by Fawaz Jaleel
Maintaining the sensitivity of the situation, Sukumar politely asked the father if he thought his daughter lied to him, to which he replied, “Even if there was something of that sort, I would never object to it. They are ... I am sorry ... were adults.”
Sukumar was convinced with the father’s response. However, he had other questions for him.
“Why did Piyali check in to an in-city hotel when her house is here?”
“I don’t know. She told me that she was going out of town to meet a few people for a new career opportunity,” the father replied. He seemed disappointed that his daughter didn’t tell him about this.
“Didn’t you ask her where she was going?” came Sukumar’s cross-question.
“No. She was a responsible girl. Even when she was working with Ashraf, they used to go out of town for meetings,” added Mr. Sharma.
“Was there anything unusual about her behavior in the last few days?” Sukumar was empathetic to the man’s situation but he had questions to ask.
“That’s the thing. After her mother’s death, she had always put on a strong face even when she was tensed so that I would be fine. But a father is a father. I could sense she was behind something or something was disturbing her mind. But she never really mentioned it to me,” came the dejected father’s reply.
As Sukumar was about to ask his next question, the father added, “Two boys had come to visit her twice in that week.”
“Did anybody else visit her?” Sukumar asked.
“She usually had visitors when she was working with Ashraf. In the last week, no one came except for these boys,” Mr. Sharma said, remembering vividly.
“Do you know anything about them, sir?” Sukumar probed further.
“I know they were college students and I faintly overheard them speak about Ashraf. One of their names was Priyanshu. I remember this because the other fellow kept saying the name,” the father gave out the information he had.
“Were they threatening or intimidating Piyali, sir?” Sukumar continued his line of questioning.
“I don’t think so because she asked me if I could make coffee for them, and then they were discussing things with her in her study room. Piyali always did her meetings in that room,” the father replied.
Sukumar intended to search that room in detail. Before that, he asked, “When did she leave?”
“She left on January 4th, afternoon. She told me she would be back by the 6th but—” Mr. Sharma started crying.
Sukumar knew what happened after that. Piyali was found dead in her hotel room on the evening of January 5th, her veins cut using her Swiss knife and blood dripping from her hands as she lay still on the bed.
“Sir, I am really sorry. I think I should let you be. Can I call you in case we have any further questions?” Sukumar asked in a very considerate tone. While the man was on point with data and its analysis, he was the one with a softer side amid their team of three.
As Sukumar narrated these events to Yohan and Ila, they developed a respect for the father who had the sense to respect the life of an adult daughter and didn’t keep a tab on her as patriarchy would have wanted him to.
“Sir ... Ila…” Sukumar stuttered and continued, “he just has one request.”
“What was it?” Ila asked in a very mellowed and concerned tone, quite different from her usual self.
“He said that while justice must be served to his daughter, he wants us to find out what she died fighting for because he believed and was confident that his daughter wouldn’t compromise with honesty.” Sukumar felt for the father and his emotions were clearly visible in the way he said it.
“That’s our job. We will do it. Keep aside the emotions, Sukumar, and tell us what happened at Hotel Plateau,” a confident Yohan assured him.
After reaching the hotel, Sukumar called upon the staff who were present on the day of the crime. Hotel Plateau claimed that it was a three-star hotel in Barauni. The interiors and lobby furniture were barely even ordinary. The lobby was the size of a small kiosk and the hotel had two floors. The closest to a CCTV camera was an old man donning a security uniform and sitting on a plastic chair outside the hotel. The receptionist wore a bright red blazer while the staff, all of them male, wore white shirts and black trousers. Sukumar scolded the hotel owner for not installing security cameras and the response he got was a sly smile and the man’s hand scratching his head.
Sukumar checked the hotel register. He could see that Piyali entered her details and provided her Aadhaar card as proof. When he examined the other names, he noticed that a lot of guests didn’t provide their ID photocopies.
He asked the owner, “Why haven’t you collected the ID proofs. Don’t you know it is mandatory?”
The owner replied, “Sir, we had collected madam's details.”
A frustrated Sukumar countered, “What about the others? Oh, so you only collect the ID proofs of people you think would be murdered? Antaryaami (foresighted) you are.”
His response was even worse, “Sir, she was a single lady so we collected hers.”
Sukumar’s level of angst only increased, “Yeah, because single ladies are the problem, not the men who want to kill them.”
He realized much wasn’t going to come out of this interaction. The receptionist had already shown the register that recorded Piyali’s check in on the 4th of January and she had paid till the 6th. As he scanned the register, he saw Mukul’s name entered on 5th evening. The check-in time was about two hours before the estimated murder time. He had paid for the night in advance. When the staff was questioned about Mukul using his photo, the staff mentioned that he had booked rooms in the hotel before. They also remembered seeing Piyali earlier too. On further examination that lasted several minutes, Sukumar found two other dates in the last six months where the booking dates of Piyali and Mukul coincided. However, they always booked separate rooms. The receptionist mentioned that he remembered Mukul leaving the hotel a few hours after the police had taken away Piyali’s body. Sukumar immediately notified the authorities to secure a warrant to take the trainer into custody. As an officer who was detail oriented, what Sukumar saw on further examination of the register was a rude shock to him. He saw a familiar name that cropped up during the team’s earlier discussions. In fact, this name was mentioned during Ila’s initial brief on day one too: Chirag!
This time, the name appeared with a tail, i.e., Chirag Doraiswamy. A simple google search was enough to confirm that Chirag was a senior correspondent with a top English newspaper based out of Tamil Nadu. Chirag checked into the hotel on the morning of 4th January and checked out on 5th morning. While the time stamp didn’t match the estimated murder time, this was enough to raise further suspicion on Chirag.
Sukumar sat down and grabbed his cup of tea kept on the table after presenting his findings to Yohan and Ila. After patiently hearing Sukumar in their meeting room, Yohan added, “We must find out what Mukul has to say about that night. Before that, Sukumar, call Piyali’s father and cross-check his marriage claim.”
Ila finished taking her notes, closed her tab cover, and turned to Yohan. “Are these two boys even important? This Mukul plus Chirag angle has circumstantial evidence.”
“Yeah. We need to find out what Mukul knows about Chirag. His presence right before the two deaths can’t be a mere coincidence. In fact, Chirag and Mukul could be the only two people who saw Piyali and Ashraf a few hours before their deaths and that too on different days, which were weeks apart,” Yohan pointed out the striking similarities in Mukul and Chirag’s involvement.
“But there’s a problem,” Sukumar interrupted. “Her room had no signs of an outside entry and the Swiss knife only had her fingerprints”
“What about her phone?” Yohan asked.
“Oh, I verified that. She had missed calls from Mukul around the time she was found dead. The last person she had a phone call with was her father,” came Ila’s prompt response.
“So, no outside entries nor finger
prints and no suspicious calls, except Mukul who was known to Piyali. This must have led to the police concluding it to be suicide,” Yohan made a hypothesis.
“But these missed calls from Mukul, his presence at the time and, of course, Chirag must be probed before we conclude,” Ila reiterated.
“Maybe it is a suicide,” Sukumar weighed in.
“Even if it is, we need a reason. It’s time to speak to Mukul,” Yohan looked at his officers.
⁂⁂⁂
“So, when did you and Chirag plan Ashraf and Piyali’s murders?” Yohan asked Mukul. His tone had neither haste nor hesitation, no intimidation nor inhibitions. Inside the temporary investigation room set up in the dilapidated building outside the police station, Yohan was as cool as a person gets. There were no lathis nor torture instruments, as generally depicted in cinema. It was a medium-sized room about 10*13 feet that could hold up to 6 people, but this room just had 4. Mukul was seated on a bench on the other side of the table with no backrest available. The other three occupied plastic chairs and a rotating table fan provided the much-needed relief. The investigating officers appeared very calm and this further added to Mukul’s worries.
“Sir, I did not kill them. I have no role in this,” Mukul pleaded innocence and further added, “I loved Piyali.”
“See, the evidence shows your presence in the hotel right at the time of her murder. Your alleged co-conspirator Chirag was also present there. In fact, the two of you were there when Ashraf passed away too,” Ila showed him the hotel records.
“The staff remembers you visiting the hotel. In fact, we have records that show that you and Piyali stayed in the hotel at the same time in different rooms on multiple dates. Okay, let’s forget the day of her death. Why did you two stay together earlier?” Ila probed.
Mukul hesitated for a while. He knew that the officers could easily guess the reason and confessed, “We were dating. Unfortunately, two consenting adults need to sneak in to spend quality time.”
“Were you and Piyali in a sexual relationship?” Ila shot directly. Her face had no judgments and just the investigative lens of a thorough professional.
“It wasn’t just about sex. I really liked her but we wanted to keep our relationship under the covers,” Mukul claimed.
“So, you admit that you were in a sexual relationship? But the autopsy claims that there were no signs of physical intimacy that day. You couldn’t handle the rejection?” Ila didn’t waste any time getting to the point.
“C’mon, Mukul. She may have called it off or you got to know about her and Ashraf,” Sukumar intervened.
“Sir, there was nothing between Ashraf and Piyali. You can ask anyone, the cook or maid or even her father,” Mukul repeated his stance.
“Fair, but her father didn’t know about the two of you either,” came Sukumar’s quick response.
“But then there was nothing with Ashraf too. Wasn’t his marriage finalized? Do you think Ashraf is the kind of man who would agree to something if he was in a relationship with Piyali?” Mukul stuck to his stand.
“Okay, why did Piyali not want to disclose your affair or relationship? We met her father and he wouldn’t have objected to it,” Sukumar raised a valid question.
“Sir, she was going to, and then Ashraf’s death happened. It was a difficult time for all of us,” Mukul replied.
At this point, Yohan intervened and asked, “Okay Mukul … I want to believe you. You seem like a fine gentleman. Think from our point of view. You and Chirag happen to stay in the same hotel where Piyali was found dead. Can you blame us?”
“No, sir. I totally understand. But listen to my story. Piyali and I used to meet up there as it was one of the few hotels that accepted local IDs. It was a comfortable space for us to meet. That day, she didn’t pick up or return my calls. I was planning to go to her room but then I heard the news of her death. I was shocked. I panicked and I left,” Mukul said it in almost one breath that his voice dipped by the end.
“She didn’t pick up your call? You could have called her from the hotel intercom,” Yohan asked.
“No, sir. I didn’t. I should have.” Mukul’s voice had disappointment mixed with despair.
“Okay, tell us about your meeting with Chirag that day,” Ila asked.
“I didn't even know he was in town. The last I met him was at Ashraf’s house the day Ashraf died. They both left together and I believe, Ashraf was going to drop him at the inter-city bus stand.”
“Which freaking bus goes from Begusarai to Chennai?” There was power in Sukumar’s voice. Yohan wasn’t sure if it was due to the non-viability of that route or Sukumar’s sudden homesickness.
“No, sir. My hometown is not Chennai. It’s Tiruchirapalli,” came Sukumar’s jibe. Yohan was stunned as he was only thinking this in his head but a stare at Sukumar for more than 10 seconds gave away the voice in his mind to the colleague who had known him for years. Ila smiled and wrapped it up in less than 3 seconds to continue the interrogation.
“No, he was going to some other district to investigate something,” Mukul replied.
“Investigate? What was he after? Tell us,” Yohan asked.
“I really don’t know because those two usually discuss it inside the room,” Mukul answered.
“Was Piyali part of this?” Sukumar probed.
“She knew Chirag as an acquaintance just like I did,” Mukul added.
“Did Chirag ever have any sort of feelings—anger, like, lust, or anything—toward Piyali?” Sukumar tried another angle.
“Why, sir? Is he responsible for my Piyali’s death?” Mukul tried to show concern.
“Don’t try that, Mukul. You cannot divert us with emotion-laden statements. I suggest you speak to us honestly,” Yohan was quick to catch and stop Mukul from using the sympathy card.
“Chirag was not a very social person. He always maintained a low profile. You should question him, sir,” Mukul continued.
“Oh. You really don’t know? Stop pretending,” Sukumar said with a smirk.
“No, sir. What happened?” Mukul seemed curious.
“Your friend, acquaintance, or alleged co-conspirator Chirag Doraiswamy is absconding. We called his previous office, colleagues and no one has heard from him since January 5th,” added Sukumar.
“But you said he was here in Hotel Plateau last week?” Mukul asked.
“Yes. So, Piyali or you was the last person to see him, Mukul,” Yohan replied.
“I really didn’t. In fact, the two boys who went into Ashraf’s room that day probably saw or spoke to Chirag. But they also left in 15 minutes,” Mukul mentioned.
“What?” Yohan quickly referred to Piyali’s father's statement wherein he described the two boys who visited his daughter during her last week. “Do you know their names?”
“No, sir,” Mukul appeared unsure.
“Think carefully. His name is Priyanshu. A tall, lean fellow with a clean-shaven face. His hair is overgrown and dry. Was he one of the two boys you saw that day?” Yohan continued questioning.
“I don’t know his name but yes, that seems like the boy. They were studying in some college and had visited the house before too. I have never interacted with them,” Mukul clarified.
Yohan knew this was a crucial lead. He further asked, “But you definitely saw them with Chirag and Ashraf on 16th December?”
“I am sure, sir,” Mukul confirmed.
Yohan turned to Ila and Sukumar. This is a lead that needed to be investigated. Piyali’s father mentioned Priyanshu’s name and it appeared in the visitor’s register too. Their presence at both the places further added to the CBI team’s suspicions.
“Guys, we have new targets,” Yohan proclaimed to his teammates.
Chapter 7
A Journey of Thousand Miseries Begins with a Single Step
“Mukul is just a pawn. Remember, he is Mukul Pandit—a brahmin. For all you know, this could be his master instructing him to kill a musalman,” AIPM’s leader Akbar Syed
screeched through television screens without displaying an iota of doubt about this theory. He argued and shouted to propagate a theory on organized political killing, in the veneer of a Hindu-Muslim love story gone wrong. The television channels lined up to get a piece of this man. He used his social media accounts to share Mukul’s old pictures of him visiting temples to show his level of faith in God. In the opposition were far-right parties who were specialized in boycotting films they feared that insulted the Indian culture. They were quick to respond with photos of Akbar Syed with controversial Islamic preacher, Zubin Malik, who was a prime suspect in an ongoing terror attack investigation.
The levels of debate had hit a low that even the worst critics of sensational journalism never predicted. On one side, the likes of Akbar Syed claimed that Ashraf was the latest victim of attacks against minorities in the country, while the far-right claimed that this was an act of vengeance by the BNC as the deceased Ashraf left their party. While the allegations appeared clear, the mode of expressing these saw a plethora of name-calling, uncivilized behavior and inappropriate statements. There were a few saner voices in all kinds of media that explored what Ashraf stood for and how his voice would have hurt the political reality of the country ridden with religious and caste bias.
Mukul, on the other hand, made it to the front pages, television screens and WhatsApp forwards. A tall guy at 6’1, Mukul was well built, owing to his profession, and wore body-tight clothing. This accentuated his body parts, including the fashionable muscles. An aspiring actor at once, Mukul had uploaded pictures of his work in theatre on his social media accounts. There were pictures that seemingly portrayed negative characters and these were used by the media to create a negative public opinion about the guy.
