The Day The State Split Asunder - 32

"Sir, it's ringing, but he is not attending the call," Imtiaz said to Arjun.

"Do you remember the address?" Arjun asked, drumming his fingers on the dashboard impatiently.

Imtiaz nodded his head as an acknowledgment to his query. 

Arjun raised his shoulders slightly and said, "Are we waiting for any auspicious time to pass or what? Every minute and every second is important! The Commissioner is very serious upon us!" 

Arjun stepped down and surveyed the area around the station. There are no residential houses in the vicinity except a long stretch of land, flourished with tall eucalyptus trees and waste scattered everywhere. He glanced at the time on his wrist-watch. It was already five and it is about to get dark in an hour. 

"Not sure whether I will reach home soon today. Sudha will be definitely angry upon me. Maybe she is correct, I am not giving enough attention to family nowadays," Arjun thought, recollecting his wife's request to come home early today on the occasion of their marriage anniversary. But the uniform reminded him of his duty. After all serving in police force is all about holding one to the notion of duty first, family next.

"Imtiaz are you sure about the location? I don't see any residences nearby," Arjun said as he thoroughly looked around for another time. He seemed rooted in incertitude on the threshold.

"The mobile network company gave me this address only," Imtiaz said as he intercepted a small tea stall present outside of the station. "This tea seller must be having an idea, I will ask him." 

The inspector approached the tea stall. The owner was busy in preparing the tea for his customer.

"Arey bhai!" Imtiaz alerted the owner, "Do you know any person with the name Mallesh who lives nearby?"

"Ha Sir! He takes his tea daily from here. He went back to his home just a minute ago..."

"Where does he stay? Give me his address!" After taking the address he went back to Arjun, "Sir! Mallesh is a constant visitor of this tea stall."

"Brilliant! Then this owner must have an idea about his house too... Did you ask him about it?" asked Arjun.

"Yes, Sir! The house is on the other side of the station. We need to take the first right and his house is third one from the end of the street. He also told me like there will be a hand pump in front of the home," Imtiaz said.

"Let's go!" Arjun and his battalion advanced towards the railway station. The premises were deathly quiet as no trains were passing through the station and the platforms were completely empty. They climbed onto the foot over bridge and passed over to the other side of the station. 

After getting down, they took the first right that branched from the road connecting the station entrance to a small slum locality hardly comprising fifteen houses, all in dilapidated conditions with a cement roofing. 

The stink from the sewerage was disgorging; with countless flies and mosquitoes swarming around. If one has opened his mouth even for a second, hundreds of insects and flies are sure to get inside. 

"Sir, there is the hand pump!" Imtiaz said, pointing at the hand-pump. "That must be his house."

Imtiaz, Arjun, along with the constables, arrived at the doorstep of the suspect's house and started knocking on the door. 

After three knocks, a dark disheveled man roughly five feet four inches in height, dressed in a lungi with a clean-shaven face, opened the door. 

"Sir!" said the person in a quivering tone, glancing at the faces of everyone in a state of dismay.

"Are you Mallesh?" Arjun asked in a harsh tone.

"Yes!" he replied. "But what is the matter!"

"Do you know Suresh Bhadri?" Imtiaz asked, taking a step forward, with his hands on his hips. 

"Suresh! Who-Who Suresh Sir! I-I am listening to that name for the first time," Shaking with fear, the man stammered that he has no knowledge about the person. He even tried his best to appear nonchalant, but his attempts are futile as he is not aware of the fact that Arjun is an expert in figuring out the truthfulness of the statements, and can easily reason out who is innocent and who is criminal.

"Why is your voice shaking?" Arjun said, rubbing his chin in suspicion.

"Nothing Sir! Nothing!"

"Every criminal tells the same story that he hasn't done anything and knows nothing! You people don't give us the straight answers, and that's why we are forced to be rough in our approach, " Arjun pushed him inside and drove into the house. He glanced around the room which is enough to accomodate only two people with no seperate room for kitchen. There is a thirty two inch television clamped to a wall.

Imtiaz walked towards the shelf at the corner as he noticed the mobile. He disconnected the charger, unlocked the mobile and started going through the call history.

"Nice TV! What movie are you watching?" Arjun asked, fixing his eyes on the television.

"Ankusam sir," Mallesh said.

"I see! Did that arrest scene pass?" This time Arjun asked him in a courteous tone. "It is one of my favorite scenes."

"It is everyone's favorite sir! The manner in which the criminal gets arrested, making him walk on barefoot from his den to the police station, lathi charging all the way, who can forget it!" Mallesh said with a frail smile.

"I am a big fan of that scene. It is only after watching this movie I got the inspiration to join the police force. Have you seen such kind of cop in your life?"

"Sir, who can dare to arrest a person like that? I can say it is not only possible but impossible."

"But today you will get to see if you don't answer my question!" Arjun exploded, "Why did you kill Suresh?" 

"Sir! Sir! I don't know who is Suresh," Mallesh replied in a trembling tone, horrified with the sudden change of Arjun's disposition.

"Sir," Imtiaz said, walking towards Arjun, carrying a mobile in his hand. "He has contacted Suresh forty-two times in thirty days. And this mobile is worth thirty thousand. This cannot be his! I think something is fishy!"

"Where did you get that mobile? If you don't know him, then how come you have his number on your mobile?" Arjun walked close to him with his hawk eyes just a few inches away from Mallesh. "Why did you murder Suresh?"

"Sir! I swear on my mother! I am innocent! I didn't kill him!" he began pleading.

"Shut up!" Imtiaz caught him by his collar and gave a tight slap on his left cheek. "Every criminal says that he is innocent! Don't force me to become a monster!"

"Imtiaz, arrest him, let's take him to the station," said Arjun.

"Sir! Sir! Please don't arrest me! I am not a criminal!" cried Mallesh. He resisted with all his strength to prevent them from holding him. The constables dragged him out of his home forcibly by catching his arm and hastened towards the other side of the station. They got into the jeep and forty minutes later they took Mallesh to the ramshackle interrogation cell in the station. 

Seated in the dimly lit interrogation cell with no ventilation, he could feel the sweat trickling down his back.

Momentarily Inspector Imtiaz and Arjun opened the door and walked in. Arjun placed the file on the desk and sat opposite to him.

"See Mallesh! There is nothing to fear if you haven't done anything. Give correct answers to my questions and you will be free, else I will not say what am I going to do," Arjun said, throwing a stern glance at him. "Tell me, why did you kill Suresh?"

"Inspector! I did not! Please believe me!" he cried.

Arjun scrutinized Mallesh's expression, almost as though he hoped his eyes would reflect the guilt. But he couldn't siphon any vital signs of concealment, except the feelings of nervousness and panic. 

"What do you do for a living?" Arjun asked, leaning back onto his chair. 

"Sir! I am the driver for the owner of Godavac Pharma company."

"I see! Are you married?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Then, your wife? I didn't see her in the home."

"She is in her hometown Nellore sir, she is pregnant."

"Which month?"

"Seventh month, Sir!"

"Are you expecting a son or a daughter?"

"Obviously everyone will wish for a son, sir!" he said with no hesitation. 

"What if it is a girl?" Arjun leaned forward. "Will you apply for a divorce? Throw the girl into the dustbin?"

"No-No Sir! I will never do that! Even if I am blessed with a girl, I will take good care of her."

Arjun looked into his eyes again. The answer seemed genuine. "What is your relationship with Suresh?"

Mallesh took his eyes away from Arjun, glancing sideways, appearing as if he is trying to make an answer in the air.

"Do you think I am talking with the walls! I am asking you only idiot!" Arjun thundered, slamming the desk hard with his fist.

Mallesh felt as if the ground below started shaking. Tears welled his eyes and he began to cry, "Sir! Please trust me! I didn't do anything!"

Arjun turned his face towards Imtiaz, "Imtiaz! he will not answer like this it's better you ask him. He doesn't like listening to a good cop."

"Where good cop fails! Bad cop wins! I will do the interrogation Sir!" Imtiaz swiftly picked a bamboo lathi from the corner and began thrashing him on his legs.

"Sir! Please, Sir! Don't beat me I will tell you everything please don't beat me!" Mallesh started crying with pains, rolling on the floor gathering all the dirt from the floor onto his clothes. 

Imtiaz halted for a while, "Tell me the truth, else…" he striked one more time on his leg.

"Please Sir! Please!" He stopped for a second to draw air into his lungs, "Suresh told me to inform him about the movements of my owner regarding where he goes, where he stays, and he gave me this brand new mobile as a gift for it. Apart from that, there is nothing else," he said, panting, moaning with pains.

"Why did he ask you to do that?" asked Imtiaz, banging his lathi hard on the floor.

"I am not mindful of it sir, I am just getting money whenever I give him the information."

"Just because you're getting the money you didn't bother about asking him what he is doing?" Arjun said, "How much did he pay you so far?"

"For every information, he used to pay me, sometimes hundred... Sometimes five hundred and sometimes thousand rupees. He also gifted me with a phone."

"Why is he spying on your owner?" Imtiaz asked.

"I really don't know, sir! But if my owner learns about my arrest, he will remove me from my job. I have an old mother and a wife to look after. I have told you everything. Now please leave me!" he started crying again.

"Shut up!" shouted Imtiaz. He opened the file and took out the snapshot of the video recovered from Suresh's pen drive. He placed the photo in front of Mallesh, "Who is this guy?"

"Sir! He is the son of my owner... His name is Rajath..."

"And the person beside him?"

"I don't know."

"What's the name of your owner?"

"Dhyaneshwar, Sir."

"Imtiaz!" Arjun gestured Imtiaz to come out. They stepped out of the cell and got into the discussion room. 

"I think Suresh was spying on Dhyaneshwar. But why?" Arjun said, rubbing his forehead in a state of befuddlement.

"I think he is lying, sir," Imtiaz said. "At first he said he doesn't know who Suresh is."

"There is no benefit to Mallesh by murdering Suresh. And in case he has murdered, why didn't he leave the city? I am not sure if we are heading in the right direction, but at least we got a clue for this," he looked at the whiteboard, "Radha Krishna is not ready to confess. We can't use the same procedure upon him. And at least we got to identify who this person in the video is."

"Sir! If Mallesh didn't murder, then who might have murdered?"

"Anyone can! Suresh was on a secret task. The HBN-7 channel owner Radha Krishna knows everything about it. We can't just focus on Mallesh as a prime suspect."

"Why don't we meet this Rajath?"

"We need to be careful with these big shots, especially when we don't have any proof against them.The legal system in India is established on the platform of innocent till proven guilty. First, we need to find the r reasons for Suresh spying on Dhyaneshwar."

"What shall we do next?"

"Let us leave Mallesh for now, but ask him to come and report to the station every week and not to leave the city."

"Yes, sir!" Imtiaz got back to the interrogation cell.

"Where does your owner stay?" Imtiaz asked Mallesh.

"He stays at Begumpet Sir. But a month ago he went to the United States."

"When he is going to come?"

"The following week."

"It's ok! You can leave now. And don't dare to leave Hyderabad without informing us. Report to the station every week."

"Yes, sir!" Mallesh replied, excited about being released.

Imtiaz completed the formalities, updated the logs in the report and went back to the discussion room. 

"Sir! I told him to report every week without fail."

"Now, Imtiaz, we have three broken links. First, Radha Krishna, who says he doesn't know what Suresh was working upon. Second, Mallesh, he says Suresh had instructed him to monitor his owner Dhyaneshwar's movements and provide the information whenever requested. Third, the person in the CCTV footage present along with a foreign delegate. Luckily Mallesh has identified him and we can link it to the second chain. And third about this list of pharmaceutical stores. This is still pending. And did you enquire about the remaining two persons present in the Sureshs contact list?"

"Yes sir, I contacted them. They are his father and brother. His father is a farmer and his brother is a student at Guntur Engineering College."

"Brother! Own or cousin?"

"Own."

"Did you ask whether there are any property disputes within the family? Any rift between the brothers?"

"No, Sir! Suresh's father doesn't have any assets. In fact, it is Suresh who has cleared all the loans of his father's and he even purchased two acres of farmland in his village. But there is one thing to be noticed. Suresh gets a salary of only 25K per month. In three months, he paid the debt of five lakhs. The apartment where he used to stay costs around eight thousand."

"He must have received financial help from someone. But in exchange, he might have taken the risk."

"Who do you think can be his benefactor?"

"Verify Suresh's bank statements and transactions, and also check the background of this Mallesh, verify his movements."

"Sure sir! And what about this mysterious date, 06-06-199? This is another link, the fourth link."

"All together we have four broken links. We will think about the date later, First, let's reach out to these pharmacy stores, and find out their association with Suresh. We have to close this case as soon as possible."

Imtiaz meticulously made note of the instructions, divided the list and relayed the orders to his subordinates to reach out to the pharmacy stores.

To be continued...