He replied, ‘Srinivas Goud, sir. This is the first time I seeing something like this. I never want to experience it again. This is horrible.’
Satish Rao made a commiserating sound, ‘I know how you feel. But the investigation has to proceed. Tell me, how did you notice the body?’
‘I had dropped a few passengers who were taking the Faluknama Gulbarga express at 6:08 in Begumpet Station. They were already delayed. I was curious to see if they caught the train as I know them.’
‘How do you know them?’
‘They stay in Kamalapuri Colony. I also stay nearby. They use my services quite often.’
‘Okay so you were curious to see whether they caught the train. What happened then?’
‘I waited at the entrance near the ticket counter from where I can see the platform number two. As the Faluknama Gulbarga Express was delayed by 15 minutes, they were able to catch the train. Then I turned around went back to my auto and was lighting a cigarette when I noticed the body. I called my brother-in-law who then informed the Begumpet Police,’ Srinivas explained.
He was clearly becoming more and more nervous on being asked so many questions. To put him at ease, Satish Rao said, ‘Well done. Give your name and address to Constable Sumon there and then you can leave.’
Looking pleased with himself, Srinivas Goud strutted towards Constable Sumon.
While Satish Rao was questioning the auto driver, he had noticed that Renuka’s daughter-in-law was getting impatient and was angrily trying to draw his attention.
As he turned towards her, ACP Reddy arrived with his team. She barged her way towards Satish and Reddy and began shouting, ‘Look at what happened to my mum. What steps are you taking to nab the killer? I thought that Hyderabad was a safe city to stay. How can a respectable citizen like my mother be murdered in a public place like this? And you are not even talking to me.’ Tears of anger and frustration were running down her face.
Constable Sumon, who was a local of that area, whispered into ACP Reddy’s ears, ‘This is Dr. Priya Reddy, the victim, Dr. Renuka’s daughter-in-law. The other one is Dr. Renuka’s long-time friend Barkha Bisht.’
Dr. Priya’s eyes were red from recent weeping. As soon as she heard the news, she had just put on a mismatched salwar suit and ran down from her home. Her hair was undone and she looked half mad with grief. She was obviously very fond of her mother-in-law. Barkha had also been crying, but she was now more composed. She was trying to soothe Dr. Priya.
ACP Reddy said curtly, ‘It’s also Dr. Renuka’s fault. There is a dangerous killer on the loose. She shouldn’t have come out alone this early in the morning. Anyway, what was she doing here?’
‘Every morning she goes for a swim in the country club. She takes this shortcut from our apartment to the club though the station. The steps at the end of the parking lot lead to the Greenland flyover and from there it is a few minutes to the club. She has done this for 5 years and nothing had happened. We have been staying in this locality for fifteen years and everyone knows us.’ Dr. Priya spat out.
‘That doesn’t mean that a sociopathic killer won’t attack her in a lonely spot. We’ll need to take the body away for autopsy. I suggest that you go home and try to take some rest. Come, let me drop both of you back to your apartment.’
‘Oh, it is only a short distance. We can walk back.’ Barkha said now.
‘No, it’s alright. I am anyway going to that direction, I will drop you.’ ACP Reddy gently guided them towards his car after requesting Satish Rao to make arrangements to shift the body.
During the drive back, Dr. Priya said, ‘Generally she would start for the club around 5:30 am walk for an hour around the Kundanbagh area and then swim for 30 minutes, but as she had a delivery scheduled around 9 am, she must have decided to go to the club a bit earlier than normal. I am a light sleeper, so I heard her close the front door of our apartment around 5 am. It was still dark when she went out. It would have been dawn by 5:30 am and she would not have been killed.’ She was gibbering, talking feverishly, more to herself that the ACP. She looked dazed and traumatised and tears were falling freely from her eyes.
Barkha said sharply, ‘Priya – please try to calm down. You will fall sick if you do not pull yourself together.’ Priya ignored her.
‘You stayed with your mother-in-law?’ Reddy asked Dr. Priya.
‘Yes. I am a widow and as my husband was her only child, I became like her daughter. Oh, why do I always lose the people I love?’ she wailed hysterically.
Gopi Reddy felt a twinge of compassion for her. But he said sharply, ‘Pull yourself up. Going into hysteria won’t help anybody. Try to compose yourself and think about whether Dr. Renuka might have known the killer. Maybe the killer had a grudge against her and singled her out. Think about it. If you can recall any unsavoury incidences let us know.’
Then in a more gentle tone he continued, ‘I understand that this is a very traumatic time for you. You take some rest. We might need to question you again, but we’ll do so a few days later. Right now I have most of the information I need.’
A large number of neighbours and acquaintances had already come over and after handing over the weeping and hysterical Dr. Priya to one of the elder relatives, ACP Reddy walked next door to Vikram Rana’s home. He wondered what his ex-colleague and close friend Vikram was doing and whether the news of the murder had reached him as yet. It was almost 8 am and as he knew that as Vikram was an early riser, he would not mind a visit from Reddy. He would also like to hear the news of the murder directly from him. Reddy was also not ashamed to admit to himself, that Vikram, being Dr. Renuka Reddy’s neighbour, might be able to provide some more information about the family.
Vikram was tall and had been athletic. But due to his hectic work schedules, he had lately been unable to exercise and like Reddy, being a big time foodie, had put on weight. He had been put under strict diet by his health freak wife Veena. So he had been pushed out of his bed by 6:30 am and had been forced to run on the treadmill that she had gifted him. Though Vikram was tough with criminals, he was prudent enough not to get on the wrong side of his wife. She was the undisputed boss in the Rana household.
After jogging for an hour he had been hoping for a hearty breakfast of aloo parathas and yoghurt, but instead was given oats and soya milk.
Looking at the bowl of oats he said in an outraged voice, ‘What’s this?’
‘This is a bowl of oats. You are approaching middle age Vikram and you should eat more healthy food.’ Veena said sternly.
‘But this tastes like sand.’
‘What nonsense. These are organic steel cut oats. Extremely good for your health. I have added soya milk. That is why it tastes a bit funny. But you will get used to it soon!’
Vikram put a spoon of the oats gingerly in his mouth. He nearly gagged at the taste. ‘It has no sugar! It tastes horrible,’ he protested, thumping the table so loudly that the newspaper nearly flew off the table.
Veena looked at him even more sternly. ‘Sugar is bad for your health. I will add some honey okay? And try not to make such stupid noises so early in the morning. Kamala will wake up!’
Kamala was Vikram and Veena’s daughter. She was a toddler and quite a handful. She was fascinated by Vikram’s phone and was always trying to play with it. Though Vikram loved her to bits, he liked her better asleep than awake. Vikram went purple in the face, but knowing that it was no use trying to argue with his wife, he manfully swallowed another spoonful of the oats when the doorbell rang.
Thankfully abandoning his breakfast, he opened the door to find Gopi Reddy standing outside.
Vikram raised his eyebrows in surprise on seeing Reddy so early at the door. ‘What happened?’
‘The second murder happened right here near the Begumpet Railway Station.’ ACP Reddy said rather baldly.
‘What! Right under my nose? Who was the victim?’
‘Dr. Renuka Reddy, and there had been no witnesses to the murder.’
&nb
sp; ‘Dr. Renuka? Don’t tell me she’s been killed. She is our neighbour. Stays in the apartment building, Serene Heights right next door to us.’
‘Yes, I know. I just dropped her daughter-in-law, Dr. Priya there. I am sure that it is the work of the same killer who had killed Padma. He had mentioned that he would kill an old lady on 15th April, which is today.’
‘And there were no witnesses?’
‘Apparently none,’ Reddy responded.
‘That is a bit disappointing. Anytime there is a witness less crime, you have difficulties. You don’t have anybody telling you where to go, what to look for, who to ask and what to do.’
Veena, who had overheard their conversation from the kitchen, came into the drawing room and exclaimed, ‘What? Dr. Renuka has been killed? This is so upsetting. Dr. Renuka delivered my child Kamala. She was an excellent doctor and both Dr. Renuka and her daughter-in-law, Dr. Priya really took good care of me.’
Vikram said, ‘This really is shocking. She was a gynaecologist and has her own nursing home.’
‘Do you know Barkha? She was accompanying Dr. Priya.’ Reddy told Veena now.
‘Oh! Barkha aunty! She is a hugely political and nasty person – but unfortunately a close friend of Dr. Renuka. None of us know what hold she had over Dr. Renuka. Barkha aunty had been Dr. Renuka’s admin assistant for a long time. They were actually childhood friends. Barkha’s family was quite affluent and as Dr. Renuka came from a modest family, they helped her financially while she was studying. Dr. Renuka never forgot. So when Barkha aunty’s husband made huge losses in business, Renuka aunty helped them financially and also gave her a job in her hospital.
Rumour has it that she and Dr. Priya did not get along. Barkha aunty has always tried to drive a wedge between Renuka aunty and Dr. Priya. I think she has been successful as well to a certain extent. The relationship between Renuka aunty and her daughter-in-law had been a bit strained recently. But being a close friend of Dr. Renuka, Priya could not do anything against Barkha.’ Veena said.
‘So there is no love lost between Barkha and Priya?’ Reddy asked.
‘They detest each other.’
Vikram looked at Veena in surprise. ‘How do you know so much? And how accurate is your information? You should have joined the police.’
Veena smirked and said, ‘We have the same maid. My information is hundred percent authentic.’
‘I know her daughter-in-law Priya stays with her. But what happened to her son?’ ACP Reddy asked.
Veena sighed, ‘A very sad story. Her son, who was also a doctor, helped her run the nursing home. He married another gynaecologist called Priyamvada Rao, who is now known as Priya Reddy. But he died due to a sudden heart attack within two years of his marriage. They never had a child. Dr. Renuka nearly had a nervous breakdown after the death of her only child. But Dr. Priya stabilised her. She helped Dr. Renuka back on her feet. Now Dr. Renuka was running the nursing home along with Dr. Priya and she used to introduce Dr. Priya as her daughter rather than her daughter-in-law.’
‘Ah…so a family of doctors. It is a sad story of two able members of a family dying in freak incidents like this.’
‘So any progress on the random killer case?’ Vikram asked.
‘It’s early days yet,’ Reddy responded defensively.
‘Strange that no one saw Dr. Renuka being killed.’
‘As per Dr. Priya, Dr. Renuka had a delivery scheduled at 9 am today and so must have decided to go for her morning walk earlier than normal. Priya is a light sleeper and she says she heard the front door open and close around 5 am, half an hour before her normal time to go to the club. She has been quite upset and hysterical ever since she got the news.’
‘But she is normally a quiet, cool and composed lady. She is extremely gentle, though of course not as good as Dr. Renuka. The patients in the hospital love her. I saw that when I was admitted during delivery,’ Veena said.
‘Yes, but maybe Dr. Renuka’s death unhinged her temporarily. She was very fond of her mother-in-law. She does not have any other close relative. It is rather unfortunate that Dr. Renuka had chosen to go out early today of all days,’ Vikram contemplated.
‘I think that public is yet to appreciate the danger of the random killer menace. Today’s murder will drive home the point that a dangerous lunatic killer is on the loose and make the common people more wary. Dr. Renuka’s death could have been avoided if she had taken the news of the random killer more seriously,’ Reddy commented.
Veena asked, ‘Gopi bhaiya, please have some oats before you leave.’
Reddy hurriedly replied, ‘Not today. I have a lot of work and need to leave immediately.’
Vikram quickly turned his head to hide his grin and said, ‘Keep me posted. If I get additional information after talking to my local friends and acquaintances, I will update you as well,’ as he walked with ACP Reddy towards the main gate of his home.
In the meantime, Kinshuk Jain of The Telangana Times had received another mail.
This is Prakash writing.
I am the murderer of Renuka Reddy. I killed her in Begumpet Railway station. I am attaching photos of her dead body I took after killing her today to prove that I am indeed the killer. The Hyderabad police are too stupid to catch me. I was standing in the crowd enjoying the clueless police making a mess of the investigation. I don’t like doctors. Found out that she is a doctor. Good, I think I will find a few more doctors and wipe them out. It will happen on 30th April. I’m not joking.
Catch me if you can.
Kinshuk sighed and dialled the Commissioner. When Reddy walked in at 10 am to the police station, Sanjay Kumar was already in. On seeing Reddy walk past, he called him to step into his office.
He glared at Reddy.
‘Another murder in Begumpet! I am sure this was preventable!’ he barked without preamble.
‘Hyderabad is such a huge area. How can we prevent such random murders? The public has to be more careful. I am coming from the crime scene. I had already guessed that this must be the work of Padma’s killer,’ explained Reddy, a little impatiently. ‘It is impossible for the police to be present everywhere all the time. The police was intensively patrolling the old Hyderabad area as we had decided in our previous meeting. Anyway she was found at the bottom of the stairs leading from the parking lot to the Greenland Flyover. This area was not very well lit. We cannot keep patrolling each nook and cranny of Hyderabad.’
Sanjay Kumar said in a slightly milder tone, ‘Sit down. What was the time of death?’
‘Preliminary investigations tell us that she died between 4:30 am and 5:30 am. This also tallies with the description given by her daughter-in-law Dr. Priya.’
Sanjay Kumar leaned forward and pointing a thick finger at Reddy said, ‘The media is having a field day. Did you see the news today?’
‘No, which channel?’
‘Star News, NDTV, everywhere. They are ripping us up.’ He held up a hand as Reddy started to speak, ‘I have not finished yet. I suggest that you put more men in the investigations. We need to catch the killer at the earliest. Not only is this killer going to the press but he is also leaving no stone unturned to demean the Hyderabad police. I have forwarded to you the mail that the killer sent to Kinshuk Jain.’
‘Sir are you sure that our killer is a man?’
‘He signs the letters as Prakash. So I assume the killer is a man.’
‘It could be a ruse to fool the police,’ Reddy said ruminatively.
The Commissioner cocked his head to one side. ‘Do you really think so?’
‘Well, I think it is a possibility.’
‘Anyway, I am not going to face the press today. I suggest you talk to them as well as prepare the press release.’
Nodding his head wearily, ACP Reddy stepped out of the Commissioner’s cabin and went to his desk. By the time he had put together a statement for the press, it was noon. He suddenly realised that he had no breakfast and was hungry. But he also knew that he
would have to update the press before he could go for lunch. Pressing a thumb over his aching forehead Reddy went towards the room where the press was waiting.
In the press release he said, ‘We are warning the people of Hyderabad to be very careful. There’s a dangerous killer on the loose. He's targeting people that are out—seemingly by themselves, no other witnesses. At this point, there seems to be no connection between any of the victims. The killer has sent a note to the press that the next murder will happen on 30th April. In the note he also mentions that he will specifically target doctors. So request all people, especially elderly women and doctors to be extra cautious. To the general public, the request of the Hyderabad Police is:
If any murder happens on 30th April, or if you have any information on the killer please contact the hotline number specifically set up for this purpose. The number is 9834567000.’
Ten days had passed since the murder of Dr. Renuka Reddy. The police was on tenterhooks. There had been no progress in the random killer case. There were no leads and no one seemed to have seen anything. The Commissioner was totally stressed out and making ACP Reddy feel the heat. The atmosphere in the city was strained as people were afraid to go out and perform daily routines. The streets remained deserted in the evenings and at nights. The police was becoming increasingly desperate to reign in the maniac.
6
DR. PRIYA
Vikram Rana was relaxing in his Somajigudda office with his feet stretched out under the table and reclining on his comfortable and very expensive office chair. He had his laptop open so that in case any of his assistants walked in, they would think that he had been working hard. He had a rough week. He had to follow an alleged smuggler of drugs through the lanes and by lanes of M G Road’s General Bazaar till he had been able to catch him red-handed. There was a severe drug menace in the city and he had been employed by a big-shot industrialist Mr. Karthik Raju to find out who was supplying drugs to his drug addict daughter. The industrialist was hoping that once the dealer was caught, his daughter’s addiction problem would be solved. Vikram, who had spent quite a lot of time in the narcotics department during his stint with the Hyderabad police, did not think that so. But the industrialist had been quite obstinate and nasty. He had brushed aside Vikram’s suggestion rudely and had ordered him to do as told. Vikram, who had needed the money, mentally shrugged and caught the drug supplier. He was sure that the daughter would find another supplier. It had not been a very satisfactory case. Actually none of the cases that he had been solving recently had been interesting enough though they had been raking in the moolah. But he reminded himself sternly that he was in this business to make a living. Now this random killer case promised to be interesting though he did not know if he would have a big role to play here. Gradually his eyes drooped.
A Season for Dying: A Vikram Rana Mystery (Vikram Rana Series Book 2) Page 4