by Fawaz Jaleel
A further look into his service history and controversial case involvement painted a bigger picture. Jeevan was no saint who donned the khaki, nor was he even remotely true to his office. Widely regarded in the inner circles as an arrogant and self-serving man, the circle inspector had multiple disciplinary petitions filed against him. Despite the volume of complaints against him, there were hardly any transfers or suspensions that hampered his career. Call it democracy in the system, there were several complaints but there was hardly a resolution for any of these complaints—failing the promised democratic ideals within the system. Several of these cases accused the officer of making caste-ist slurs and discriminatory slanders against officers and even citizens who came with complaints. Born in Maharajganj, Jeevan even looked down upon his fellow upper-caste people who tried and accepted the others, be it the forwards among lower castes like Yadavs, Kurumis, Koeris, etc. or the lowest among the lower castes, i.e., Mahadalits like Musahars, Kanjars, etc. Among the few caste supremacists like Jeevan himself, his story of refusing to hold the bag and valuables of a minister became an infamous legend. The minister belonged to the Mahadalit category after being born into a Musahar caste family. Musahar caste was given a name by Indian and western political philosophers and media: The Rat Catchers. On paper, there are around 2.5 million Musahars in India and they are regarded as one of the poorest communities in the country, so much so that even members of the lower castes look down upon them. In such a situation, a member from this community, Teertharam Manjhi rose to the ranks of a state minister. Jeevan who was appointed as the officer to escort him for a visit outrightly refused to hold his valuables and give him the respect that the individual or, sadly, at least the office deserves. In front of his subordinates and the people, the officer refused with an infuriated look on his face and drove away from the scene. The news never made it to the front pages of the media or the television screens and remained a mere discussion within niche academic and political circles. This incident was enough to show how omnipresent and omnipotent caste is in the politics of Bihar and India. Incidents like this make it difficult for people to disagree with Jayprakash Narayan’s words in 1974: “Caste is the biggest political party in Bihar.”
As the manhunt for Jeevan continued, Yohan and Ila reached Sumit Rajput’s office in Sarvodaya Nagar. Ila had checked with Sumit’s secretary and fixed an appointment before landing there at least five minutes prior to the agreed upon time. At the entrance, the security guard guided them to the adjacent stairs that would take them to the first floor where Sumit sat. Even after ten minutes, Sumit remained busy in a meeting. Ila and Yohan, both with an abiding love for punctuality, got irked with the callous attitude shown toward their time. However, the officers knew how to compose their emotions and wait. There’s a reason for this attitude—it always favors the other person, especially a powerful suspect, if the investigating officer is already worked up. This would reflect in their questioning and lead to hostile responses from the suspect. In this case, the team didn’t have enough evidence to arrest Sumit but had reasonable knowledge of events to suspect him. Yohan turned to the window on the first floor with a pristine view of Begusarai’s commercial view to calm himself, while Ila resorted to playing a football game on her tablet. Around twenty-three minutes later, the officers were called into the room.
“Hello officer. I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasure to meet you guys because the last thing a hardworking businessman needs is being remotely involved in a case that he has no business in.” Sumit’s intentions were clear with his statement as he showed clear signs of being in a state of non-concurrence.
“Well, it's a politician's death. Half of the state seems to be involved. You’ve had close interactions with the man. Somehow, in the larger scheme of things, you have become a part of our business.” Ila set the tone with a friendly jibe.
“Madam, madam. I wouldn’t say close. Ashraf and I subscribed to different schools of thought. He felt politics will bring about a change whereas I decided to dedicate my life to educate yuva (young) Biharis.” As Sumit spoke, it seemed like his photo in the banner behind his chair got a new lease of life. It showed him explaining doubts to two young Bihari girls with a tagline that read: “Padhega Bihar tab to Badhega Bihar,” loosely translated to Educated Bihar, Progressive Bihar. Amid the seriousness of a murder investigation, Yohan couldn’t help but stop and smile at the love for rhyming and alliteration in the slogans produced in the state. Adding to the humor was Sumit’s self-proclaimed righteous path toward Bihar’s progress and his contribution toward the “educational welfare” of the state.
“I am glad we met, you know. I mean as a file, you are a different character altogether,” Yohan couldn’t control coating his statement with sarcasm.
“Forgive me for saying this, sir and madam too, but files are prepared by policemen and officials like you after a busy day at work. It never reflects the reality of a person. Now you see me and you know me.” This 40-year-old slightly stocky man, with a French beard and rectangular spectacles with maroon frames ensured he was not ready to give in.
“Wow. It’s wonderful that you said it. Because we are here for exactly that,” Yohan had been a champion debater in school and college and a difficult one to outsmart.
A slightly unclear Sumit adjusted his spectacles and asked, “I didn’t get you.” This time his voice wasn’t as firm as earlier.
“So, in multiple files prepared by this particular policeman, Mr. Jeevan Pundir ... there are no records of you making slurs or practicing discriminatory steps against children for various reasons.” Yohan used Sumit’s words to dive right in.
“I have heard you are a straight shooter. What are you saying social reasons for? Say it loud and with confidence C-A-S-T-E ... caste.” Sumit wasn’t a novice at debates either.
With elevated male egos, Ila felt slightly left out. She decided it was time to chip in, “That right there, sir, is what Jeevan missed … that how loud and clear you are when it comes to caste. It must be so hard when someone like Ashraf threatened to question it.”
“Come on, lady. You want to believe Ashraf was something. That he could challenge anyone. This is the problem with your community, madam. They always feel that they can change things in India.” There was anger when he started but Sumit quickly calmed down to pretend all was well.
“You don’t have to answer him, Ila. We can see what a douche he is.” Yohan’s first priority was ensuring his teammate didn’t get hurt with that covert racial slur.
“No, sir. I am fine. By community, he is referring to strong independent women who can kick chauvinists and supremacists right where it hurts that they don’t have the guts to say M-U-S-L-I-M loud and clear.” Her well-timed response was enough to wipe the remains of a smile on Sumit’s face. Yohan, on the other hand, cursed himself for thinking that his colleague couldn’t take it.
“So Sumit, how does your deal with Jeevan work? He deletes the footprint of all your activities and people you go against?” Yohan upped the tempo.
Sumit decided to maintain silence and brush off the question. He was well aware that any word dropped could be used against him. Seeing the probe not working, Yohan decided to take a different approach.
“You know what, Sumit. Why don’t you tell us who you think was behind Ashraf’s murder?”
“Is it really a murder? Accidents happen every day in Begusarai, in Bihar, and in India. I understand the pressures of your job but is it necessary to convert an accident into a murder?” Sumit continued to remain a tough nut to crack.
“How convenient it would have been if the Bihar Police had closed it as an accident. That’s what Jeevan tried to do for you, right?” Ila fired.
“Am I even a suspect? I didn't want to take names because then you would say that I am acting out at professional rivalry. Even if someone is competition, I wouldn’t rat them out just for business. I have ethics,” Sumit replied.
Yohan was genuinely impressed at the way he answ
ered the question. He didn’t take a name but he made it very clear who he was hinting at. What he didn’t understand was why would Sumit try to guard Bashir Hashmi’s name, his biggest competitor and the current market leader in the tutorial business. If anything, the involvement of Bashir in this case leading to an arrest is Mr, Rajput’s best-case scenario.
“So, you are saying but not saying that Bashir Hashmi could be behind the deaths?” Ila asked directly.
“If that’s how you extrapolate my statement, that is your point of view.” His diplomatic knack while answering these complex questions continued.
With every tick the clock on Sumit’s wall made, his sense of denial in the whole issue continued. The senior inspector and his colleague gave different linings and packaging to the questions, only to be met with safe and guarded answers. The little sarcastic unit of Yohan’s brain found it funny that Sumit didn’t have a poster of Rahul Dravid on the wall considering this was one of the “most defensive” answers in a long, long time. As his mind fidgeted with the comparison and the puns while Ila continued questioning, he felt his phone vibrating. It was Sukumar.
“Sukumar, I don’t mean to put any undue pressure on you but I must say Ila has been kicking ass lately. You need something big and good to match that.” Even in his worst of moods, Yohan always had a jibe ready for Sukumar.
“I am not jealous, sir. She is a fabulous teammate to have. I like this team. But now I have something which even Ila can’t give you,” came Sukumar’s reply.
“Well, she did give me the chills while she shut down Sumit like a boss but now you are making me super excited about something and I have a feeling,” Yohan relived the moment.
Yohan called Ila outside for a while and put the phone on speaker. Ila saw Sukumar’s name on the dial face and was sure at the very moment that this was something important.
“We got him, guys,” Sukumar screamed with excitement from the other side.
Yohan was jubilant too and there was a smile that slowly made its appearance on Ila’s face. But before widening it, she asked, “Which one? Chirag or Jeevan?”
Chapter 15
Time Doesn’t Heal All That Isn’t Exhumed
“As expected, he is dodging our questions,” Sukumar told Yohan as soon as he entered the guesthouse.
“Did you nab the guy who gave him the hideout?” Ila asked Sukumar.
“Yes, yes. He is a cement factory owner based out of Begusarai,” Sukumar replied while looking at Yohan. The lead inspector understood the reference and replied, “Cement factory? Give me his name. I’ll check with my dad if he knows anything about him.”
“Yeah. I checked that. His name is Pawan Kumar and he is associated with your father’s company.” Sukumar had done his homework.
Yohan nodded while texting his father to see if he could get any further details and continued to ask Sukumar questions. “By the way, how did you get to him. I mean ... impressive stuff!”
Sukumar had a wide smile on his face and there was a sparkle in his eyes when he said, “Oh, you are going to love this.”
Ila was amused seeing Sukumar being all coy and blushy while speaking. But her focus still remained on the guy. “C’mon, Sukumar. Cut the suspense. There’s enough of that in our lives.”
While his smile remained, Sukumar went on to explain his master catch that led to the discovery of Jeevan Pundir. Ila had dug out the cases filed against Sumit Rajput that led to the connection with Jeevan. Sukumar noticed that Sumit had appointed the same lawyer for all the cases. Since Sumit Rajput was an influential and high-paying client, Sukumar assumed that the lawyer would have clients of that stature. In line with his thinking, Sukumar was able to find a few clients and most of them were noteworthy with powerful connections. He then dug up Sumit’s phone records and shortlisted the ones with whom the education entrepreneur interacted in the days following Piyali’s death. Surprisingly, there were two other clients with whom Sumit had interacted. But Jeevan’s last tower location was closer to Pawan Kumar’s second house. Despite this connection, the police segregated themselves into three teams visiting these clients. The teams applied pressure on the clients until Pawan Kumar succumbed to it. Sukumar instructed his police colleagues to tell them that they would be kept out of this as long as they were just repaying the favor for some erstwhile reason. Pawan claimed that he didn't even know Jeevan was being investigated for murder. He swore that his lawyer said that the policeman was another client who was under the scanner for some corruption charges.
“Well done, Sukumar. Finding the common lawyer and mapping with the phone records is brilliant analytical work. Did you get that in your first go?”
Sukumar confessed that the lawyer theory was his third attempt. At first, he mapped the 12 franchise owners of Sumit in Begusarai but none except one of them interacted with Sumit or his PA in the last ten days. A simple establishment date check showed that this belonged to a franchise owner who had changed the location of his center recently. Sukumar chose to keep the name aside for investigation and moved on to his next theory. The second theory focused on the staff members of Sumit. There were 112 staff members in Begusarai, including teachers and office staff. Due to the sheer volume and crunch in resources, Sukumar kept that aside and decided to discuss it with Yohan later. Then he cracked the third one which had lesser people to interrogate. Hence, he prioritized this for the day. Luckily for the team and Sukumar, he hit the jackpot with this.
“Amazing, Sukumar. I genuinely admire the reasoning you used. Often people think investigations are about the groundwork but a lot of our work happens on dashboards,” Ila said, praising her colleague.
“Yeah, Ila. And his brain is the most crowded yet organized dashboard I have ever seen. Brilliant stuff”. Yohan also praised his colleague.
“Thank you, guys. Now there’s more and we had our doubts on this after our discussion with Priyanshu…”
As Sukumar was about to finish what he said, Yohan noticed CI Raj Pratap at the door. He walked toward the circle inspector.
“Yes, Raj. What is it?” Yohan asked.
“Sir ... sir … I just wanted to say sorry for messing this up. I should have been more responsible. Bihar Police isn’t incompetent, sir.”
Yohan moved ahead, placed his hand on CI Raj Pratap’s shoulder, and said, “I don’t think and will never say Bihar Police is incompetent. I wouldn’t generalize an entire force based on one experience, Raj. There are hardworking people giving it all for the state and I respect that.”
“But you are angry with me.” Raj Pratap behaved more like a hurt teenager than a policeman.
“Not angry. Just disappointed, but that’s okay,” Yohan replied.
“Give me a chance, sir. I will interrogate this Jeevan son of a bitch. I want this chance so badly for the sake of my force’s reputation,” Raj pleaded.
Yohan understood that Raj was underwhelmed with his own self and was trying to seek redemption in his eyes. However, it wasn’t easy for Yohan to trust the man who botched up the investigation for the sake of media publicity. He didn’t have a whisker of a belief in Raj. As he looked around, the reactions of Sukumar and Ila indicated the same. After all the hard work, turmoil, and the tag of “inexperienced team” being thrown at them, Yohan wasn’t ready to commit another mistake. However, seeing Raj admit his mistake and begging for a chance, Yohan had a piece of work for him. “Leave the interrogation to us. If you really want to make an impact, I have a job for you.”
With plenty of excitement, Raj stepped forward and asked, “What is it, sir? Anything to clear the bad reputation I brought to my force.”
Yohan sported a smile seeing the spirit of the man who was just a mockery of the uniform until this minute, according to the team and himself. But the sheer willingness to own his mistake was nothing but honorable.
“Okay. You need to go to the district magistrate, convince him to issue an arrest warrant against Sumit, and bring him to us. We have a statement from Pawan Kumar t
hat will help establish this.”
Raj knew that he had lost the officer’s trust but he was ready to take this up. “Yes, sir. I will bring him to you at any cost,” said a pumped-up Raj as he quickly turned around ready to mission up.
“Raj, listen. Just bring him and I don’t want you to do any questioning or interrogation on your own. I am trusting you despite everything. I respect your intent but if you fuck this up, I will ensure that the remainder of your service is nothing short of hell.” Rarely ... very rarely, Yohan had this tone but he meant it. Raj could see the seriousness behind the gentle-looking man’s face. He nodded in agreement, saluted, and left to do his newly assigned task.