Despite
his relentless efforts, there were no clues like when and where the
murder took place, the whereabouts of the weapon and how the body was shifted
brazenly with none noticing to his jurisdiction. The biggest hurdle was
the dead man’s face was smashed beyond recognition and the body was left naked
before a women’s college without anything on it. The media had gone to town
when many of the college girls fainted at the horrifying sight of the
mutilated body at the entrance of the college and the management reported
the matter to the higher-ups in the police.
The
assembly was in session and the opposition lost no opportunity to berate the
government for the dwindling law and order situation with this latest murder
following a spate of murders in the city and the audacity of the murderer
leaving a naked body at the women’s college premises. What can poor Manoj do
when even the best brains cannot unravel without some hint or evidence to
work upon? His boss was not interested in all these excuses but wanted SI to go
out, and find more about the dead man, missing men and complaints if any in
other police stations.SI was told that there was pressure from high quarters as
the matter was in the headlines
It
was then he saw a young man walking in through the swinging doors into his room
with no constable announcing his coming in.
The
young man stood before Manoj and said” I have come to tell you about the
gruesome murder that took place with the body thrown at a college gate.”
Manoj
found the man a bit unusual, pale in look, though three-dimensional without
solidity about him. It looked as if he could pass his hand through him. A
sudden chill passed through his spine.
Gathering
himself he asked” What do you know about the murder? Who was the victim? Why
was he killed and who killed him? Tell me your name and address first.”
“My
name is Sudheer and I am the victim” the man uttered.
Manoj
sat up with a start and rang the bell feverishly till a constable entered.
Asking him to remain, he asked the young man before him,” Are you a mad man? I
asked you who the murdered man was.”
“I
understood Sir and answered you correctly. I am the murdered man. Please listen
without interrupting me,” he replied
“I
was in love with Mandira and we decided to marry despite the opposition from
her parents and brothers. They are rich and powerful. I belong to a different
caste and they would not allow her to marry me. She told them she would either
marry me or remain a spinster. In fact, we had decided to elope. They must have
got a scent of it when her mobile was lost by her. They had finalised someone
rich from their community. Her brothers with the help of some hired killers
killed me as I was proceeding in a two-wheeler on the outskirts of the city,”
the man said
“I
don’t know what to make of your statement. Can you name them? Can you also show
me some evidence to nab them? I promise I will avenge your death as you have
been God–sent to me when I was at my wit’s end. Can you show me the place of
crime? You can come on my pillion,” Manoj said hurriedly.”
“I
can travel on my own. Come on let us go,” said the figure
Sudheer
led Manoj to a desolate and dark area about 40 miles away from the city.
The area was surrounded by trees a little away from the highway.
The man stopped near a very large and deep well and said,” They threw the
sickle and the iron rod with which they murdered me in the well and pushed my
two-wheeler also in it. Come with me to the tree here and see for yourself.
Here they dashed my head against the tree before killing me.”
The
SI saw evidence of blood with hairs sticking on the bark of the tree. The
forensic department was called immediately and it appeared to SI that the
case against Mandira’s brothers and father was all sewed up watertight when
they found the murder weapon and the two-wheeler.
Manoj
was in high spirits about cracking what appeared to be an unsolvable crime. The
SP who was initially jubilant became lukewarm when the girl's parents met him
at his residence and discussed the matter. Not much was known about what
happened in the background except that Manoj found the initial happy demeanour
of the boss changed soon after a quiet meeting with Mandira’s parents.
He
soon found himself transferred to a god-forsaken place. The
two-wheeler unearthed from the well, it was announced had no number plate, the
engine number illegible and the identity of the dead person could not be
established. Mandira’s lover, it was mentioned, had ditched her and ran away
when rebuked by the girl’s brothers leaving no clues about his whereabouts.
The
frustrated Manoj had reason for some small comfort when he heard after two
months that his earlier boss the SP had gone insane after what people ascribed
to a ghost hounding him as he was always seen staring at vacant spaces and
screaming in fear, “Go away. Go away. Don’t harm me. Don’t scare me."
