The Day The State Split Asunder - 46

For seven days Arjun and Imtiaz were under intense pressure from their commissioner to look upon the missing case of one of his kinsmen, a twenty-five year old woman. Based on the call data and ATM transactions they finally traced her along with her boyfriend at Visakhapatnam. 

Subsequent investigation proved that her boyfriend had trapped one woman in the past and later abandoned her after taking the money and gold that she bought along with her. They arrested him and completed all the formalities to present him in the court.

'The beginning of this year has been really horrible Imtiaz! I don't know what's happening to the girls of this generation. They always fall for the bad guys,' Arjun said.

'The most horrible to the least sir!' Imtiaz said, stroking his beard.

'We have so many cases pending,' Arjun sighed, 'And this Suresh's murder? We are not making any progress.'

'Sir, I asked Mallesh to bring his brother-in-law Veeresh to the station today. I asked them to come by ten. They have to come by now.'

'Who is this Veeresh?'

'Rajath's driver.'

'Oho! I forgot about him and Imtiaz, did you notice one point?' 

'What is that sir?'

'We know that Mallesh has helped Suresh. We didn't recover Suresh's mobile at the crime scene. If for instance let's assume that Rajath is the killer. Then he might definitely have gone through the call list and from it he can clearly see that Mallesh has been contacting Suresh.' 

'It can happen, sir. It didn't strike my mind. But whatever the information that Suresh has presented so far, it was correct.'

'Sir,' the head constable came in. 'Two persons with names Mallesh and Veeresh came to meet you. They are saying like Imtiaz sir asked them to meet.'

'Mallesh and Veeresh!' Imtiaz asserted and turned back to the head constable. 'Send them inside.' 

'Imtiaz! Let's pull out all the required information now itself,' Arjun said.

Mallesh and Veersh walked into Arjun's office and saluted both Arjun and Imtiaz. Their eyes were clearly reflecting nervousness.

'Mallesh! I am glad that you have come,' Arjun said in delightment. 'I have one question for you.'

'Yes sir!' Mallesh replied.

'Does Rajath know that you have been helping Suresh?'

'No sir! He doesn't know it,' Mallesh declared in a confident tone. 

'You seem to be very confident. Can you let me know how you managed to maintain the secrecy?'

'Sir, Suresh told me to contact him with a different number which is not in the list of Dhyaneshwar and Rajath. So, I purchased a different sim and even my brother-in-law Veeresh doesn't know this number.'

'This Suresh is very clever!' Arjun thought.

Veeresh turned towards Mallesh, with a frown. Expressing as if he is unhappy about it.

'Mallesh, when did you meet Suresh for the first time?'

'I don't remember the exact date sir. But I am sure it's somewhere in the middle of October. Because I purchased my sim card during that time only.'

'So, from then on you have been providing all the movements of your owner Dhyaneshwar when requested.'

'Yes sir.' Mallesh nodded his head.

'Sir, who is this Suresh and I don't understand why you called me to the station? My brother-in-law never shares anything with me. Leave about me he doesn't even share with his sister,' Veeresh said.

'Veeresh!' Inspector Imtiaz said. 'Do you drive for Rajath all throughout the time?'

'I drive for most of the time sir except on some occasions when he has got some personal work.'

'On December 1st where did you drop Rajath?'

'On December 1st?' Veeresh paused, trying to recap the events of that day. 'Sir, I didn't drop him home on that day. He drove by himself.'

'Did you find anything peculiar in your owner's behavior? Did he look tense or worried?' Arjun asked.

'I don't remember it sir but one thing seemed out of the ordinary. No matter how busy he is, he will always start sharp by 08:30. On that day he remained in office till 10:00 PM. And sir, whenever he has some personal work and wants to drive by himself he keeps me informed by evening. On that day he didn't inform me. He came down at ten, took the keys and drove by himself.'

'What happened next day, on December 2nd?' Imtiaz asked.

'On December 2nd, he didn't come to office at all. He was at his home.'

'Why was he at home?' Arjun demanded.

'He wasn't feeling good sir.'

'Not feeling good? What happened?'

'He said he is having a headache.'

'Headache?' Imtiaz asked with a frown.

'Yes sir!'

'Can you tell me what kind of a man is Rajath?' Imtiaz asked.

'Sir, to tell you frankly. Nobody in the office speaks good about him.'

'Ok!' Imtiaz took out the mobile and showed him the picture of Suresh's photo. 'Have you seen him anytime before?'

'This person!' Veeresh strained his eyes at the photo of Suresh. 'I saw him outside of the Begumpet office a couple of times.'

'When did you see him?' Imtiaz rose up from his seat.

'Sir, I think just a month ago. I don't remember the exact date.'

'In the month of November?'

'Yes sir! In November only. Once I saw him walking out from the building and two times I saw him wandering outside of our building.'

'What?!' Arjun turned towards Mallesh. 'Mallesh you didn't tell us about this?'

'How will I know it sir? My owner doesn't go to the Begumpet office. He looks after the operations of the plant at Choutuppal. Only Rajath goes to Begumpet office.'

'So Mallesh, you will be driving your owner Dhyaneshwar to the plant which is present on the outskirts of choutuppal?'

'Yes sir!' Mallesh said.

'Veeresh, you will be driving your owner Rajath to the Begumpet office?'

'Yes sir!' Veeresh said.

'You both can leave now!' Arjun said, 'If we need anything we will call you again.'

'Ok Sir!' Veeresh and Mallesh pronounced in unison and they walked away from the station.

'Imtiaz! My instincts were correct. When we asked Rajath about Suresh, he said he doesn't know. Veeresh said he once saw him walking out from the building. It means he might have definitely met Rajath.'

'Even I also feel the same, sir.'

'Imtiaz, go to the HBN-7 Channel office. He is a news channel reporter and chances are he might have met Rajath before. Backtrack all his activities, I am sure we will get a clue.'

'Ok Sir!'

'And also verify Suresh's bank account statements.'

'Yes sir!' Imtiaz nodded.

'Let's expedite it Imtiaz! Let us get this case closed soon.'

Inside the editing room of the HBN-7 News Channel office, Swamiji has been guiding the content editor with the storylines, making sure that the video sequences are arrayed in proper order. He included the only solitary proof that he had against Dhyaneshwar, the initial report of the committee that was setup to investigate the cause of fire accident. 

They also made a documentary of Akella Raghavendra which portrayed his journey right from his beginning years as columnist, travelling though his famous stories which were widely acclaimed by the telugu audience till his stint as businessman, in partnership with Dhyaneshwar. He decided to keep the title - 'The mysterious death of Telangana Gem Akella Raghavendra.'

Karthik on the other hand was finalizing the list of youngsters who are hyperactive on social media with the help of the channel's public relations team. It took him an entire week to finalize the list. The only thing that they require is a video. He went into the editing room. Swamiji advised him to be seated in the waiting room. Abiding to his suggestion Karthik walked into the small waiting room with a round table and three chairs. He took out his mobile and started going through photos of Sanjana.

Sanjana, I can't say how much I am risking for you. I don't know whether you even think about me just like I do. I am unable to forget you even for a single second. It is only because of you I broke my friendship with Adarsh He was lost in his thoughts.

'Karthik,' Swamiji walked in and sat on the chair opposite to him. 

Karthik put the mobile in his pocket and said, 'Uncle, still how many days do we need to make the video? Today is January 8th. A week has passed.'

'Making a documentary is not an easy thing. I already told you patience is the key. Ninety percent of the work is done. I just need to finalize the script and voiceover artist and our job is done.'

'The public relations team has finalized the list. We have three hundred youngsters who are active on social media. We only need a video and once we get it, we can easily manage to get one lakh views in a span of six hours.'

The door of the room was opened again and this time RadhaKrishna emerged. 

'Sir, as requested these are the photographs that Suresh took on that day,' RadhaKrishna placed three photographs on the table. 

'Our next target is this superintendent of the Mental Health Center,' Swamiji said, taking the photographs into his hands. One photo has the side view of Rajath holding a briefcase in his hand and the complete face of the superintendent. In another it showed them walking together into one of the abandoned buildings and in the third photograph it pictured the briefcase this time on the superintendent's hand.

'What are we going to do uncle?' Karthik asked.

'Karthik, we will handover these photographs to the anti-corruption bureau. They will then conduct a raid on the superintendent.'

'Uncle, if they find nothing at his home then we will fall into trouble. They can even arrest us for providing them with the false information.'

'These photographs are not morphed. We will just express our concern that some conspiracy might have happened in the background. Rajath is the Vice President of Godavac Pharma and they are aware of all kinds of scams and frauds committed by Pharma industries. The bureau will decide whether to perform the raid or not.'

'Sir, I can help you in this. Last month our channel collaborated with ACB and performed a string operation against the Timmapur Revenue officer who was caught red-handed while taking a bribe of five lakh rupees. I know the commissioner Rajesh Thakur, IPS. You can go and meet him directly. He is a very friendly person.'

'Radha, I am going to meet him now itself. We should not give any opportunity of planning for our enemies to launch a strike upon us,' Swamiji then turned towards Karthik, 'Let's go to the ACB office. Our next target is going to be the superintendent.'

'I will arrange a car for you sir,' RadhaKrishna said.

'Thank you Radha! And also what about the video interviews of deceased family members? When are you going to give me?'

'Sir, it is almost done sir. Only five families are pending. You will have it either by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,' RadhaKrishna called his secretary and the vehicle and driver were arranged in a minute. He escorted both Karthik and Swamiji to the ground floor and into the car. After sending them off he retired back to his cabin and kept himself busy with his works. Thirty minutes later there was a ring on his intercom.

Radhakrishna gently presses the answer button 'Hello!'

'Sir this is me Kavitha from the reception desk. Madhapur Sub-Inspector Imtiaz wants to meet you.'

Radha's face turned blue. 'Ok, please send him in.'

'Why the hell did he come here? As Swami sir said, I should not tell anything new,' he said to himself.

The door of his cabin was opened. Inspector Imtiaz walked in and shook hands with RadhaKrishna.

'Hello Inspector, How are you? Please be seated. And I don't see Inspector Arjun along with you?'

'I am fine Mr. RadhaKrishna,' Imtiaz sank in his seat. 'Arjun is busy in other cases.'

'So, how can I help you?'

'Sir, we need all the activities of Suresh. I remember you saying that Suresh has been working here for eight months. I need all the activities and the reporting video clips.'

'Yes sir, you can get it from our content lead Chary. I will put him at your service,' Radha reached to his intercom and summoned the content lead to come to his cabin. 

In a minute Chary walked into the room and looking at inspector Imtiaz dressed in Khaki uniform he felt a bit nervous and it was obvious in his eyes.

'Sir, you asked me to come?' Chary said looking at Imtiaz and then at Radha.

'No need to fear chary. He is Madhapur Sub-Inspector Imtiaz. He wants all the news reporting contents by Suresh. Can you please help him?'

'Of course sir!' Chary said. The nervousness now lifted on him completely. 'Inspector please do come with me.'

'Thank you Mr.RadhaKrishna,' Imtiaz said to Radha.

Chary took him to his cubicle and pushed a chair for Imtiaz. He opened the folder of Suresh's in his computer. There are a total of four hundred and eighty seven videos. 

'When was the last time did Suresh make any kind of reporting?' Imtiaz asked Chary.

Chary looked at the last video. 'It was on October 10th Sir.'

'After October 10th he didn't make any kind of news reporting?'

'Yes sir.'

'What has he been doing from October twelfth till December first?'

'No idea sir. I only saw him in the office occasionally from thereafter. Suresh is a very reserved person and he doesn't interact much with anyone.'

'Can you dump all these videos into a pendrive or a cd?' Imtiaz asked.

'Yes sir!'

Concurrently, on the other side, Swamiji and Karthik reached the Anti Corruption Bureau office which is just ten kilometres away from the HBN-7 Channel office. The sentry took note of their credentials and guided them to the waiting room. 

'Karthik, for God's grace, please don't speak anything inside,' Swamiji requested him. 'And also don't ask me anything about the plan now and don't get surprised with whatever I am going to say inside. Control your emotions as long as we are inside.'

'Ok uncle!'

Five minutes later, they were given permission to meet the commissioner Thakur. Mr. Thakur, an IPS officer of the 1986 batch has been heading the commissioner of ACB for about one year. Many big raids were conducted under his tenure which also included relatives of several Andhra ministers.

'Good afternoon Mr.Thakur!' Swamiji greeted him as they stepped into his spacious cabin and later presented their credentials. 'I am Satyanarayana Goswami and he is Karthik.'

'Good afternoon Sir,' Karthik said to Thakur. 

'Good afternoon,' Thakur said to both, 'Mr. RadhaKrishna informed me that you will be coming, please be seated.'

Karthik and Swamiji took their seats. Thakur also sank back on his seat.

'How can I help you?' Thakur asked.

'Sir, actually we came here to show you one thing,' Swamiji took out the photographs that he took from Radha and placed it in front of Thakur. 'One of our HBN-7 Channel journalist Suresh captured these photographs at the Erragadda Mental Institute. We found these photographs on his system.'

Why is uncle lying? Karthik thought.

'We found these photographs on his computer. The one dressed in a suit is Rajath, the Vice President of Godavac Pharma and the other person is the superintendent of Erragadda Mental Institute.'

'Where is that journalist Suresh and why didn't he come along with you?'

'Unfortunately he is no more in this world. He was found murdered at his home.'

'Then you should take these photographs to the police. Why did you come here?'

'Sir, the reason I came here is because I feel this has got to do with the corruption.'

'How can you say that this is related to bribery?'

'We didn't design these photos on the computer sir. I worked as an investigative journalist for more than thirty years. If I give these photographs to the police they will only investigate from only one single point of view and that is to identify the murderer of Suresh. You very well know that the pharmaceutical industries are regularly found to be engaging in fraud of many types like paying the doctors for increased prescriptions of their company's drugs and so on.'

'But still we have to go through the standard operating procedure. When the police are already investigating it, we are not supposed to meddle in their duties.'

'Sir, if suppose a patient is undergoing treatment for a heart disease and unfortunately he developed leukemia in between, can the cardiologist supervise the treatment for leukemia? We need to pull in the oncologist also right?'

'What do you want to say sir?' Thakur demanded in his polite but stern tone.

'Handing over these evidences to the police will be useless like constructing a bridge under water, and this is my feeling. The decision is up to you sir,' Swamiji stood up. 'Please feel free to reach out to me in case you need any assistance. My job is over.'

Thakur's mind went blank. As an IPS officer he knew that a journalist's logic cannot be treated with disdain. Many times it was the journalists who helped them in solving a majority of crimes.

'Karthik, let's go,' Swamiji said to Karthik. They walked out of the office and climbed into the cab. Swamiji instructed their driver to drop them at home.

Karthik was dumbfounded with the kind of conversation that Swamiji had with Mr. Thakur.

'Uncle,' Karthik said. 'I don't think we-'

'Karthik, please don't ask me anything now. Just wait and see how the events will unfold from now on.'

To be continued...