Footprints of deceit

Luv and Kush, in their late 20’s worked in the basement of Mr Ajay Malhotra’s company. They provided car washing and car parking facilities and were given shelter by Mrs Malhotra. Luv and Kush both were twins and the only factor that distinguished Luv from Kush was a big scar on his

forehead. Out of them, Kush was blind.Luv was the guiding stick for Kush all these years but today was a day of irony where Kush was helping Luv. The showers were relentless and there was no electricity but it wasn’t any different for Kush.

As they were sitting in that part of the basement where there was some light and talking to each other, Mr Malhotra entered the basement and kept following Mrs Malhotra. Ajay Malhotra was absolutely furious at Mrs Malhotra. It was a well-known fact in the company that there was hardly any love between the couple but merely a transaction amongst many others that Mr Ajay had entered into. Slowly the arguments turned into a massive showdown between the couple as they kept pushing and slapping each other. Luv got up to help but was stopped by Kush.

Mr Ajay pushed Mrs Malhotra aside and removed a gun from his back pocket and pointed it towards Mrs Malhotra. Jay’s friend and business advisor, Sandeep, all drenched in the rain also entered into the frame from the front entrance and was trying to pacify the situation however none of them were willing to listen.

Suddenly, the entire basement was under complete darkness as there was power cut and it was accompanied by the noise of two gunshots. Mr Ajay and his friend went into their respective cars and

switched on the headlights of the car and as they did that they saw Mrs Malhotra drenched in blood, lying on the floor.

Sandeep looked stunned and tightly slapped Ajay saying how he could do this. But Ajay kept on telling that he did not press the trigger. Luv couldn’t help but screamed loudly. There was a gun lying next to Luv’s feet. Kush immediately held Luv’s hands and they started running towards the exit. Ajay ordered Sandeep to follow them and nab those as he is of the belief that they possibly could have killed Mrs Malhotra.

While they were running, a car stops by them, a person wearing a mask steps out the car and pushes the two aggressively in the car and speedily races out of sight for the panting Sandeep. He decides to instead run to the nearest police station and get some help.

During the interrogation process going on and the FIR being filed, suddenly a man enters the room and tells the police officer that he was the witness in this case and he had seen Mr Ajay pointing the gun at Mrs Malhotra.As Ajay and Sandeep turn around, they are shocked to see

that it’s Kush. Jay intervenes and tells the investigating officer Mr Rajveer that he is just trying to protect his brother Luv, who is on the run and argues that how can Kush even be a witness since he is blind.

Kush tells Mr Rajveer that this guy in a black shirt and blue jeans was the one who had pointed the gun towards Mrs Malhotra (pointing towards Mr Ajay) and the guy sitting next to him in his branded blue shoes and a dark pink shirt is Mr

Sandeep. He also tells Mr Rajveer that its 09:12 pm pointing towards the digital clock present on the table.

Both Ajay and Sandeep look at each other and are shocked to find out that Kush isn’t blind. On probing further, Kush clarifies that, "I indeed had lost my eyesight but a couple of days back Luv had donated his eyes to me as he believed that I should have an equal opportunity of witnessing this world and being my twin brother, he considered that to be his responsibility. However, I have a confession to make. Today, as we were running from the basement, there was a

car that took us away and the person was gangster Teja’s aide. We were locked in a dark room. Yes, I also was not aware that my brother was working for him in the underworld so that he could get quick money which could help me get back my vision. Ajay tried to intervene but Rajveer asked Kush to be more specific, as he was busy making notes.

Kush continued, "Soon we were separated and I was thrown into another room, adjacent to my brother’s room. As I was talking to Luv saying that the rain is relentless, I hear it thrumming on the metal roof and running down the broken pipe into the mud, and I moisten my cracked lips with my tongue. I wonder if they’ll bring me food. I wonder if they would

come at all" "Not so specific, Kush" said Rajveer.Kush apologized and continued, “There was a package which Luv had failed to deliver and because of which Teja had incurred huge losses.Teja was constantly asking Luv about the package of drugs but Luv didn’t utter a word and was shot by Teja.As they were about to come to me asking for it, I pretended to still be blind and also pretended to faint so that I could escape and come to you, sir".

Sandeep also has no choice but to point fingers at his old friend Ajay and therefore Ajay is arrested based on prima facie evidence and the statements of the only 2 witnesses present. Due to heavy rains that day, the staff members and

the security guards were sent home to avoid any casualties and inconvenience in case of flood like situation and due to power cuts, the CCTV had failed to record the proceedings, hence it made the statements of witness even more crucial.

While the post moterm reports and the area were being investigated, Sandeep was handed over all the responsibilities of managing the company.

Next day, while Sandeep was in a meeting informing his management team about the next steps, Rajveer intervenes the meeting and Sandeep is arrested and handcuffed.

On constantly arguing with the cops for the reason as to why he was handcuffed and also adamant on demanding a lawyer, Rajveer slaps Sandeep and tells, “Surely, your lawyer is on the way but till then let’s watch a nice film but don’t at all stop me until I reach the climax or I’ll slap you hard”.Rajveer informs Sandeep that while he was individually interrogating Kush, Kush had informed him that the gunshot was very loud as if someone close to him had shot Mrs Malhotra. Obviously, it was dark so it doesn’t make for a conclusive evidence but I have always been told that a blind man’s ears should always be relied upon and Kush was blind all these years until last week. On asking the same to Mr Ajay, he told that since in the quarrel, his hearing aids had fallen on the ground, it would be difficult for him to tell. We then asked you and had to rely on you since you were the most reliable witness for us amongst the 3.But then comes the twist. The bullet pierced Mrs Malhotra right hip

region twice. Now, Mr Ajay was in front of her and there was no reason for him to target that side area. Other possibility is that she could have turned to run and that is when he could have shot her but again if that was the case she would have naturally fallen on her right side but here

her position was exactly the reverse. Again this is just an “if” and the court won’t admit it as again there is a possibility of moving the deceased’s body to deceive the

police. We always complain of rains and uncompleted work by our municipality, don’t we? But thankfully because of them,

this case won’t be unsolved. There was construction work going on right outside the basement and because of which a lot of cement and mud was kept there. With heavy rains, it all had become very sticky and wet. We then for a moment tried to rely on Kush’s statement. We found that there were footprints of mud in the area where Kush and Luv were seated. As we traced, we found that a person might have crawled on his toes from the place where Ajay was standing

and come to this spot and again there were the same footprints of the person returning to the spot where Ajay was standing. Now those were incomplete, as the person was

walking on his toes to avoid the sound of his footsteps. Again, the proofs were inconclusive. But then comes the twist. There were another set of these footsteps as if a person was running or chasing someone and naturally he won’t be crawling or walking on toes. The footprints were fancy and branded. These footprints had a mark “CQ”.

Rajveer exclaimed, “It’s nice to be brand conscious Mr Sandeep but it’s not at all nice for a criminal like you to leave such simple evidences behind (as he pointed towards

Sandeep’s branded CQ shoes)and as I said you can’t trust a blind man’s vision but should never question his ears as they are even sharper than my vision. Also one more thing Sandeep, the gun that Ajay was holding was brand new. No doubt that there were finger prints on the trigger but then how can a gun fire on its own without loading it? There were Ajay’s fingerprints on the trigger but strangely not on the part that loads the gun first. Hence, he had just pointed it towards her for intimidation.”

Sandeep now on knowing that he has no way out as all concrete evidences are pointing towards him confesses that he was under tremendous pressure from Teja to deliver a shipment of drugs. Even Ajay was involved in this since many years but somehow this time Mrs Malhotra came to know of it and she threatened to inform the cops. In heat of the moment, he pulled the trigger and killed Mrs Malhotra and the idea was to blame it upon Ajay but if Ajay proves his

innocence, the plan B was to blame it upon Luv since there was no one else present and he didn’t know that Luv had lost his eyesight recently.

Sandeep further revealed Teja’s hideout and was soon arrested.Teja further revealed that the package which Luv had been given was to be delivered to Ajay and Sandeep and there’s a high possibility that he would have gone and told it to Mrs Malhotra and his gang was on a lookout for Luv since a few days as the package was still not delivered.

Sandeep is sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder and engaging in the drug trafficking.Teja and Ajay are also handed over punishments for directly/indirectly being involved in the drug trafficking scam.Kush is handed over his brother’s body for cremation. As Kush was immersing the ashes in the sea, there was a letter which floated in the water. It read as,” Hey brother, you

gave me your eyes so that I could see the world but you didn’t tell me that I would still have to live in this world of deceit" - Kush