Meghana - 5

Vijay entered the police station and so much was going on in this mind hearing the news about Vikas.

He saw a person sitting opposite his chair, from his view he couldn't guess who it was. He saw Veeraya standing in the corner looking at the files.

On seeing Vijay, Veeraya gave his usual salute and informed that Meghana's uncle has come to meet him.

Vijay nodded and went to the cell where Vikas was kept. Sunil was taking few details from him.

Vijay went near to Vikas and said, “Are you crazy? What happened to you? Did you really kill Meghana? God!!! Do you know the consequence of your statement?”

Vikas smirked, “Yes, I did it. I killed Meghana. She despised me refusing my proposal, so I decided to close her chapter. I will never allow her to be part of someone's life other than me”, He blurted.

She never respected my love nor did she acknowledge the truth in it. She walked away that day without even realizing how much pain she had brought in and just crushed my innocent love under her feet. Why should such a person live on earth?

“My intuition has never failed me. Tell me, who asked you to say like this. Whoever it is, I can arrest them and get justice for Meghana's death. Hundread criminals might escape justice but not one innocent be punished. Have you ever heard of it? You are a true lover, but not a killer… tell me”, Vijay shouted.

CI Parasuram said, “Control yourself Vijay”, as he entered into station. Vijay turned back and saluted him.

“Vijay, he has admitted that he killed her, so why are you trying to pursue him that he didn’t. Are you planning to drag this case? This is not the only case we have so take his statement and file the FIR and damn close the case. Already we are getting too much media attention on this case”, Parasuram said.

Then he turned to Veeraya and said, “Veeraya, minister is coming for a shop opening ceremony in MG Road. Send few of our people for security, I’ve to go and meet Mayer”.

Before leaving the station he patted Vijay’s shoulder and said “Take it easy man”.

Vijay sighed and sat in his chair. Meghana's uncle was observing all these drama.

Meghana's uncle said, “Sir, Meghana had mentioned about him few times . I too have a strong feeling that he could have killed her. Please take my statement and file a case against him. We should not leave these criminals in the society”.

Vijay looked at him in a manner that told him he knows what has to be done and then asked, “May I know your name?”

“My name is Sudhakar Rao, working in Andhra Bank” and gave his visiting card to him.

“Where were you when she at the time of her death?” Vijay asked.

“I was in Mumbai branch to take care of some office work. I was informed about her death and immediately rushed to Bangalore. We are still not able to digest the fact”, his eyes turned moist.

Vijay asked, “Please, tell me more about Meghana's early days with you and your family”.

“Meghana lost her parents when she was studying in 10th, since then she had lived with us. We don’t have kids of our own, so we took care of her like our daughter. She had an independent nature and didn't want to depend on us. So when she got her job she informed us that she decided to live on her own and promised to visit us when she was free from job”, he took a break for a while

Then he continued, “She trusted few and had very few friends. Sir, we had planned to give her away in marriage this year and even started to find bridegrooms for her ,but unfortunately… this happened...”, and he was neither able to complete his sentence nor control his tears.

Vijay remained silent until he relaxed.

“When did she tell you about Vikas?”

“During her visit to our place, she told a couple of times. I didn’t take it too seriously”, he said.

“Hmmmm… anyway, thanks for coming. I’ll call you if I need any more information”, Vijay stood and shook his hand.

“Certainly, Sir”, and he left.

Once he left Sunil came near him and whispered, “For some reason I don’t like his face, he looks cunning”.

Vijay laughed and became busy in preparing the FIR. Some part of his mind was thinking why Vikas did like that.

Later he got a call from CI and he was needed in MG road for minister's security.

On the way, Vijay said to stop the vehicle all of sudden. Sunil looked startled and stopped the vehicle with sudden break.

“Look that side, seems to be an accident”, Vijay said by pointing Sunil to the direction of the accident.

They got down immediately and went to the spot. People who were surrounding the scene gave way to them seeing their police uniforms.

A girl was arguing with a bike guy. It appeared as though a guy had hit the vehicle and the scooty was lying down by the force the bike hit it. She was holding her elbow tight and it was bleeding.

He recognized her, Abhignya the girl whom he met in PES Institute. Sunil too recognized her.

Sunil reacted quickly and grabbed the bike guy's shirt collar and yelled, “Has Govt given license to kill people, loafer, show me your license”. The bike guy kept quiet after seeing him and searched his purse to get the license.

Sunil said, “Sir, I’ll take care of him please take madam to hospital”.

“Abhignya, please come with me, it is still bleeding, he said and asked her to sit in his vehicle.

She was not sure if she can go with him and seemed hesitant to go in a police jeep. But he convinced her that it would be better if she gets treated first and so saying he took her by hand and did the first-aid in vehicle.

On reaching the hospital, she was treated for her injury and they provided a room for her to take the rest for some time. Vijay and Abhignya were left alone in that room.

Both had different thoughts going on in their mind.

Vijay was thinking,

“What is going on here? What I’m doing here? Why am I worrying like this for her when she met with an accident? Being in duty I’m not supposed to spend my time like this. Would I care if someone else was in her place? Off course, I would have cared, but how far? Maybe I would have called an ambulance and send them in it, but definitely not taken them personally to the hospital”.

Vijay was caught in an unknown feeling. He couldn't decide as to what is going on with him. He liked the feeling though and felt his senses were not in his control when she was near him.

And what Abhignya was thinking is a mystery! A girls mind thinks a lot than guys under such situations...

Is he falling in love ??????????

(To Be Continued...)

Meghana - 4

Smartly dressed in denim jeans and T-shirt with ray ban glass Vijay stepped off his Royal Enfield, along with Sunil into the PES Institute of Technology.

They didn't want to scare the students off by going in uniform.

Seeing Vijay getting off his bike, girls smiled seeing Vijay's attire and his crew cut hair style and physic.

“Who is the handsome guy”, asked a girl dressed in jeans to her friend and whispered themselves looking at Vijay, wondered who he might be.

Vijay went straight to the principal room to meet him and informed him that he had come to meet Vikas as he wanted to question him on Meghana's case. Principal asked the peon to take them to Vikas class room.

The peon said,“Please follow me, sir”.

When they were turning around the corner, Vijay accidentally bumped into a girl and her books fell on the floor.

Vijay said, “Sorry, I didn’t notice”. She said, “It’s all right even I didn't notice you coming”.

Her voice sounded musical to his ears. He wondered is it like this to him or for everyone who talks with her. He causally stole a glance to look the name on her books.“Abighnya”, he muttered.

He helped her to get the books and while giving it to her, he saw her face and stared at the vibrant glow that dominated the face and the way she had taken care to dress herself amidst jeans and skirts, impressed him.

He felt strange pleasure and calmness seeing her face, an unknown bond with invisible strings hold-ed his gaze and he totally forgot that he was in college and staring at her.

Impatiently Sunil gave a squeaking noise, “Shall we go sir”.

“Ya, we can go”, Vijay wondered what had happened to him.

Vikas was not in his class room and someone suggested to check in canteen.In the canteen they noticed him and he appeared drowsy. Except his sleepy gesture he looked handsome and casually dressed. Vijay told him why he had come to meet him.

“l loved her so much. She was my life and I was ready to even die for her. Though she insulted and despised me many times, still I loved her so much. But she left me”, Vikas was moaning.

Sunil never expected to see vikas mourn over the death of Meghana but rather assumed that he would be seeing a happy face.

Vijay keenly observed him and said, “She died becoz of poison in her food”, and noted his reactions. It was clearly evident that he didn't expect this and he was shell shocked.

“Poison!!!!”.

“We are checking on her friends and others who know her. And we came to know that she insulted you in-front of your friends. So u got a motive to kill her for insulting you right Mr. Vikas?” , Vijay said.

“Are you nuts? Are you suspecting me…? I would rather die for her than kill her. In fact, I met her Friday night and pleaded her to marry me”. Vijay frowned hearing that, “What are you saying?”

"I followed Meghana from Pub on that day. I waited until Meghana dropped her friend at her home then I stopped her on the road. I pleaded her to marry me. I tried to convince that I would take good care of her after marriage". We argued for some time and finally she said I was younger to her, so she wouldn’t consider my proposal and asked me to forget her.

I was unable to do anything. It’s so frustrating when the one you loved never realize your true feelings, but just ignores it because of some stupid reason that they think is so strong and valid.

I returned home with so much pain in heart and then… then … I came to know in newspaper that she was no more”, He burst into tears.

“How long did you argue with her?”

“Around 20 mins I think”, He said.

“Hmmm… that answers the question of why she reached home late that day”.He thought ,”who had access to put poison in her food?”

Sunil was disgusted to see a man cry and said “Sir, don’t believe him. My father always used to say, we should not believe the words of a sobbing man. We have to take him and give third degree treatment”.

Vijay stared at Sunil asked him to keep his thoughts to himself and wanted him to observe what's happening.

“Vikas, I can understand your feelings. I will contact you if I need any more details or you can contact me if you would like to share anything with me, here is my contact number”, He gave his visiting card and left the canteen.

“Sir, we should not have left him simply like that”, Sunil grumbled.

Vijay didn’t say anything. Vijay slept late thinking about the case. He got a dream where he was studying engineering in PES Institute of technology, and his classmates were Abhignya, Meghana and Vikas. Meghana and Vikas were lovers. And he and Abhignya were also lovers…And before he could further enhance his dream world …..He got a call from Sunil early morning,

“Sir, I have good news, we arrested the murderer”, Sunil said vigorously.

“Who?” Vijay exclaimed.

“Vikas. He had come to police station and surrendered saying he indeed killed her”.

Vijay sprang up and sat upright, he couldn't believe his ears hearing the name.“What are you blabbering? Is it really the college student Vikas that we spoke yesterday?”

“Yes, sir”

“Something is so wrong”, Vijay muttered.

“I’m coming immediately”, Vijay cut the call and got down from bed to get ready.

( To be continued ... )

Meghana - 3

Meghana’s case was published in all newspapers and it was devastating to all her colleagues and friends.

Vijay entered the InfoMind BPO office campus ,where Meghana worked before she died. He waited in the reception to meet her colleague Rani.

BPO has become a hot destination for young graduate job seekers. It is not even necessary to hold a degree in order to do the BPO job. If a person has a good voice and problem solving skills then he / she can very well fit into that job. There are people who work in BPO while still studying their degree course.

The money they earn is more when compared to what their parents used to earn in those days. In fact it is more than their parents’ current salary. Most of them are from middle-class family,were luxury has been a mere word and a paradise that can never be experienced.

These jobs and salaries has brought so many changes in their life as they began to spend lavishly and so many other factors led to lot of changes in the society.

Vijay had stopped thinking, when he saw Rani was coming to meet him.

Rani introduced herself. She looked too modern with her attire.

“It was terrible to know about Meghana. I still can’t believe that she is no more”, she said with moist eyes. Her accent sounded American.

“Yes, I can understand. Could please tell me what happened that night?” Vijay asked politely.

“We usually spend our Friday night in pubs,and even on that day we had a very good time in the pub, and we left around 11:30PM.We didn’t have any food in the pub, so we decided to get parcel from Mastan center. She dropped me and went to her PG. In fact, she even called me when she reached the PG”, She said.

“where you under the influence of alcohol?”

“No sir, we both had only Pepsi”. We went to pub only for a dance”

“Ym… when did she call you?” Vijay asked.

“1:30AM”

Vijay asked Sunil to note down the time.

“Do you remember at what time she dropped you?”

“I think it was around 12:30 AM”

“Its surprising that you can remember the time very well”!!!

“I got a call from my boy friend when she was about to drop me, so I remembered it well”

“How much time it takes to reach from your home to Megan’s PG?”

“Usually it takes around 20mins.Since it was midnight,15 mins max its possible to reach her place..

“So, if she had started at 12:30AM then she would have reached her PG around 12:45AM, and by the time she entered into her room, it might have taken another 15 mins, that means 1:00AM. But she called her at 1:30AM.”, Vijay mumbled.

“Are you sure she had reached her room when she called you? May be she had bath first and then called you”, Vijay said.

“No, I heard the sound of the door opening when I was talking to her, so I guess she reached at that time”, she said.

“That means she reached at 1.30AM, so why the hell it took half an hour more time for her to reach?”, his mind voice asked that question to him.

Can you think of anybody who hates her or misbehaved with her in the past days?

Rani stalled after hearing that, her voice was quivering, “It might be that guy”

“Who?”

“Vikas, an engineering student”, her voice was shaking.

“Who is Vikas? What was his relationship with her?” Vijay asked Sunil to note down the Vikas details.

“Hmmmm… I told her to be careful with that guy… she didn’t listen… see what he had done …

Vikas,doing his final year engineering in PES Institute of Technology. He saw Meghana at the bus stop one time, since then he tried to molested her. She was unable to tolerate him. Out of frustration, she slapped him in front of his college friends. He felt insulted and yelled at her that he would kill her if she refuses to marry him. I think he did, he killed her. He is a rogue, please hang him”, she said in resentment.

“Do you suspect any other persons?”

“No… she was good with every-body else”, she said.

“Thank you very much Miss Rani. I appreciate for your cooperation”, Vijay shook her hand and left the campus.

“WoW… This is going to be a dead easy case… the murderer found”, Sunil shouted while driving the vehicle.

Vijay smiled and remained silent. Somehow his intuition was telling him that Vikas didn’t kill her as he knew this kind of road-side Romeos. They just threaten, but not courage enough to commit a crime. Even if they commit, they do with acid or with a knife because of rage, not silently as pre-planned murder.

“Where do you want me to go now, sir?” Sunil asked.

“PES Institute of Technology”, Vijay said.

(To be continued …)

Meghana - 2

After entering police station, Veeraya gave a stiff salute to Vijay. Veeraya, senior head constable who had served 15 years in the department.

Veeraya gave him a fatherly smile and gave him a glass of water without even asking for it. Vijay has great respect for the elderly man.

Once Vijay was settled, Veeraya asked him what had happened.

“A Woman died suspiciously in PG. Cause of death is yet to be known, waiting for the autopsy report, Veeraya”, he said.

“Oh, what do you think, was it murder?” Veeraya asked.

Vijay shrugged and said, “I didn’t see any sign of murder attempt on her, also not fully convinced that it was suicide. It might be suicide, she might have taken sleeping pills”, he took a deep breath, “But we have to wait and see”.

“If you want, you can take Sunil as a helper in your investigation. He shows interest in this kind of cases”, Veeraya said.

Sunil is Veeraya's only son, recently joined as a constable. Vijay smiled and nodded.

Veeraya felt extremely happy, he wanted to see his son as an Inspector. He was confident that if his son worked closely with Vijay, then he can learn many things.

He called Sunil, and told him to help Vijay in this case.

Sunil,chatterbox type guy with loads of doubts in everything he sees or hears,but eager to learn.

He went through the case details and wanted to know the process involved in determining the cause and time of death by doing the autopsy

Vijay chuckled and started clarifying his doubt.

“In a murder or suicide, one of the best pieces of evidence is the victim's body. It usually indicates the cause of death like strangulation, gun shot, blunt force trauma, etc. The fine details of how this death occurred can provide very good additional information. To the untrained eye most of this evidence might go unnoticed. Forensic pathologists are experts and trained to gather this kind of information from the body”, Vijay stopped and gazed at Sunil. He looked very curious to know more.

He smiled and continued further, “The examiner will try to develop a complete picture of how the victim died and any evidence, including trace evidence that may be found on the victim's clothing, belongings, and on the body itself. In the end, based on these clues, the examiner determines the cause of death. In order to find the time of death, they check body’s discoloration, temperature and rigor. Experts can determine the time of the death exactly with these details. So that’s it, OK?”

Sunil clapped after hearing that.

Vijay patted Sunil’s shoulder and sat in his chair looking at his pending cases.

After three days,he got call from the hospital with autopsy details. The report stated that the cause of death was due to poison in food. He was surprised as he didn’t expect that. He asked Sunil to collect the report from hospital.

After reading entire report, he began to analyze the possibilities.

“What is the reason of the death sir?”, Sunil asked, he was unable to control his curiosity.

“Ym… Death due to poison in her food”, Vijay told.

“Oh… I didn’t know that food poison would kill people. Last time when I ate pani-poori, my stomach was upset, and the doctor told it was a food poison. Thank God It was not serious enough, otherwise, I would not be here now”, Sunil said fearfully.

“Ha ha ha”, Vijay laughed for some time, “Hey, that is ‘food poison’ not ‘poison in food’”.

“Oh.. What is the difference”, Sunil kept his face innocently.

“If somebody mix poison in the food purposefully then that is called ‘poison in food’”, he explained.

“Oh… so it is not a suicide?” Sunil said.

“No… we can’t say anything now, but we can’t rule-out the murder also in this case. Let’s put more attention. We have to resolve this case as soon as possible”, Vijay said.

(To be continued …)