The Day The State Split Asunder - 31

Arjun Kumar, the former greyhound commando is now the circle inspector of Madhapur Police Station. He was seated in his chair having a discussion with Sub-Inspector Imtiaz about a missing case that was registered a day before.

'Any update about that engineering student's missing case?' Arjun asked Imtiaz.

'Yes sir, we got some information about her. She studied in Guntur, till intermediate. After that, she came to Hyderabad to study B.Tech. She met her boyfriend on social media and fell in love with him. Last month she went to her hometown for holidays and she took away gold and cash from her home along with two lakh rupees and eloped with her boyfriend,' Imtiaz said.

'What is happening to the girls of this generation? They always fall for bad guys. Were you able to trace him?'

'The last location of the mobile was found at Zaheerabad. Our team is already on the chase.'

'Good! We need to catch them soon and also I received orders from the commissioner to increase the patrolling near the IT corridor, especially at the night. He is asking you and me to be actively involved in the night patrolling. Let's make a rotation. This week you do the patrolling, next week I and the following week ASI Narsingh will do it.'

'Sure! And sir, if you don't mind, can I ask you one question?'

'What is that?'

'In case if the state is divided, and you have been given an option to choose either Andhra or Telangana, which one would you choose?'

'I will definitely choose Andhra since that is where I belong,' said Arjun.

'Sir,' the head constable came running towards Arjun's desk, 'we received a call from 'The Golden Moon' apartments. They are saying someone was killed in their apartment.' 

'Ok! Ok!' Arjun said with an exasperated sigh, 'Imtiaz! Our Police department will always have a bad start of the day. Let's go!' 

Arjun, Imtiaz along with five constables reached 'The Golden Moon' apartments. The secretary of the apartment escorted them to the flat present on the third floor. The floor became completely crowded and they had a tough time dispersing them. As Arjun and Imtiaz made their way into the flat, they saw the dead body of the person lying in a puddle of blood. One of the constables took pictures on the camera.

Inspector Imtiaz walked up to the body and examined Suresh's neck. 

'Not a suicide. Someone slit his throat,' Imtiaz said. A gust of cold air from the window accompanied his words. 

Arjun kneeled on the floor and said, 'Also the body is just five steps away from the main door. It means the attacker had a clear intention in his mind to kill him as soon as he entered,' his eyes then fell upon a small leather strip underneath the wooden cupboard. He bent down and pulled it out. It was a wristwatch and blood drops were scattered across it. 'Maybe in the process of fighting this wristwatch might have fallen down. Not sure if it belongs to this dead man or the killer. Let's put it in the evidence bag.'

Imtiaz took the watch from Arjun and placed it in the polythene evidence bag.

'Search each and every corner of this house. Pick up whatever you find suspicious,' Arjun said and walked out of the flat, and facing a crowd of fifty members, he asked, 'What is the name of this person?'

The secretary of the apartment came forward with a nervous look on his face. 'His name is Suresh and he works as a news reporter at HBN-7 news channel.' 

'Who are you?'

'My name is Praveen. I am the secretary of this apartment. It was actually I who called you.'

'So you are the first one to notice? What is your purpose behind meeting him?' Arjun asked.

'Suresh didn't pay the maintenance for this month. He comes late at night and most of the time his house remains locked. Today while I was going to my flat after my morning walk, I found the door of his flat partly opened. I thought maybe he was inside so I went in and first saw these blood droplets outside his home. Then I saw him lying dead on the floor and I immediately alerted everyone in this apartment and then called you.'

'Where is the security guard?'

'Me, sir,' the watchman said, raising his hand with drowsy eyes. 

'What were you doing yesterday night? Were you sleeping?' Arjun asked, in a rough baritone.

'Sir! I saw Suresh coming into the apartment at ten in the night. I was awake till twelve. I am the only watchman in this apartment and how much work can I do alone?' 

'Enough!' Arjun raised his hand, asking him to stop. 'Did you see anyone coming into his flat?'

'No sir! I didn't see anyone.'

'Of course! How can you see when you are sleeping?' Arjun said and then turned towards the secretary Praveen, 'Does Suresh stay alone in his flat?'

'Yes sir.'

             'For how long has he been staying here?'

             'He just came two months ago sir.'

'How was his behaviour?'

'As far as I know, his behaviour was good.'

'Sir,' the watchman came forward. 'Two days ago I saw him quarrelling with a woman outside of the apartment at night. That girl even threatened him by saying "In case you cheat me. I will kill you". I think she might have killed him.'

'A girl? How does she look?'

'She looked fair with curly hair. And there was a tattoo on her hand. I saw her a couple of times before.'

'What were they fighting for? Did you listen to anything more?'

'No sir! I didn't listen much. But that girl was really angry at him.'

'Seems to be a love affair,' Arjun thought and walked inside the flat. 'Any clue Imtiaz?' 

'Sir, we couldn't find any mobile. It looks like the murderer has taken it away along with him.'  

'Send the body to Gandhi hospital for autopsy and examination, and also inform his family members. Find out if they are doubtful of anyone. The watchman just now told me like two days ago that Suresh had a quarrel with a girl. As of now, we have only one suspect, a curly-haired girl with a tattoo on her hand. Take the testimonial from the watchman. I suspect this is a love affair and also find out his mobile number from the secretary and trace the last location.'