by Shilpa Jain
Till date, 15 murders have been confirmed to be committed by her. Reports say that the number could be higher. The actual number may have been suppressed by our legal authorities to avoid chaos among citizens.
Strangely, no witness has ever come forward to provide any details of the murderer. Most consider her to be a saviour and protector of their children.
The country’s security agency has been largely unsuccessful in identifying and capturing the killer. Like our civilians, could they too be of the opinion that the burqa killer is helping our social system? Are they right in going easy on a murderer? Will this not encourage other heroes to emerge and commit murders in the name of protecting someone?
Tanvi looks at the photographs of the victims of the burqa murderer. On a piece of paper, she notes KAKED HAVELI, KALYAN.
Chapter 11
Next morning, Tanvi is up early. She leaves a note for Abram, ‘Sorry, couldn’t bring myself to wake you up. Rest well. Will call up later.’
As planned, the team splits into two groups. Tanvi, Ravi and Makrand proceed to Tungareshwar forest. They reach the forest reserve in about three hours. The local police and forest departments are already there with their teams. Sushant and Soma too receive a similar support at Sanjay Gandhi national park.
Tanvi addresses everyone, “I have forwarded a detailed map of the forest and the location of the shrines to all of you. We are going to form teams of two. I have allotted the shrines that will be covered by each team. We are not only targeting structures that look like temples, but even small idols worshipped under trees. I will take the road to reach the eastern entry of the forest and visit the two shrines deep in the belly of the eastern part. Every team will get a long range radio transmitter to communicate. Is that clear?”
Everyone nods, and eight teams are formed. Makrand accompanies Tanvi. They begin searching Tungareshwar forest. Some teams are accompanied by hounds.
Makrand closely follows Tanvi. He has his own glock, which he proudly points in every direction. Tanvi is amused at his behaviour.
“Careful, you don’t want to shoot your own booty.”
Makrand smiles sheepishly and points the gun outwards.
“I thought Dr Sheriff was to accompany us.”
“He is in no condition to work. He needs rest.”
Makrand mutters, “I am glad he does.”
“You said something?”
“Nothing. It’s just that he doesn’t seem to be very fond of me.”
“Don’t mind him. He can be difficult sometimes.”
They detect some movement in a bush.
Tanvi warns, “We have to be careful. It could be a wild animal.’
They proceed slowly, breathing softly. Tanvi and Makrand momentarily see someone moving speedily in the bush. They observe that the person is wearing black. Makrand points his glock to shoot. Tanvi hastily disturbs his aim by pushing his arm. He looks surprised.
Tanvi explains, “We are not sure if it is a tantric. What if someone innocent is out there?”
“I doubt someone innocent could be loitering around here. But yes, it could be the burqa killer. She adorns the same attire.”
Tanvi stares at Makrand, “Why would she be in the jungle?”
“From her tales, it appears that she strives to protect innocent children, especially girls. And in our case innocent girls are involved.”
“I don’t think she would come here.”
“Was she to go someplace else today?”
Tanvi is annoyed, “How would I know?”
“You were confident that she wouldn’t be here.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing, just making a point that I am trustworthy.”
Tanvi rolls her eyes, “We’ll see that.”
They search the two shrines. There seems to be no sign of recent human visits to the shrines. Tanvi gets similar reports from the other areas and from Sanjay Gandhi national park. She is dejected. By dusk, she calls off the operation. There are no reports of any abduction from the city.
Perhaps, I have alerted the killers. The media has also covered the case extensively. We should lie low for a while and wait for them to emerge. But can I afford to lose another life? I’ll have to find a way to track the killers without alerting them.
Tanvi and her team decide to meet up at the headquarters for further plan of action. On her way back, Tanvi checks her phone and notices that she has several missed calls from Abram. She had ignored his calls during the search operation. She didn’t want anyone at work to see her vulnerable side.
Tanvi calls back Abram, “Hey, how are you feeling?”
No answer.
“I know you are mad because I didn’t wake you up and didn’t take your calls.”
“You are damn right, I am.”
“You needed rest. Wouldn’t you have done the same for me?”
“Yes, except that I would have stayed back with you.”
“I wish I could do that. But you do know that I couldn’t have done that.”
“Um… yes. What is the scene at the forests? Any progress?”
“None so far. We are heading back to the headquarters to lay out a plan.”
“I think you may have alerted the killers. The search operation is all over the news channels,” informs Abram.
“I hope the killers don’t have access to that. Because if they do, they will strike in the most unexpected areas.”
“What is your next move?”
“We have alerted all our informants for news on abductions of young girls. We will ask the news channels to request citizens to come forward and report if they have seen any tantrics in their areas. That may help us zero in on the area where the tantrics are hiding. We have already covered the forest, so that leaves the city.”
“You have combed the forests?”
“No, we have covered only the shrines. They could still be hiding in some remote areas of the forest.”
“Hmm… if you do not get any news from the city, you can go back to the forest and maintain low profile until they re-emerge.”
“I will discuss that with my team. See you tonight. Did you eat your meal?” enquires Tanvi.
“I thought Kabeer was your informant. You turned him into your delivery boy today.”
“I just asked and he offered to help.”
“Help? He didn’t budge until I finished my meal.”
“Good, he would have been in trouble otherwise.”
Tanvi reaches her headquarters and discusses the plan suggested by Abram.
Although DSP Pai grants Tanvi permission to seek media help, he warns her, “You do know that we will be receiving numerous hoax calls after this?”
“I understand sir.”
“And we will have to take each call seriously.”
“Yes sir, but it would be worth the risk. It is day six and we have no track of the killers.”
“Ok, go ahead.”
Soma approaches Tanvi, “Ma’am?”
They discuss something after which Tanvi goes home.
Outside her apartment, she looks for the black cloth in the fire exit door. It is fallen on the floor. She picks it up and goes inside her apartment. Abram is asleep. Smiling at him, she caresses his forehead and pecks his cheek. He smiles in his sleep.
Unable to sleep, she switches on her laptop and checks her emails. She looks for the note she had left on her desk. The note has been replaced with ‘TUNGARESHWAR FOREST’ instead of ‘KAKED HAVELI, KALYAN’.
How did this happen? Abram? Why would he do this? I have to speak to him tomorrow.
Meanwhile at Lohana house, at midnight, a silhouette of a tantric is seen lurking around the back gate. He is clearly visible from Pari’s balcony. The old housemaid, who is in Pari’s room, sees the shadow. Scared by the sight, she runs to inform Mrs Lohana. Afraid to awaken Mr Lohana, she knocks softly on Mrs Lohana’s bedroom door.
“Madam, please open the door.”
Mrs L
ohana, who has been sleeping light since Pari’s death, is startled. She looks at Mr Lohana. He has just caught a wink. She rushes and opens the door to avoid waking him up.
“What is it Indu? What couldn’t wait?” she whispers angrily.
The old housemaid is still shaking in fear, “He is back again.”
“Who is back?”
“The aghori.”
“What? Where?”
“Across the street from Pari baby’s balcony.”
“That is impossible.”
Mrs Lohana hurries down and rushes towards the back gate of the bungalow. The housemaid is too shell-shocked and scared to react. She stays back in the bungalow.
Mrs Lohana unlocks the gate and goes out. It is too dark. She sees a man dressed in black robe wearing a skull mask. She moves closer.
“What are you doing here? I told you I will pay you after everything settles down. Now get away from here before anybody else sees you. And don’t come back until I call you, understand?”
The aghori moves ahead and slaps Mrs Lohana hard on her face.
Mrs Lohana is enraged, “You bastard.”
She charges at the aghori to attack him. But the aghori grabs her hands. She tries hard to free herself. The aghori lifts his mask. Floodlights illuminate the back road of Lohana house. The security guards, who had been taken into confidence, rush to the spot to see a red-faced captured Mrs Lohana.
Mrs Lohana closely looks at her captor’s face and recognises the trainee constable who had come a few days ago to investigate Pari’s murder. She is confused and shocked. She looks around and recognises the CID team. Soma steps forward to arrest her.
Mrs Lohana fumbles, “Wait… there… there has been some misunderstanding. Why am I being arrested? I thought the aghori who had abducted and murdered my daughter was here.”
Soma replies sternly, “Mrs Lohana, you can stop the act now. We have everything on camera.”
Hearing all the chaos, Mr Lohana comes down. He is confused.
Soma explains, “We had seen a suspicious person dressed as an aghori lurking around the house on the night after Pari was abducted. So, we suspected that someone from Lohana house was troubling and trying to scare Pari. That person obviously did not have a chance to warn this impersonator that an actual tantric had abducted Pari. The news had not leaked into the media until then. The impersonator used a getup of an aghori because Pari had a history of fear of aghoris. We kept a close watch on all the members and employees of the house. Mrs Lohana’s behaviour was suspicious. From her phone records, we learned that she was in touch with an ex-convict. Today, we laid down this trap with everyone’s help to expose her. We already have the convict in our custody. He has confessed.”
Mr Lohana is in shock. He slaps Mrs Lohana across her face. “I trusted you with my girl, and this is how you repaid me. You killed her.”
Soma interrupts, “No Mr Lohana, she isn’t involved in the abduction and murder of Pari. That was an actual tantric’s doing. She just wanted to scare Pari and prove that Pari was mentally unstable to oust her from your will.”
Mr Lohana is pained by the news, “But why? There was enough for everyone. My poor girl hardly asked for anything. She lived in fear throughout her short life because of you. And you convinced me that she had lost her mind? Inspector, take her away. I never want to see her again.”
Soma calls up Tanvi, “Ma’am, operation successful.”
“Good job Singh. You did well.”
Abram momentarily opens his eyes and sleepily asks, “Everything alright?”
She nods. He goes back to sleep smiling at her. Tanvi chalks out a plan for the coming day and goes off to sleep.
Chapter 12
Next morning, Tanvi is up early, “Good morning Abram!”
Abram wakes up fresh and gleaming. He smiles, “Someone is in a good mood today.”
“Yes, I have slept well yesterday.”
“Was it because you had good company?”
“Could be.”
Tanvi serves him bed tea.
“Have I done something wrong? This is unusual.” He looks surprised.
“No honey, I thought I should take care of you for a change. You worry too much about me.” Tanvi smiles.
“That I do… er… did you just call me honey?” he sucks in his lips and looks worried.
Tanvi nods, “That’s right. I did.”
They have breakfast together and then, Tanvi dresses up to leave. “I have a long day ahead. You take care. Kabeer will get your food.”
She takes the elevator. Just before Abram is about to shut the door, he notices a black cloth stuck in the fire exit. Alarmed, he moves closer to inspect and pulls out the cloth. He checks up and down the stairs to check if someone is hiding. A lemon stabbed with a thumbtack is lying on the staircase leading down. He is sweating with anxiety by now. He comes up, unlatches the refugee flat and goes inside to check. Nobody is there. Tanvi’s apartment door is ajar. Going in cautiously, he checks behind the door and inspects all the rooms. Nothing. He sits on the sofa.
While he is wondering about the episode, he notices a note stuck on the television screen ‘TUNGARESHWAR FOREST’. He jumps off the sofa and looks around.
“Deja vu?”
Abram is startled. Tanvi is leaning on the main door with her arms folded across her chest. He gapes.
“You knew it was my doing?”
“I took a wild guess.”
“Why didn’t you just talk and sort it out instead of this drama?”
“Then, I would have missed seeing this side of the fearless Dr Abram Sheriff.”
“You know why I did this, right?”
“Yes. To scare me. You were afraid that the tantrics would harm me. You wanted to drive me away from the case.”
“Exactly! That’s why I accompanied you to the jungle.”
“And look what happened. You landed up injured instead.”
“You could have been there instead of me. I am glad it was me.”
“Abram, you can’t protect me everywhere. I can take care of myself. And if I am destined to get hurt, nobody can protect me.”
“I won’t let that happen. Not under my watch.”
“If you go back to being your old overprotective self, then I am afraid, we will have to move on this time too.”
Abram takes a deep breath. “Does that mean I have a chance this time? I will try to behave then.”
“You better. No more childish pranks like these,” says Tanvi pointing to the black cloth and lemon. “Now rest well. I will see you later. And yes, I will discuss about this note later. This is not a prank. You know this is serious stuff.”
“I was only trying to protect you.’
“Well, stop trying. Don’t interfere with my job. And for the millionth time, I can take care of myself.”
Abram nods with his head hung low. He knows he has crossed the line this time.
Tanvi hurries to the headquarters. Her team is waiting for her. Today, they have to verify calls regarding the whereabouts of the tantrics. They have to use all their resources and skills to differentiate genuine calls from hoax ones.
Tanvi addresses her team, “I hope you all have alerted your informers that you will require their full support. I have requested the traffic department to give us access to their cctv cameras to instantly verify the information we receive. The local police of various stations will visit the sites of interests to verify our tips. I hope we do not have too many false alarms.”
Tanvi gets up from her place. Makrand interrupts, “Going somewhere?”
“Yes, I have some field work today. Keep me posted.”
“I am coming with you.”
“You don’t make decisions here. I do. You take my orders. So, sit back with the team and assist them. Is that clear?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Good.”
Tanvi meets DSP Yogesh Pai and proceeds on her undertaking of the day. She visits the forensic morgue where t
he bodies of the tantric victims are preserved. She hands over a formal order to the morgue attendant.
“I would like to see the bodies in chronological order of their deaths.”
“Sure ma’am,” replies the attendant.
He leads Tanvi to one of the lockers in the chilly morgue room and checks the label. He then pulls out the huge drawer with a body in it. The drawer contains a few decomposed and half-eaten body parts of Soniya.
Tanvi winces. She checks the file.
Soniya Kamat
Age: 17 years
Cause of death: not known, vital organs missing
Next, they move to a small locker. Tanvi frowns.
The attendant explains, “This is all that is left of this victim.”
The locker contains a glass jar with black ash, few bones and a charred jaw bone with a few teeth still attached to it.
Poor Pari! She suffered pain in life and in death.
She reads the file
Name: Pari Lohana, identified from her blood and hair. DNA retrieval from the burnt parts still in process.
Age: 17 years
Cause of death: unknown if the victim was burnt before or after death.
They move to a third locker. The drawer has a body of a young girl. Tanvi closes her eyes in pain after seeing the girl. The girl is pale and sallow. There are several cuts on her body, probably used to drain all her blood. Her tongue is cyanosed and bitten by her teeth, which means she was hanged alive. Her eyes are bulging. It is impossible to imagine how she must have looked before the ghastly act. Tanvi reads her file.
Name: Victim not identified
Age: Determined from her teeth and bone, 16-17 years
Cause of death: Asphyxia from hanging
Tanvi looks at the picture created by a forensic artist. The girl looks pretty. Tanvi looks at the hands and feet of the girl. She seems to be from a poor background.
“Was this photo released in press to establish her identity?”
“Yes, but there was no response.”
“I see. Let’s move ahead.”
The attendant checks his list and then opens another drawer.
He hands over the file to Tanvi and informs, “The mother of this victim visits every day. She wants custody of the body. She wants to perform her last rites.”