by Ravi Dabral
Mr. Thapar got a knife and gave it to the politician who asked Suraj, ‘Do you have any last wish?’
Suraj replied, ‘I don’t mind sacrificing my life for upholding the truth, for the sake of true investigative journalism, for the victory of my values, for the sanctity of democracy and the spirit of the constitution. Soldiers are fighting at borders to protect the country from external terror forces, and as a soldier of journalism, I don’t mind sacrificing my life to fight with corrupt internal forces. But remember, sooner, or later lies are always exposed—this is the law of nature.’
The politician laughed as he said, ‘Don’t give us a dose of our own medicine. As politicians, we fool the public daily with such speeches and since the independence of the country, we have done a lot of practice.’ The laughter that echoed after this statement drowned even the loud music of the nightclub. He asked again, ‘If you have any last wish state it now. We have no time to waste.’
Suraj’s last wish turned out to be to know why I, Sanjay hated him. He was not afraid of dying. He could understand the reason why others wanted to kill him but wanted to know my motive.
I finally decided to enlighten him before his death and said, ‘I had several reasons to hate you.
Your morals, principles, and values got you praise from everywhere, which was always a source of irritation and jealousy to me.
Another reason was that I loved Anjali, but she loved you.’
Suddenly a calm smile appeared on Suraj’s face which irritated me even more.
Suraj asked, ‘But how do you know this?’
I replied, ‘Anjali’s friend Renu told me this, but I hid this from you as part of my revenge against you.’
I said, ‘Lastly, I could not digest the fact that even in the workplace you got a promotion and I was left to be your assistant. The jealousy was eating me up inside.’
Even in such a difficult situation, Suraj, as a true friend advised me that the friends that I had chosen for my short-term gains would one day harm me. The politician, who by this time had become fed up, raised the knife to put an end to everything but the ACP intervened, ‘Don’t kill him here, as there will be a lot of blood stains to clean. Let us take him to the forest area and finish him off there.’
Mr. Thapar was of the view that we should hire a professional to do the dirty work but the politician refused and said, ‘No, this way we would leave ourselves exposed to blackmail at a later stage. I am a public figure, so I need to be careful about keeping my public image intact. Let’s do this dirty job ourselves.’
We taped Suraj’s mouth and took him through the back door of the nightclub. We bundled him into the boot of the ACP’s car. It was around 8:00 p.m. After driving fifteen kilometres into the forest area, we came to a lonely spot. We took Suraj out from the boot of the car, and each one of us stabbed him. Once we were sure he was no longer alive, we dug a grave for him. After removing all marks of identification from his body including clothes and his belongings, we left him to rot in his grave. The devil within me was delighted with this victory of vices over virtues. Finally, the thorn in my life was removed forever.
The biggest challenge now was to divert the attention of the media, family and the general public from the fact that Suraj was missing. Being a famous journalist, the media would not rest until they got some satisfactory answers apart from encashing on this news for TRP generation. The ACP found a solution to this problem by arranging a dead body from the mortuary. This body was taken to the accident spot in the ACP’s police car. The dead body was then clad in Suraj’s clothes with all his belongings. Suraj’s car was parked at our office car parking, and I drove the car to the accident area. The body was placed in Suraj’s car, and a pre-planned accident was staged.
Suraj’s body was so badly burnt that identification was possible only through the car and his belongings, which you did. The story was prominently aired on all the news channels with Mr. Mishra’s help as breaking news which gave huge TRP to all news channels and a lot of advertising revenue for a few days. If you tell a lie a hundred times as part of propaganda, then it appears to be the truth—this is happening in today’s media world as well. This helped in fixing it in the minds of the unsuspecting public that a budding journalist had lost his life in an accident.
The next step was convincing a drug addict by giving him sufficient money to take the blame as a truck driver. The truck driver told the media and the police that the driver of the car lost control and suddenly came in front of his truck. He tried to save him but was not successful. We managed to get bail for this drug addict cum fake truck driver and told him to never come to Uttarakhand in his whole life; otherwise, he would be killed in an encounter. Thus ended our perfect murder with no loopholes. I was rewarded with the post of a senior journalist for my contribution to the whole scenario. Life was perfect until you caused a disturbance by informing me that you had found some diaries of Suraj. I did not inform the rest of the group, as they would have asked me to get those diaries, which was difficult as you were staying in police premises. Anyway, I believed it was a perfect murder with no clues, so was not worried after your visit.”
Seema and I were surprised at Sanjay’s insensitivity, jealousy, and greedy approach.
Controlling my emotions, I asked Sanjay to take us to the spot where they had buried Suraj. I wanted to perform proper funeral rites for the peace of my brother’s soul. We also needed the remains of Suraj’s body as evidence against the crime. We gathered the required equipment from the farmhouse for digging and started on the journey in Seema’s car.
Around fifteen kilometres into the forest area, Sanjay asked us to stop the car. We got out of the car and Sanjay tried to locate the actual spot. It was not very difficult as Sanjay told us that he had come there once again after his promotion, to plant a sapling at the site. The sapling was a tribute to Suraj, as it was his death that had made Sanjay’s promotion possible. We found the plant with a few flowers on it. I imagined Suraj’s face on the flowers. Both Seema and I were moved to tears after seeing the flowers on Suraj’s grave.
Sanjay and I dug up the area but came across no skeleton or bones. My anger knew no bounds. Catching Sanjay by his collar, I shook him violently and asked, “You said you had buried him here. Where are the remains of Suraj’s body including his skeleton?” Sanjay was speechless. He tried to convince me that they had buried the body in the same spot, but I was beyond rational thinking.
Sanjay said, “How can I forget this place? I have been here twice before.”
The only justification that Sanjay could offer was that later that night the other four must have come and removed the body from the grave. They did not trust Sanjay and so had taken precautions.
I was not convinced and wanted to torture Sanjay to get the truth out of him. Seema stopped me, highlighting that without the remains of the body the case could not be reopened.
Both Seema and I were in a dilemma. We had not found the remains of the body. Sanjay did not have any more relevant information. We would have to search for other ways to find the truth. In the meantime, we could not let Sanjay go scot free as he could alert the others. Whatever chance we had of collecting any evidence would be lost.
On our way back to the farmhouse, Sanjay tried to convince us that he repented his role in Suraj’s murder. He said he would help us in collecting evidence. But we decided to leave him a captive at the farmhouse.
Seema asked me, “What should we do next?”
I had no answers immediately. We had reached a dead end. Being a police officer, I knew that without the remains of the body and the murder weapon nothing could be achieved.
17
Challenges Make You a Champion
I nterrogation of Sanjay only confirmed our suspicion that Suraj had been murdered. But we were at a dead end as remains of Suraj’s body had not been recovered. Our only hope lay in Guruji guiding us towards the path to be followed and hence we decided to meet him again.
I sa
id, “Seema, we can’t leave Sanjay alone. We don’t know if he might escape from here in our absence.”
Seema said, “We need a responsible person here.”
I said, “The only person I can think of at this moment is constable Ram Narayan Tiwari. I think we can trust him. Let me call him.”
I called constable Tiwari. After an hour, constable Tiwari reached the farmhouse. I said, “Mr. Tiwari, we need your help. We have one prime suspect in Suraj’s murder, and his name is Sanjay. He is tied up in a chair inside the room.”
Mr. Tiwari said with surprise and shock on his face, “You mean you found that Suraj did not die in a car accident, but was murdered?”
I said, “Yes, but we are not able to find the remains of the body and the murder weapon.”
Seeing Sanjay, Mr. Tiwari said, “I know this person, I saw him on the night of the accident, driving Suraj’s car. When I was going home on my bicycle, I saw him at the red light, sitting in Suraj’s red car. He was driving towards the forests, around five kilometres before the accident spot.”
I said, “But Mr. Tiwari, you never mentioned this earlier.”
Mr. Tiwari said, “Actually, I became scared; I didn’t want to get into trouble. The next day, I saw the red car on the news channels and wondered when some other person was driving the car, how had Suraj died in the car accident?”
Seema asked, “If required, can you become a witness in court?”
Mr. Tiwari said, “I have discussed this with my family members; they have asked me to keep quiet as high-profile white-collar criminals may be involved in this murder case. Sorry, I cannot help you. I want to live a peaceful life with my daughters and wife.”
Mr. Tiwari further said, “But don’t worry, I will take care of this crook. At least, this way I will get some peace of mind.”
On reaching the ashram, this time there was no delay in getting a meeting with Guruji. I informed Guruji about the progress in the investigation and that we had reached a dead end. We had neither found remains of Suraj’s body nor the murder weapon. We asked for Guruji’s guidance as we could not think of how to move the investigation forward.
Guruji told us, “It is a challenging task but not an impossible one. Always remember, overcoming challenges makes you a champion. Finding the remains of the body or the murder weapon are things of the past. Watch out for these crooks using the latest technology; they will surely make a mistake.”
He further added, “As the case is related to your brother and Seema’s idol, both of you will eventually catch the culprits with evidence. My blessings are with you.”
Seema and I thanked him and took leave.
Just as we were exiting the ashram, I got a call on my mobile, and I was occupied for about ten minutes. After the call was over, Seema asked if everything was all right.
I said, “My mother called from the village. She said that a monk had come yesterday to the house. During his short visit, the monk became very friendly with Ujjawal and spent quite some time playing with him.”
This call only helped increase our anxiety. We both realised that we had an additional responsibility of taking care of the safety of our family, particularly after the incidents that unfolded in the last few days. The family members were innocent and could be the first targets of the crooks to derail our investigation.
I told Seema, “My mother told me that Priya had taken a photo of the monk and Ujjawal. I have asked my mother to send that photo to me. We need to keep track of this monk.”
Seema was in total agreement with my thoughts.
Suddenly a beep from the mobile alerted us to a message being received. I checked, and it turned out to be the photograph of the monk and Ujjawal. We looked at the photograph long and hard. There seemed to be nothing suspicious about the monk. He looked to be an ordinary monk with long hair, massive beard, moustache, spectacles, and saffron coloured clothes.
I was worried and wanted to investigate the identity of the monk. Seema, keeping a positive outlook said, “It might be possible that Guruji had sent someone from the ashram to check the condition of your family members.”
Seema further said that as we were just a hundred metres away from the ashram, we should go back and check by showing the photograph to know whether the monk was anyone from the ashram. Keeping this in mind we went back and showed the photograph to the security guard at the gate who immediately confirmed that this Swamiji lived in the ashram. A look of relief spread over my face. I thanked the guard.
Before finally leaving the ashram, I wanted to double check and thought maybe if the Swamiji was back, I could thank him for his effort to meet my family members in the village. So I asked the guard which cottage in the ashram the monk lived in. As I was in my uniform, the guard had no hesitation in showing us the way to the Swamiji’s cottage. Leaving us, the guard went back to his post. The door of the cottage, though closed was not locked, as there was no fear of theft within the ashram. I entered the cottage to have a cursory look.
It was a typical monk’s cottage 10ft x 10ft in size, with a mattress in one corner of the floor, and an almirah next to it. Just under the window was a study table with a lamp and some books. I opened the almirah and saw that only some clothes were in it. I was satisfied that there was nothing untoward in the room. “Seema, you are right. There is nothing suspicious here. Maybe Guruji sent someone from the ashram to check on my family.”
Seema felt that Guruji was a very kind person, and Suraj was one of his favourite disciples, more or less like a son. He might have been worried about the family. Seema thought we had spent quite some time in the cottage without permission or a search warrant. I wanted to just know the name of the monk so that the next time I come across him in the ashram, I would be able to thank him and Guruji for being concerned about my family.
I picked up a diary from the table and flipped it open. The very first page was inscribed with ‘ ॐ ’ (‘Om’) sign. The next few pages had some inscriptions. Suddenly, I observed something and called Seema and showed her the diary. We were both astounded by the fact that the handwriting of the monk was very familiar. We were debating about the familiarity when a monk entered the room.
The monk looked at us for a few moments and was about to say something but stopped himself. Seema was shocked as I went forward suddenly, hugged the monk and started crying.
After crying for few minutes, there was complete silence in the cottage. Silence was witnessing outburst of our sentiments, emotions and feelings. She was left speechless while I embraced the monk and said, “Suraj bhai, where did you go, leaving us behind?”
Seema’s eyes moistened as she realised that the monk standing before us was none other than Suraj. Though both our eyes were filled with tears, these tears were of joy and happiness. We were not only relieved and glad to see Suraj alive, but also felt that in this new identity no one would be able to identify Suraj. It was a coincidence that we were thinking about him when he entered, and I was able to recognise him while looking at his handwriting in his diaries.
Seema and I were curious to know about all that Suraj had gone through after he had been buried by those crooks. Suraj told us to maintain his secrecy, as he had to be like any other monk in the ashram. As the time for evening meditation was approaching, he could not spend any more time with us. Nor could he narrate all the happenings in a short time. All the details were noted in the two diaries kept on his table. He permitted us to take the diaries with us.
Suraj also told us that Guruji had already updated him about our earlier visits and the progress in the investigation so far. He cautioned us to be very careful and maintain secrecy till the time that we had sufficient evidence to take the culprits to a court of law. By now thirty minutes had elapsed, so Suraj said, “It is the time for evening meditation, I have to go, but we will keep in touch.”
Seema and I left the ashram with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. The joy of finding Suraj alive and the sorrow of not being able to tell the family that Suraj
was alive, and fill their hearts with happiness. Now our only target was to reach Dehradun at the earliest and read the contents of the diaries.
18
Struggle for Survival
W hile driving back from Rishikesh to Dehradun, Seema and I were engrossed in our own thoughts. On reaching Dehradun, we decided to go to the farmhouse to check up on Sanjay before we proceeded with the diaries. We decided that we would tell no one about Suraj being alive. Sanjay was still tied up in the chair with constable Tiwari keeping an eye on him. We untied Sanjay and told him and Mr. Tiwari to go home. Sanjay was surprised at this sudden move on our part.
Our curiosity by now was at a bursting point, so we proceeded to a coffee house. We wanted to know who had helped Suraj to come out of the grave. We started reading Suraj’s diary.
27th March 2017
The last fortnight has been the worst period of my life. If possible, I would like to wipe out this chapter from my life. I was aware that the criminals I was investigating were no small-time crooks. They had the potential to harm me and stop me from continuing my investigations. But what happened on 10th March evening was beyond my wildest imaginations.
10th March 2017
It was Ujjawal’s birthday, and I wanted to leave the office at 5:00 p.m., as I did not want to be late for the celebrations. He is the light of my life. In times of despair, his smiling face gives me the strength to fight all adversities in life.
Suddenly at 4:50 p.m., I got a message that Mr. Mishra, the editor, wanted me in his cabin for a meeting. I cleared my desk with the intention that immediately after the meeting I would leave home. Mr. Mishra greeted me with a big smile, which was not expected after our last meeting. He apologised for losing his temper and not taking my sting operations seriously. I was happy that Sanjay’s intervention on my behalf had some positive effect on him. He offered me some juice which I accepted. Soon I started feeling heavy and realised that the juice had been drugged. But before I could do anything, I lost consciousness.