The COMPLETE Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers (Books 1 to 4)

by UD Yasha

  He had absolutely enjoyed every bit of the process of abducting her. Like every time before this, he knew he would kill her the moment he stopped thinking she was beautiful.

  Thinking about that, he remembered a small mistake he had made. Two years ago, while he was at Yerwada, he had accidentally let the reason behind him killing women slip while talking to Siya. She always had that charm about her, which is what scared him. He had always been immaculate at executing his plans but his weakness for Siya had given him away once before. That had resulted in Ranjit being caught.

  That poor soul. He did everything he could for me.

  When Zakkal had killed his father, he had not just ended his mother’s suffering but also Ranjit’s, as his father had sodomized him when he was just six years old. While his relationship with his father ended that day, his friendship with Ranjit had just begun.

  Zakkal realized his mind was all over the place. He blamed some of it on the high of taking Sudha and spending some time with Neeta. But a large part of it stemmed from being uncomfortable with Siya out in the world, looking for him.

  He also hated how she made him feel about the other women in his life, including his lover, His lover. While he did not cherish any one of them as much as he did Siya, at times, Siya still sucked out the joy of admiring them. He had always thought that Siya’s mother was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. All that had changed when a grown-up Siya had walked down the corridor of Yerwada Jail and spoken to him.

  He had big plans for Siya, but he knew he had to be very careful because she had always managed to get under his skin and make him reveal more than he would have liked.

  Zakkal cursed once again when he realized he was no longer in the mood to meet anyone. He walked back to his car and drove home to His lover, wondering if this was the night he was going to finally kill her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kapil Rathod woke up at eight-thirty in the morning. He felt his body ache from the previous day. While he had continued to work out and keep himself fit during his suspension, the exhaustion of an actual day in the field was both mental and physical—the kind that could not be replicated anywhere else.

  Two active cases, competing against each other for severity, also meant that Rathod couldn’t expect to get any more than five or six hours of sleep. He spent a few minutes in his bed before having a bath and slipping into black trousers and a crisply-ironed blue shirt. Being in sharp and clean clothes always made him feel good about himself. Through experience, he had learnt that that sharpened his instincts, which made him a better police officer. He had also learned from experience that he should eat as much whenever he got a chance. So, he had a simple but heavy breakfast—a bowl of upma along with a two-egg omelette and some coffee.

  His mobile phone chimed when he was halfway through his coffee. It was Bhalerao.

  Heading out now. Should reach the office in twenty minutes. I’ve got your favourite samosas as a welcome gift.

  Rathod could not help but smile. There was a small takeaway-only restaurant near Bhalerao's house that served fresh and hot samosas. They were the only branch of the restaurant. In fact, it was just a small place where a husband-wife duo made two hundred samosas each morning and evening. On most days, they got sold out in a few minutes.

  Rathod caught his mother looking at him in admiration.

  ‘I’m glad you’re back, son,’ she said.

  Rathod went up to her, bent down and touched her feet with one hand. It was an Indian way to show respect to elders and seek their blessings. As he faced her, he had the horrendous thought of Zakkal coming for his parents, especially his mother. There was an officer standing guard outside their house. But Rathod couldn’t help but feel unsure. Zakkal could outsmart one officer without a doubt. It’ll be even easier for him if he’s working with the Shirole gang. In police complaints, he had read horror stories about the heinous crimes that the gang had been accused of committing.

  ‘Can you both stay at Maushi’s house today?’ Rathod said, referring to his maternal aunt’s house. Their family had several members.

  Rathod had told his parents about the abduction of Sudha Barve the previous time. He had never requested them to do anything like this before.

  ‘We’ll go there,’ his father said as he emerged from his room. ‘If it’s going to make you feel better, we’ll go there.’

  'Thank you,' Rathod said, feeling some of the tension fade away. 'I'll ask the officer standing outside to also relocate there. In fact, I can drop you along the way while I go to the office.'

  Rathod’s parents exchanged looks. His father nodded his head ever so subtly. Within the next few minutes, they were on their way. Soon, Rathod had dropped them off at his maushi’s house and was striding into the CID building.

  Rathod felt a buzz within him as he walked to his cubicle. With his parents safe for the time being, he could divert all his attention to solving the case at hand. He suspected that they would have gotten the warrants to access the CCTV footage from the many shops in Sudha Barve’s neighbourhood.

  Bhalerao walked over to Rathod and handed him a samosa. Despite having had a heavy breakfast, Rathod took a large bite off it and enjoyed the flavour burst in his mouth.

  ‘Don’t expect this royal treatment every day,’ Bhalerao said.

  ‘We returned home at three yesterday. I doubt you woke up at seven to get them. How did you manage it?’

  ‘Let’s just say they owed me a favour and were more than happy to make some fresh ones for us,’ Bhalerao said. ‘And that’s my time. I need to get going.’

  Bhalerao had been assigned to work on the case of the six bodies found at the farmhouse. It had been dubbed the ‘Farmhouse Killer Case’ by the CID.

  ‘Any leads on the case so far?’ Rathod said.

  ‘Dr Sonia said she would be ready with the autopsy reports on the bodies after lunchtime. I'm hoping we can get something useful from it. I'm hopeful because it looks like the killer never meant for those bodies to be found in the state we did. That could mean that he left behind something, which might lead us to him. We're speaking to the wife of the owner of that farmhouse. A woman named Sneha Raheja,' Bhalerao said and then left for the mission-centre of the Farmhouse Killer Case.

  The next moment, the phone on Rathod’s table started ringing. It was a landline and the person calling him had access to his extension. He put it to his ear.

  ‘This is Devaki Sharma speaking from News Twenty-Four Seven,’ a familiar woman’s voice said. ‘Am I speaking to Senior Inspector Kapil Rathod?’

  Rathod was already dreading answering the call. ‘Yes, you are,’ he said.

  Devaki Sharma was the journalist who had written the fake story with Siya’s quotes in it when Zakkal had been originally caught.

  ‘I have been told by a source I can’t disclose that Kishore Zakkal abducted another woman yesterday night. Is that right?’

  Rathod was experienced enough to handle media questions but he was concerned about Devaki not stopping at just this phone call.

  ‘We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation. We’ll issue a press release if there’s something that the CID wants to share,’ Rathod said in a matter of fact tone.

  ‘But if someone as dangerous as Kishore Zakkal is killing again, then don’t the women of this world deserve to know? They need to be safe.’

  ‘As I said, the CID cannot—’

  ‘My sources have seen a police presence outside the houses of the five women who had been saved from Zakkal two years ago. This only means that the police feel their lives are in danger. How else can you explain that?’

  ‘Look, Miss Sharma. I cannot comment on any of that. I understand you’re doing your job. Please let us do ours,’ Rathod said and hung up.

  Rathod was aware that several media houses had made truckloads of money from the Kishore Zakkal story the last time. But that was the age of newspapers and a few websites that were cropping up. Now, with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
and news apps dominating people's attention, Rathod only imagined how the media would lap up every small chance they got to create some kind of explosive content from it. Having an idea of Devaki Sharma's moral compass, Rathod thought how he would not be surprised to find their phone conversation leaked online with a click-bait headline.

  Rathod’s phone chimed. It was a message from Siya.

  I have started going through the people who wrote to Zakkal while he was in prison. Will soon have a list ready. Let’s pay them a visit?

  Rathod responded with a 'thumbs up' emoticon. Although Siya's message had distracted him, the call from Devaki had left a sour taste in his mouth. He needed a change of scene. He walked across to Mathew's desk and asked him for access to the footage from the cameras around Sudha Barve's house.

  ‘You know how it works with CCTV footage, sir,’ Mathew said to Rathod. ‘It seems like a never-ending maze until you find what you’re looking for.’

  Rathod returned to his cubicle. He drummed his fingers on his desk while his computer got the videos he had asked for. He was trying to think of the best way to avoid spending potentially fruitless hours going through CCTV footage.

  That’s when he had an idea.

  He used the landline phone to call the Pune Municipal Corporation’s Metro Construction Wing. The metro line in Pune was under construction. Rathod asked the authorities for two details. Firstly, the status of the underground section of the metro line, and secondly, any other old underground tunnels from the British era that they had come across while digging for the metro.

  Zakkal had been known to use the British era underground canals to move around the city of Pune the last time he was active. Rathod thought that there was no reason Zakkal would not use them now.

  To get an idea of the layout of the neighbourhood, Rathod went through the various CCTV videos for the next half hour. Raghav and Sudha Barve lived in an area called Bund Garden in Pune. It was around eight kilometres from CID's office. Just as the fatigue of looking at the screen for a long time kicked in, a message popped up on his computer, alerting him of an incoming email.

  It was from the PMC’s Metro Construction Wing, giving him exactly the information he was looking for.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When I woke up the next day, the initial shock I had experienced from Sudha Barve's kidnapping last night and then Dr Barve's reaction had faded away—what remained was an even stronger will to get her back and put Zakkal behind bars again.

  I had received a text from Rathod telling me that Dr Barve had insisted in the morning that he should be allowed to return to work to find the location of the pollen. ACP Shukla had relented and sent a two-man security detail to Dr Barve’s lab.

  After a heavy breakfast of Rahul's delicious omelettes and some filter coffee, I strode to my garage and got to work. I knew there was a very high chance that the answers to Zakkal's whereabouts lay in the letters he had received while in prison. I texted Rathod, telling him about the line of investigation I was taking.

  I sifted through the papers to find whackos and creeps who had expressed to Zakkal their desire to kill. Zakkal had only replied to a few of these letters. Two that stood out from the list were Shaam Pundlik and Manoj Bedi.

  We had spoken to both of them two years ago. Both were doctors and Zakkal had suggested that they should meet once he was out of prison. If their letters to Zakkal alone were not strong proof, meeting them had convinced us that both were first-degree creeps. We needed to find out if they were all just talk, or if they had actually tried to partner with Zakkal in some way.

  I stacked the letters that Shaam Pundlik and Zakkal had written to each other. I wanted to read them again and try to get into the mind of Pundlik before meeting him. I started with the first letter that Pundlik had written to Zakkal.

  Dear Kishore Zakkal,

  I am a huge fan. I really admire your work. I wish I had known you when we could still meet openly and talk face to face. I would have loved to know about your craft and technique. From what I’ve read, your work was a piece of art. To have kept the bodies hidden for so long! Wow! You deserve to be given more credit and accolades.

  I wish to hear back from you. I wish to learn whatever I can through these letters. If not your technique, at least the thoughts you had before and after you killed.

  Yours truly,

  Shaam Pundlik

  Zakkal’s reply had gotten me curious. Even though he had gotten many different requests—of varying nature, he had not responded to all of them.

  Dear Shaam,

  Thanks a lot for your kind words. I would've loved to meet you as well. Maybe we'll still meet under the blue sky on a cosy winter night. Who knows? Weirder things have happened.

  I want to know something. Have you ever killed or are you a closet murderer? Let me tell you one thing. The difference between the two is like porn and sex. They seem the same until you experience both. I look forward to hearing from you. Also, wish you and your family a happy New Year on my behalf.

  With love,

  Zakkal

  I wondered if Pundlik had actually taken up Zakkal on his offer. It seemed like the man was ready to take the plunge. I read two more of their letters.

  Dear Shaam,

  I am glad to know you’re considering my request of experiencing the joy of killing. Here’s a tip. I learnt it the hard way because no one taught me. You’re lucky to be learning from the best. When you strangle someone, keep the pressure on for a good three to four minutes. You’ll need physical strength for it. Let me know how it goes.

  Good luck,

  Zakkal

  Pundlik's reply to it was even scarier.

  Dear Zakkal,

  Thank you for the tip. I am strangely not feeling nervous. I've selected my target. As you said, I am trying to get to know her from afar. I'll let you know everything. My hands are shivering with excitement as I write this.

  Thanks for everything,

  Shaam

  We had not been able to locate Pundlik right away the last time around. He had lied to his family about his whereabouts. Eventually, the officers chasing him had given up and Pundlik had returned to the hospital where he worked. Rathod had later asked a hawaldar to follow up, and the only reply that Pundlik gave was that he was travelling to Mahabaleshwar and it was none of our business. The hawaldar had enquired about Pundlik at the hotel where he said he was staying and his story had held up.

  Manoj Bedi’s correspondence was not as explicit, even though he had shown tendencies of wanting to murder other people and learn as much as he could from Zakkal. One line that Bedi wrote in his letters to Zakkal stood out: Let me know if I can assist you in any way. It’d be my honour to work for you.

  I knew from our investigation files where Pundlik and Bedi stayed and worked. I got up from my chair, thinking it was time to say hello to them again. Radha and Rahul came to the garage with some coffee for all of us.

  ‘We want to help,’ Radha said.

  I had feared that Radha or Rahul would say this. ‘Please let me do this on my own for this case. It’s dangerous.’

  ‘We don’t have to step out of the house. We can go through paperwork, do some digging online or make calls. Whatever to ease your burden,’ Radha said.

  ‘Hand us the donkey work and you can do what matters,’ Rahul said and grinned.

  ‘I’m afraid to involve either of you, especially after what happened to Dr Barve’s wife. I want to keep the people I care about away from all this. Please, let me do this by myself.’

  ‘What about your safety?’ Radha said.

  ‘I’m always going to be either around the house or at the CID office. I’ve enough people around me,’ I said, knowing there were plenty of chances for Zakkal to show himself to me without anyone being around. But I wasn’t going to share that with my little sister.

  ‘Still, please be extra careful with everything.’

  ‘I will. Don’t worry. You both stay indoors too. How’s Ma
a doing?’

  ‘She has already watered her plants and spoken to them. She’s now in her room reading a book. She’s alright and doesn’t know anything yet.’

  ‘I’m glad I have been using the garage for work other than solving crimes in the past six months. So, me spending time in the garage won’t alarm her.’

  I glanced at the clock. It was almost twelve. ‘I need to go to the CID office,’ I said, getting up from my chair. I hugged Radha and whispered in her ear that I loved her. Then I pulled out my phone and texted Rathod that I was on my way to the CID office.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I saw Rathod staring at his computer screen when I reached the CID office. He noticed me as I pulled a chair next to him.

  ‘You won’t believe what I’ve found’ he said, keeping his eyes on the screen.

  I noticed he was looking at two maps of Pune city; both were zoomed in on Bund Garden, the area where Sudha Barve lived.

  ‘We know that Zakkal used the canals from the British era to move about in Pune, right? I’m cross-referencing the known locations of those long-lost canals with the roads around Bund Garden,’ Rathod said.

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ I said. ‘Bund Garden is at the Mula-Mutha river, which means it would have had many of those canals.’

  Running through the centre of Pune City, the Mula-Mutha river had once divided it into two parts. Now, the river’s flow had been significantly reduced and it had become narrower as the city had become larger. More than a river, many of the city’s residents looked at it as a glorified gutter; at least the part of the river that ran through the city.