The man splayed on the cement. Neck broken, limbs bent, dead. Police cruisers lined the street. Officer hovered around the scene. People are gathering, diverting eyes and unwanted glances, all for one reason, the dead body of the man.
Police Inspector Mangesh Gayakwad stared the dead body as long as he could, then turn away. He was used to seeing this sort of thing. Arriving at the crime scene and observing dead bodies was what he did for a living. Looking at the body he felt off.
The people from society had gathered near the dead body. Most people already knew and word spread fast. After all, we live in an ear of WhatsApp and Facebook. The society was a big one with 180 flats in total. It is situated in the Andheri area which is overcrowded by middle-class families.
Kids swarming the taped-off area, trying to see what had happened. Mobiles were held above the head. Shoulders nudged to get to the front. This was the most upheaval they would ever have seen.
Andheri was a small but overcrowded area. Nothing bad ever happened there. It was a type of society where people went to neighbours for a cup of sugar or to borrowed eggs. Where you knew every single person passed on the street. A tight-knit community with family ties. The crime was practically unheard of. Sure there was a usual domestic dispute from time to time but death? Especially of a young bachelor man?
The body lying on the ground was of a young man Mr. Vivan Malik who was working at a media company. Living there on a rented apartment, paying his rent before the due dates. No signs of any illegal activities, girls or bad habits.
Deceased.
It was around 06:30 a.m. the call came to the police control room about the body lying on the floor near the car parking area of the society. What Vivan was doing at the parking early morning? His neighbours knew that he was going for a jogging every morning at around 6 a.m.
Police had reached the site at 7 o'clock. It took hardly half an hour due to very low traffic in the early morning. Half an hour and entire society were already in the mayhem. The chairman and other society members were doing everything to prevent news from getting out.
The chairman had arrived and was doing his best to keep everything at the bay. Surely the people would be horrified to hear of something so traumatic.
Mr. Gayakwad was focusing his attention, listening to the sound of hundreds of iPhones clicking as the cameras went off. Society members were taking pictures, trying to get a first look, capture the perfect newsworthy shots.
From what he had gathered thus far, the man was killed by gunshots from the front side. There were 3 rounds of fire one was in the leg and another two were in the ribs.
"What do you think about this? Who the person could be?" Mr. Gayakwad was asking his fellow Mr. Shinde, who was a head constable in the Andheri Police Station.
Shinde took in another breath and faced his superior. "Looks pretty sure that it's a murder."
"Murder in the parking that too in the early morning?" Mr. Gayakwad shrugged.
"In all honestly, sir, I have no idea what to think. I am still processing all of this." Shinde replied politely.
Mr. Gayakwad was standing on the other side of the yellow tape, observing the scene in front of him. Everything seemed to be moving quickly and efficiently. The forensic team, photographers and medical personnel were busy at work, analysing the scene, taking photographs and looking for anything that might arouse suspicion.
Everyone was working cautiously, eyes peeled for something that could prove useful. A weapon, gunshot residue, fingerprints perhaps? There was nothing but the body, flat as anyone could tell.
There were two forensic photographers on the scene, as well as a sketch artist and an evidence recorder. The flashes went off simultaneously, capturing the image of the dead body. The head, the hands, the legs, they splayed in different directions. Blood seeping from underneath the body, trailing down the concrete.
The entire parking area was covered by the yellow tap and two police constables were deputed to ensure no one enters the prohibited zone.
"I want to see the CCTV footage. Please take me to the control room." Mr. Gayakwad demanded the CCTV footage from the chairman.
"Yes sir, sure there is the office of the society where we have the recorder. I have called the office keys from my home and it will be available in a few minutes. Till the time, would you like to have tea or coffee?" The chairman offers the policeman.
The forensic team was scouting the area for any clue, including the much-anticipated gunshot residue, footprints, fingerprints, DNA anything they found was bagged and put into evidence. Once everything was photographed and recorded, the dead body was then put into the ambulance and sent to the hospital for post-mortem.
There were 180 flats in the society, but no one had seen anything that had happened early morning. No noise of running, shouting for help, etc.? Strange.
Mr. Gayakwad could not conclude the reason behind the murder. He decided to do a preliminary investigation by himself. He stepped away from the crime scene and went to the society office. He then started observing the CCTV footage of the crime area. To everyone's surprise, it was found that the CCTV had stopped working since the last night at 2 a.m.
"How could this be possible? Who had switched off the CCTV recording yesterday night?" Gayakwad asked suspiciously.
"We don't know sir; it was working fine till last night. And nobody has entered the society last night; the security guard was awake for the full night. Also, we have a dog at the A block ground floor who would have barked if someone had tried to sneak into society." The chairman replied.
"Call the security guard" Mr. Gayakwad has told to the chairman.
"Yes sir, sure." Chairman rushed to the security cabin and called the guard at the office.
"Did you hear a scream?" Gayakwad asked.
"A cry for help?" The security guard shooked his head.
"Nothing, I didn't even know what it was. I didn't hear a noise. It wasn't until after that I realized."
"And could you explain about the CCTV not working since last night?" Shinde looks furious when he was telling this to the security guard.
"Sir, I have no idea about it, the recorder is in the office which remains close during the night time. I was sitting at the main gate thinking that CCTV is working fine as usual. But it wasn't until after that I realized just now." The guard put his point in front of the policeman.
"And what about the gunshots? How could it be possible that you have not heard it?" Gayakwad cut in and asked to guard with wide-eyes.
"No one has heard any noise of gunshots though it was early silent morning." The guard tried to defend himself.
"CCTV camera stopped working, no one had heard the noise of gunshots, and no one had seen anyone, what is going on in this society?" Gayakwad raised his voice and looks furious.
"Vivan was a nice guy, everyone knew him, he was a straight forward, no enemies, and then why the hell he was killed like this? Who could do this to him? What is the purpose of killing him?" Gayakwad asked the crowd as he knew that something is missing, he could not connect all the dots and conclude the purpose of the murder.
"He was so straight forward and innocent, how could someone kill him like this?" A tall man in his fifties had come up from the crowd and said to Gayakwad.
"Who are you? And how did you know him?" Gayakwad asked curiously.
"Suresh Nayak, I am the owner of the house where Vivan was staying." He replied.
"Oh, so Mr. Nayak accordingly to you Vivan was a straight forward person, having no criminal history or no bad habits, right?" Gayakwad wants to reconfirm.
"Yes sir, He was a gem of a person. Everyone knew that." Nayak turned his face to the crowd seeking their confirmation on what he said.
"Since how long he was staying here?" Gayakwad further asked.
"He was here for the last two and a half years. And for that period, I never had any problem with him regarding anything. And I am sure no one ever had any problem with Vivan during his stay here. He came here for his study and after completion of his study; he got a job so he is living here alone. His family is at Rajasthan the city from which he belongs."
"Did someone inform his family?" Gayakwad asked.
"Yes sir, I have called up his dad just before some time and gave him the news, they are on their way to Mumbai." The chairman replied to the policeman.
"Did he have any enemies?" Gayakwad floated a million-dollar question.
"I wouldn't say, enemy, ya but he had a rough time with his boss in the office. He often used to share his problem and his relation with his boss. But I think it's pretty common. Boss and employee relationship is like a mouse and cat relationship." Nayak explained.
After the preliminary statements were taken, what everyone saw and account for was that it was a sure murder that took place early morning. But the aim behind it is still not known to anyone.
"Where was he working?" Gayakwad asked Shinde.
"He was working at a media company, we should go there and inquire about him, and maybe we get some clue there." Shinde knew what Gayakwad was thinking.
"Gayakwad's phone rang; he picked up, "Hello?" "Hello Mr. Gayakwad, I have some news for you. The person from the other end throws suspense to him.
"I want to show you something important, could you please come and meet me?"
"Ya sure, I am reaching there in some time," Gayakwad replied.
"Shinde, let's go. I got something." He asked Shinde to move their asses without telling anyone where they are going. Even Shinde was unsure where they are going, but since Gayakwad was already angry, he wouldn't dare to ask him where they were going.
They both set into the car and drove to Dr. Astahna's clinic which was a mere four to five kilometres from the crime site. Dr. Asthana was a panel doctor for forensic laboratory and post-mortem.
It was around 09:30 a.m. when they reached the clinic.
"This way sir, Dr. Asthana is waiting for you in the lab" The subordinate at the clinic guided Gayakwad and Shinde to Dr. Asthana.
"Good morning, Mr. Gayakwad! How's your day so far?" Dr. Asthana sarcastically asked.
"It's a bad morning for me; a devastating murder has spoiled my morning already. Tell me what you have for me here?" Gayakwad replied to Dr. Asthana.
"Well, there is a big thing that you were missing until now, while examining the body, I found the chloroform traces on the t-shirts and his face." Dr. Asthana opens the secret.
"Chloroform? That means he was made unconscious before he was shot dead?" Gayakwad asked the doctor.
"Yes, it looks like so. Why would someone spray chloroform before firing three rounds?" The doctor confirms to the policeman.
"Ok, so that was the reason no one had heard any scream or noise early morning. Clever!"
"Shinde was there any spray bottle of handkerchief we found at the crime scene which confirms this?"
"No sir, we couldn't find any such things at the crime scene," Shinde replied to Gayakwad.
"I had not completed the full post mortem; this was just a quick briefing to inform you of the important observation." Dr. Asthana jump in between the two policemen.
"From what I can gather so far, Vivan was first made unconscious with the spray of chloroform, and as soon as he fell unconscious, he was shot dead with three bullets. The criminal was not looking experienced as I found the traces of chloroform on the chest as well."
"Secondly, out of the three bullets that were fired, one was hit the right leg. It means there are chances that the criminal lost his concentration while shooting him or he got afraid and miss fired it to the leg." Dr. Asthana revealed some important points which were not observed by anyone till now.
"Any other observation doctor? I mean any fingerprints or something, perhaps?" Gayakwad wants to know more.
"No defensive wounds or hand marks on the arms. I couldn't find any fingerprints on the body as well. Nothing here suggests foul play." Dr. replied to the cop.
"What could possibly the reason for this murder?" Gayakwad asked to doctor.
"Oh, come on Gayakwad, I thought you were good at your job." There is no sign of burglary; it must be an act of personal revenge." The doctor shared his views.
"Personal revenge? So you think it could be personal revenge?" Gayakwad asked the doctor.
"I don't think anything; I am just speculating. It was early morning, the criminal knows that he goes for a walk every morning at this time, he was made unconscious, and three bullets were fired on him. That's it. That's all we have got till now. And right now we have absolutely no answer. So until we can get a better understanding of what has happened today, I am just putting ideas out there." the doctor clarifies.
"Thank you, doctor, for throwing some light on the case. It was really important points that you draw out, thanks once again. I may contact you further in case I need any help in this matter. Let's go Shinde" Gayakwad shook the hand with the doctor and left the room.
"Death was a completed thing, especially a murder. It was horrible. It was unlawful. It was immoral. And whatever the criminal thinks, the law, the government, the police will catch him one day. There would always be a criminal, and also would be people like us to stop them." Gayakwad told to Shinde with grief in the car.
"So what should we do now sir? Shinde asked his boss.
"We need to get into his personal life, his family, his friends, colleagues, and boss perhaps. We need to find out what was going on in his life currently. What could be the reason that triggers the criminal to take such a cruel step? Let's meet the people near and dear to him first. Hopefully, we may get some clue out of it which can lead us to success in cracking this murder mystery."
Gayakwad drove the car to the police station. He unbuckled his seatbelt and went to his cabin. It was exhausted. It was a draining day, to say the least. And this was the only beginning of the case. Whatever it may be, I will find the truth and catch the criminal no matter how intelligent he is.