several developed nations. They have 35 manufacturing units in our country and they have nearly 2 lakh employees, all around the world, on their pay roll. They are famous for introducing mini trucks and mini buses, which have become very popular in the rural areas and transport businesses. He is considered as one of the important citizens of this state, bringing laurels and pride to our country. He has strong connections with top politicians and ministers.'
'Probably the reason we are thrusted with these cases,' commented Sagar.
'Family?' asked Ruby.
'Wife-Jhanvi Karmarkar. Active socialist. Popular for her fight against liquor shops near schools and residential areas. 2 sons. Kedar Karmarkar and Keshav Karmarkar. Kedar is a popular TV actor and host. Keshav is an artist- a painter.'
'What about Krishna?' asked Vedant.
'Krishna Karmarkar is Shlok's elder brother's son. He lost his mother when he was very young and his father is a useless drunkard. So he grew up under the parental care of Shlok and Jhanvi. Krishna seems to be the only one interested in Shlok's business, to carry it forward. He heads the business operations in the Arab countries. He has immense potential to lead this business empire. But he is also famous for his anger and disobedience. He has criminal file for assault and speeding.'
'Married?' asked Heera.
'No. He has had several girlfriends before. He is alleged to be currently dating Tina Dinda, rising actress.'
Vedant nodded matching the description with the man he had met at the hospital early in the morning. It was a perfect match.
'Apart from the family, there is one person who is very important for Shlok,' continued Agastya. 'Gagan Aryan.'
'The COO?!' asked Vedant with a surprise.
'He might be the COO of the company but he practically runs the company. He is Shlok's right hand. Shlok doesn't do anything without consulting Gagan. Gagan is the mastermind behind most of the company's international marketing strategies. They have known each other for nearly 20 years and they share a great bond, a bond which industry experts suggest is the success formula behind the company's extensive expansion. Gagan has always stated Shlok as his mentor friend. Shlok has always given credit to Gagan for the company's excellent growth. They never fail to take the other's name during any interviews they give. Whispers are flying that Gagan is supposedly going to take over the company when Shlok steps down. There has been great anticipation that Shlok would retire from his post after his first heart attack, 5 years back. But he has clung on to his post with Gagan making all the operational decisions.'
'In short- Gagan runs the company under Shlok's name,' remarked Sagar.
'We need to find out who inherits Shlok's company and other fortunes. We might hit a motive there,' suggested Ruby.
The landline phone struck the beginning silence. Vedant answered the call as he listened intently. He placed the receiver down with just a Ok'.
'Listen up people. Add another name to the list. Shlok's brother has been found dead.'
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Edited by Shwets1502 - 9 years ago
Anupamaa
