Rohan said, ‘Yes, he used to get so upset with me if I did not follow his instructions on various business deals minutely. He was so controlling that, in the end, I just followed whatever he wanted me to do and focussed on my theatre group. It was becoming more and more difficult to work with him. He used to fly into violent rages if things did not go as he wished.’
Vikram nodded. ‘Yes, he was definitely bordering on insanity. Because of his father-in-law’s clout, he was forced to remain in a boring marriage. But he got his revenge on Richa by making her life as miserable as possible. He totally ignored her and also manipulated the children into disliking their mother.’
Kiara murmured, ‘I understood from the servants that something like this was going on. I told you he was a cold fish.’
‘Yes, and you were right.’
‘Yes. Gaurav very coldly discarded Richa from his life and now turned his attention to Juhi. Juhi was dazzled by his good looks and his wealth and charm. But she was in love with another person around her age. She did not really want to get involved with Gaurav, but being a weak character, she could not withstand pressure from her uncle and also of course, Gaurav himself. He got her to a point where she became his willing slave. She was even ready to help him with murder. She had done her studies in pharmacy and was aware that phenelzine and Nyquil made a deadly combination. Her maternal uncle had been an actor. She herself was on good terms with Dr Shetty’s family as her mother had worked as a nurse in his clinic. She went to Dr Shetty’s house on the pretext of a friendly visit, and stole one of his prescription pads. Kalyan wanted Juhi to marry Gaurav as he would also benefit immensely from Gaurav’s wealth. So he helped them by faking Dr Shetty’s prescription and dressing up like Gaurav and procuring the phenelzine.
‘Gaurav got a solid alibi at the same time by travelling to Mumbai a day before and ensuring that there were many witnesses to his presence in Mumbai on the day the medicine was purchased. This was done to deflect any suspicion that police might have about Gaurav. The husband would be the first person the police would suspect. So they tried to project that you had committed the murder and were trying to put the blame on Gaurav. In reality, the opposite was true.
Juhi was still working in the Lohia house at that time. So it was easy for her to hide the prescription pad and false beard in your apartment. It was essential that Juhi should not be around when Richa was poisoned. So Gaurav pretended to acquiesce to Richa’s decision and fired Juhi two months before he set the plan in action. Gaurav ensured that Juhi got the post with the Suranas. They kept in touch by phone and email but were careful never to meet. He then waited till Richa’s bottle of Nyquil was almost empty and dropped phenelzine in the remaining liquid. He then left for a vacation with the kids, knowing that Richa would take the medicine sooner or later.
But after Richa died, Juhi’s uncle, Kalyan, started to blackmail Gaurav. He was probably bleeding Gaurav to death. So Gaurav decided that Kalyan would have to go. When Juhi went to visit the doctor, Gaurav killed both Kalyan and his wife. It was a desperate and risky thing to do, but he had no other option. I do not know if he deliberately killed the wife as well or if she witnessed the murder and hence had to be killed.
Looking at Vikram, Rohan sighed.
‘What is it, Rohan?’
‘Nothing. I was just thinking that Juhi seemed like such a beautiful, sweet and innocent woman and yet…’
Vikram finished, ‘Yes, appearances are deceptive. She was warm and beautiful on the outside. She used emotion and fake love to manipulate the younger children. I am sure that she supplied drugs to Kinshuk, thereby keeping him under her control. She and her uncle Kalyan must have blackmailed Kinshuk and made him meet me. They wanted me to stop the investigation. She was very ruthless. That is why she could so heartlessly push Richa to her death. She and her uncle wanted Gaurav’s money at all costs and she suffered no remorse for her actions. She was a lovely and completely conscienceless lady.’
Epilogue
Vikram’s agency was running very successfully. He had to rent an office premise and appoint a receptionist and an assistant to help him with his day-to-day business.
Life was good. A daughter had been born to Vikram and Veena a month back. Inspector Reddy, Rohan and Kiara had dropped by to visit Veena and the baby.
Inspector Reddy said, ‘Yes, now it will be very busy time for both of you.’
Rohan gleefully turned to Vikram, ‘Yes, you should appoint a governess I think.’
Veena said, ‘God forbid, never!’ and everybody in the room laughed.
~ Episode 2 ~
The Sonia Sinha Case
Prologue
Krishna Mohan Dhavala was sitting in his luxuriously appointed office staring at the monitor of his laptop. It was only six in the evening, but he was already half-drunk. A glass of whiskey was sitting nearby. He took his whiskey neat: no water, no ice, but tended to shake the glass as if he were sloshing the liquid over the ice-cubes.
He typed into the Facebook Messenger opened on his screen.
‘Hello Sonia. How are you, darling? I hope you will be near the Necklace Road MMTS Station tomorrow at 8 pm as planned.’
Immediately there was a response from Sonia.
‘Yes Krishna, I will be there in a burqa. But please do not mention to anyone that I am going to meet you. I am from a respectable family and nobody should know about this.’
‘Are you crazy, Sonia? Of course I am not going to tell anyone. Just dying to meet you, baby. Don’t be late. I will be driving a black BMW.’
The next evening he dressed with care. Krishna was a tall, heavily built, dark-complexioned man with a receding hairline. He put on a flowery shirt and a pair of jeans. But his big stomach jutted out. Years of drinking had taken a toll on his physique. The bags under his eyes made him look older that his actual age of 45 years.
After shaving carefully, he applied a strong aftershave on his smooth cheeks. He put on his gold bracelet and a solid gold chain adorned his neck. He rang the bell. Bilas, his trusted bodyguard cum driver, came in. ‘You know what needs to be done?’ Krishna asked curtly.
Bilas nodded his head. He knew the routine. He brought out Krishna’s black BMW SUV. Krishna got in and started towards the Necklace Road MMTS.
He reached the meeting place at 8 pm sharp. The headlights of his car revealed a woman in a burqa waiting by the roadside. She waved her hand. Krishna stopped the car and she got in. As she removed her veil, Krishna started in surprise. At the same time another man got into the back of his car. Confused, Krishna looked at the man. Then his eyes widened in fear.
‘Please don’t harm me…’ Krishna begged as sweat ran down his face. That was the last conversation Krishna had with anyone. The man ignored his pleading and stabbed him brutally and repeatedly without any compassion while the woman looked on in horrified silence, unable to utter a word.
The next day, Krishna’s body was found inside his car around a kilometre from Necklace Road MMTS station.
1
Krishna Mohan Dhavala
Krishna Mohan Dhavala was a land developer and successful businessman who had become rich by land grabbing and then developing apartment complexes, multiplexes, etc. on the property he commandeered. He and the corrupt politician, Vamsi Rao, had been childhood acquaintances. Krishna knew something incriminating about Rao, and as a result, even though he was occasionally arrested by the police for his illegal activities, he was always released and had avoided jail thus far. He had been attacked by people whose land he grabbed, but his faithful driver and bodyguard Bilas always managed to save him.
Mr Dhavala had a business partner, Mr Karuna Raju. Karuna, an architect by profession, was in charge of the development of apartments for the partnership. He provided his vision and beautiful buildings while Krishna was the brains and the cunning behind the ongoing success of the business.
Karuna was found shot dead one day. It was widely suspected that Krishna killed him, but there was no evidence
, and the murder investigation was proceeding at a snail’s pace. Then Krishna himself was murdered within six months of Karuna’s death.
With the death of both business partners, work on the various apartment projects came to a standstill. Several rich and famous people had invested a lot of money in the projects, including some film producers and other influential people, and they wanted their money back. As a result, the police were under a lot of pressure to solve the two murders. A special investigative team had been created and Inspector Gopi Reddy was in put charge but they had not really made any headway on the cases. Reddy suspected there were invisible forces at work, deliberately impeding the investigation from the outside. He felt a bit helpless. Three weeks had already passed since Krishna’s death and police were no closer to solve the case than they had been at the beginning.
In the meantime, in a Somajigudda business complex, ex-cop Detective Vikram Rana was sitting in his private office drinking a cup of coffee. Vikram was in his late thirties and had been born and brought up in Hyderabad. He was over six feet tall and had a strong, handsome face. His thick black hair was fashionably cut and held only a few traces of grey. Vikram had been well-respected in the police force and was known for his sharp intellect and good investigative skills. He also had a dry sense of humour which had made him extremely popular with his colleagues in the police force.
It was 10 o’clock in the morning. Vikram had scattered a few letters on the flattop desk behind which he was sitting in an effort to convince his underlings that he was working hard should they suddenly walk in. A hidden air-conditioner coped efficiently with the rising temperature. Hot and golden sunshine made patterns on the office carpet that his wife Veena had bought to impress Vikram’s clients, but to him, it seemed too expensive to walk on.
It had been just over a year since Vikram started his private detective agency. He initially set up the business in his home. Within eight months he gained fame by solving the murder of Mrs Richa Lohia, the wife of a rich industrialist. It had been a difficult, high-profile case, made all the more nerve-wracking by the fact that it was his first case as a private investigator. Mr Rohan Lohia, his close friend and the victim’s brother-in-law, had at first been accused of the murder. But then Vikram caught the real killer. In gratitude, Rohan provided him with the money to set up his own plush private office in a big commercial complex in Somajigudda.
In these four months since he had moved to the new location, Vikram had taken on a number of new cases, some interesting and some not so interesting. To cope with his rapidly growing business, Vikram had hired an assistant who helped him with the more routine cases. His name was Murali and he was in his thirties. He was long, lean and dapper. He was unmarried and let it be known he was on the lookout for a suitable life partner.
Vikram had also hired a receptionist cum secretary for his office. Her name was Radha. She was in her early twenties and unmarried. She was tall and dusky with lovely eyes and a figure which played havoc with Murli’s imagination. Although she was young, she was astute and could brilliantly categorise each case according to its order of importance.
She was already a fan of Vikram and sent the most interesting cases to him and the rest to Murali. Now she called Vikram over the intercom and told him that a Mrs Devika Raju wanted to meet him regarding the murder of her husband’s business partner, Mr Krishna Mohan Dhavala. Vikram had been avidly following the murders of Karuna Raju and Krishna Mohan in the newspapers. He knew that Devaki Raju was the wife of Karuna Raju. He asked Radha to send in Mrs Raju.
Mrs Devika Raju was a very fair woman in her mid-forties. She was wearing an Indian silk saree. Traditional south Indian style diamond earrings glittered in her ears and a heavy gold chain adorned her neck. A few clusters of gold bangles adorned each hand. Her hands were slightly chubby. She herself was a slightly chubby woman. In fact she looked like a traditional housewife one sees in an upper middle class, genteel Telugu household. Vikram could almost smell the typical mixed scents of jasmine flowers and sambar that would be emanating from her well-kept home.
She said ‘Namaskar, are you Vikram Rana? I am Mrs Devaki Raju. I read about you in the newspapers when you solved the murder of Richa Lohia. I have come to request your help regarding the murder investigation of Krishna Mohan Dhavala.’
Mrs Raju was clearly very upset and nervous. Vikram, being a gallant gentleman, tried to make her feel comfortable. He asked her whether she wanted tea or anything else. She requested tea. Ensuring first that she was comfortable, Vikram rang the bell and asked the office boy to get two cups of tea.
Mrs Raju became visibly more relaxed with this display of concern for her comfort. Vikram asked, ‘So Mrs Raju, where do you stay?’ She responded by saying she stayed in Bowenpally.
‘That is quite far. How did you come?’ Vikram asked.
‘I took a taxi.’
‘Good. It is difficult to drive your own car such a long way in this horrible traffic,’ Vikram responded.
While he was trying to make Mrs Raju feel more relaxed, the office boy brought in the tea. Over the cups of tea Vikram said, ‘I understand that you have come to consult me regarding the murder of Mr Krishna Mohan Dhavala.’
‘No, Mr Rana. I do not care about Krishna’s murder. In fact he deserved what he got. He killed my husband, Karuna Raju.’ Her lips trembled a bit as she began, but she controlled herself.
Vikram said, ‘How can you be so sure that Krishna killed Karuna?’
‘There was a land deal in Kompally where the owner of the land had been shot dead. My husband Karuna Raju, overheard Krishna discussing the murder with Vamsi Rao, his politician friend and a minister supposed to be close to the current Chief Minister. He was shocked to learn that Krishna could be so evil.’
‘Why did he not go to the police?’
‘He was scared that he would be charged as an accomplice if the murder came to light. He called me to discuss what he had overheard. After a week of mental turmoil and discussions we decided that he must end the partnership as soon as possible. He went to Krishna and told him he wanted to leave the partnership. When Krishna realized that Karuna had overheard his conversation with the minister, he panicked and shot him dead.’
Vikram asked gently, ‘Then why have you come to me? As far as I am aware, the police are already investigating the murders.’
‘The police are not helping at all. I made a police complaint against Krishna, but I suspect that Vamsi Rao was influencing the investigation to ensure that Krishna got away scot-free. Now the police are trying to put the blame for the murder of Krishna on my son Pavel. They feel that Pavel murdered Krishna as revenge because Krishna killed his father and the police have taken no action over the killing. But Mr Rana, please believe me. I know my son very well. He is very sensitive, studious and peace-loving, and could never take anybody’s life, no matter what the provocation might be. I have already lost my husband; I do not want to lose my son as well. Please! Please help me. I am willing to pay you whatever amount you care to ask.’ She began to sob uncontrollably.
Vikram gave her some tissues and sat silently till she was able to compose herself.
Devaki Raju smiled ruefully and said ‘I hope I am not being a nuisance crying all over the place. Actually it has been too much in the past few months – first my husband’s death and now the police treating my son like a criminal.’
Vikram gave her a warm smile and said, ‘Mrs Raju, please go home and rest now. I will start the investigation immediately and as soon as I have some information, I will come to you. If your son is innocent, I promise you that I will ensure that no injustice happens to him.’
Mrs Raju said, ‘I feel a lot better now that you have agreed to take up this case. What is your retainer?’
Vikram said, ‘Do not worry about that right now – let the case be over- then you can reimburse me’. He then escorted Devaki Raju out of the office to a taxi and returned to his desk and sat down.
He searched the Internet
for more information about the case. The murder of Krishna Mohan Dhavala was front page news due to the alleged involvement of the high-profile politician, Vamsi Rao. After reading all the available news and comments by people regarding the case, Vikram rang up Inspector Gopi Reddy.
‘Hey, Reddy Sir – how are you? Vikram here.’
‘Hey, Vikram – calling after a long time! Where the hell did you vanish? Did you go out of town?’
‘No – very much here in Hyderabad. Why don’t we have dinner tonight at Delightful Barbeque?’
Both Vikram and Inspector Gopi Reddy were big foodies. So the inspector immediately agreed to meet Vikram for dinner. Around eight in the evening he presented himself at Vikram’s doorstep. Vikram’s wife Veena opened the door.
‘Veena bhabi, how are you! How is your kid doing?’
‘Gopi bhaiya !’ Veena squealed in delight upon seeing him. ‘How are you? Our daughter Kamala is doing very well now. She has started crawling and is quite a handful. But I am upset with you. Why are you visiting after such a long time?’
‘What to do? Too many crimes have been happening all around Hyderabad. It has been too hectic.’
‘Well, I do not want to listen to all these excuses. You must come more often. Please sit down. Vikram is taking a bath. He will come soon.’
Veena was vegan and hated eating out. Knowing this, Inspector Reddy tactfully refrained from asking why she was not joining them for dinner.
Vikram entered the drawing room. ‘Sir, how are you? Did you have a good day?’
‘Don’t tell me! This Krishna Mohan Dhavala murder case is killing me!’
Vikram Rana Investigates: Tales of Murder and Deception in Hyderabad Page 9