The Day The State Split Asunder - 31

Attired in his Khakhi uniform, Inspector Arjun Reddy is all set to begin his another busy day at Madhapur Police Station. He looked at his reflection in the mirror with his head held high, gazing at the three stars present on the flaps of his shirt. The thirty-six-year-old was proud of his uniform and his profession. 

"You are looking handsome in it. Did you forget what day it is today?" his wife Sudha asked him, with her arms crossed.

"Today is Saturday, and I am not an IT employee, I am a cop and a police job is not like as shown in films," he added quickly. "There are many challenges, pressures and risks."

"So apart from Saturday there is nothing special today?" she said.

"Special! Ah Yes! Today you will fast, right?"

She grunted a heavy sigh, and in an irritating tone; she said. "Today is our marriage day, and you didn't even remember it. If you show the same level of sincerity towards your family, I wouldn't have to remind you."

A rush of emotion gripped him as the anguish in her voice was genuine. He was much preoccupied with his job that he even forgot today is his wedding anniversary. "Oh yes, now I remember!" Arjun placed his palms on her cheeks to placate her anger. "I am so sorry, Sudha! I forgot about it. But don't worry, I will try to come early today."

"Early! I expected you to take leave. Why you are back of work always? You told me you will request for a posting in Andhra only. But you brought us here to Hyderabad. When you were serving in greyhounds, you were never at home and now with these Telangana agitations, you are spending much of your time in the station and on roads."

"What can I do? There are a lot of cases pending. The commissioner is putting a lot of pressure on me. Anyhow, if the state gets divided, we will move to Andhra. The DGP himself has appointed me here in Hyderabad after validating my track record-" Before he could say more, he heard the police siren from the vehicle which came to pick him up. "Well! I need to make a move. I will try to come early today, don't worry." 

He fastened his shoes, took the police hat into his hand, walked out and sat in the police car. Today being weekend there was not much traffic on the roads and he reached the police station within ten minutes, which used to be thirty minutes drive on normal weekdays. 

The station was jam-packed with people who came to lodge their complaints. He was already frustrated about having forgotten his wedding anniversary date and the cacophony of voices in the station made him think like 'is this a police station or a fish market?'

"What's happening? Why do we have these many people in the station today?" Arjun asked in an aggressive tone. 

Sub Inspector Imtiaz and constables stood up from their seats and saluted him. 

"Sir, last night there was a robbery in fifteen houses. The victims came here to complain," reported the head constable.

"It's okay!" Arjun shook his head and moved to his cabin. A few journalists tried talking to him, but Arjun refused to talk to anyone of them. 

Sub-inspector Imtiaz followed him, carrying papers, and a yellow-coloured dairy in his hand. He sat down in front of him in his room, which contained an old desk and two chairs.

"Sir," said Imtiaz, "regarding journalist Suresh's murder case. Even though we couldn't recover the mobile from the crime spot, I took his mobile number from the secretary of his apartment. He purchased this sim just two months ago and from the call list I could see he contacted four persons frequently." 

Imtiaz placed the call list on the desk in front of Arjun. "And sir," he continued, "the last location of the mobile is on the flyover near Hafeezpet Railway Station at around 12:55. According to the autopsy report, his death could register somewhere between 12:30 and 12:40. He made the last call at 12:20."

"Who is that last person he contacted?" asked Arjun.

"Yes Sir, he is the Chairman and managing director of HBN-7, Radha Krishna."

"I see," Arjun leaned forward. "Let's begin our inquiry from him."

"I think Suresh worked upon a secret string operation. And sir, one more," Imtiaz put forward a diary he recovered at the spot. "From this dairy, I could see he has written the mobile numbers of three persons along with their names Suman, Narsingh and Mallesh. And we have their numbers in the call data and sir," he turned the page of the diary, "look at this, this looks like a date but he didn't write the complete year."

Arjun took the diary into his hand and saw - 06/06/199. "6... 6... 199… This is a date, but he didn't write it completely."

"He has written only 199. Why he didn't write the complete date?" 

"Imtiaz it might have happened like when he was about to write the last digit the murderer might have knocked on the door. He probably got up, opened the door and then got killed. There is something specific about this date. We will think about it later. For now, I am going to meet Radha Krishna."

"Sir, why we need to go? Let's ask him to come to the station," Imtiaz said.

"We don't have any shreds of evidence against him. It's better not to mess with these media people. Let's see what he has got to say about Suresh. Meanwhile, you get in touch with the remaining three persons in the call list."

"Ok sir, I will..." Imtiaz said. "And sir I have a small request."

"What is that?"

"Nowadays I am not getting enough time to spend time with my family. I have an 18-month-old son. When I leave for work in the morning, he's asleep and when I return from work, he will sleep. Because of these Telangana agitations, we are being forced to work for over sixteen hours. So, can you grant me leave for this Sunday?"

"I too feel the same," Arjun said. "You know what? Today is my marriage day. For my son's first birthday, I was in Georgepeta, to take part in the combing operations. Only if we sacrifice our sleep and happiness, the public can sleep peacefully."

"Sorry, sir!" Imtiaz said.

"It's alright Imtiaz, take leave for this Sunday," Arjun circled the desk and walked out of his cabin putting the cap on his head. He got into the vehicle and instructed the driver to take him to HBN-7 channel office at Banjara Hills. 

The driver stopped the car at the HBN-7 channel office. Arjun got down and straightaway walked towards the receptionist. He requested the receptionist to help him in meeting Radha Krishna. The receptionist called the secretary of Radhakrishna and a minute later she asked the security guard to escort Arjun to Radhakrishna's cabin present on the fourth floor.

The moment Arjun entered the cabin and stepped in, Radha Krishna stood up and shook hands with him.

"Hello Inspector, I am RadhaKrishna," RadhaKrishna introduced himself. "Please take your seat."

"Hello, Sir! Myself I am Arjun, circle inspector at Madhapur Police Station," responded Arjun.

"What is the reason for your visit?" Radhakrishna asked.

"Mr Radha Krishna, as you might have known that a week ago one of your employees, Suresh Bhadri, got murdered, I just wanted to learn more details about him."

"It's unfortunate we lost him. But sir, please try to arrest the murderer as soon as possible. Don't leave them."

"We will leave no one," Arjun said, raising his brows at him. "When is the last time you talked to him?"

"Sorry sir, I know little about him," Radha Krishna was confident in his answer.

Arjun narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Mr Radhakrishna, according to the call data, Suresh made the last call to you at 12:20 on the night of his murder, and you say you know nothing about him. How come this is possible? If you don't know him then how come he contacted you?"

Nervousness surfaced on Radhakrishna's face, but instantly he gained his calm composure. "How can you suspect me based upon that? Every employee in my office has my number."

Arjun looked at his eyes again. But Radhakrishna is a journalist, and they are experts in concealing their emotions. 

"Sir, you are trying to hide something. Please tell us what Suresh has been working upon."

"See Inspector! I already said I know nothing about him, I am helpless," Radhakrishna shrugged his shoulders, expressing his helplessness.

"It's okay, Sir. Even if you don't tell us anything, we will still find the truth. We have our techniques and procedures," Arjun said as a word of warning, "And how was his behaviour? Does he have any enmity with or any affairs with anyone?"

"No idea, sir," Radhakrishna said.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you sir, thank you so much for your time and co-operation," Arjun stood up, shook hands with him and before leaving, he turned to Radhakrishna and said, "I can make out you are hiding something from us. There are chances that you may also be under the threat. Please take care of yourself."

He stepped out of the room and while he was walking down the steps, the mysterious date 06/06/199 flashed into his mind. He stopped for a second and thought about going back to Radhakrishna's cabin to ask him about it. But later he abandoned the thought.

He went back to the station and asked Imtiaz to come to his room. He picked up a marker pen and began writing the series of clues they have picked up so far on the whiteboard.

"Imtiaz, he purchased the new sim just two months ago, and from that day, he frequently contacted four people as you said out of which one is the owner of the media channel, and," he wrote 06/06/199 on the board, "The last digit can be something from zero to nine. We have ten possibilities from 1990 to 1999. But which one is correct, and what might have happened on this day? And another one is the list of these medical stores written on the notepad. There are more than a hundred medical stores in the list, many are out of stations. There is one invisible thread that ends somewhere, but where? And did you contact the remaining three in the contact list?"

"Yes sir! But out of three, only two have answered my call. The third person with the name 'Mallesh' didn't answer, it is coming switched off."

"I think he might be our next cue to move ahead in our investigation. Try to get his address."

"Yes sir, I already got it from the telecom company. He stays somewhere near to Nature Cure Hospital, next to the MMTS station."

"Good job, with no delay let's meet him," Arjun said looking down at the floor. Deep in his mind, he had an ominous feeling that this was only the beginning of something big.

Imtiaz and Arjun got into the vehicle along with four constables and during the travel, Arjun asked Imtiaz "Did you talk to his parents?"

"Yes, sir, I talked to them. Even they are not aware of his work. The following month was his marriage."

"Poor guy!" Arjun said.

Arjun's mobile started ringing. It was a call from the commissioner. He swiped up to answer the call.

"Hello Sir," Arjun said.

"Arjun What am I seeing in the news about the robbery in fifteen houses? What you people are doing?" growled the commissioner.

"Sir, our team was on patrol-"

"If you were patrolling, then how did it happen?"

"Sir, it happened in fifteen different places at the same time. From today we will disperse two more patrolling teams."

"It's okay and regarding the journalist's murder, any clue so far?"

"We are investigating, sir."

"Expedite the investigation and catch the culprit soon."

"Yes, sir!" Arjun said, and the commissioner disconnected the call.

"Sir, this is the Nature-Cure MMTS station," the driver said.

"Imtiaz, can you try calling him again,"

"Yes, sir!" echoed Imtiaz as he took his mobile from his pocket and dialled the number of the suspect.

To be continued...