The mysterious killer sack - chapter 2

It was early morning next day in the picturesque Javhar taluka hidden from the tourist map. The chirping of various birds and the temple chants brought a sense of serenity to this town. Though people in nearby villages lived a laid back life much different from the maddening rush hour crowd in cities, they woke up pretty early. Men and women moved lazily towards the pond adjoining the temple for a quick bath. The temperatures were rather hot in this chill season in and around the Sarpanch’s bungalow

“I should have killed my daughter long back,” thundered the Sarpanch Vikas Patil.

His henchmen were standing aside him with their heads bowed down.

The Sarpanch was sitting in his majestic chair, its handles shaped like a lion. His wife and two daughters were weeping silently over eldest daughter Ananya’s death but the Sarpanch was seething with anger. He was terribly annoyed of having lost face due to his daughter’s secret love affair which had become the talk around the taluka. People talked in hush hush tones as they did not want to antagonize the Sarpanch who controlled the daily lives of many of them.

The Sarpanch’s old foe Mungantiwar, former Sarpanch was chuckling over the fate that had befallen on the Sarpanch and was adding gist to the rumor mills.

Pride and reputation mattered most for the men in power along with money power. The Sarpanch hated having daughters, he had three of them. He was having a secret affair with a mistress and had impregnated her awaiting a baby boy who will take over his clandestine activities and power in future.

He was angry with his henchmen for not hunting down Ananya’s lover boy much before. Meanwhile, many villagers were waiting outside with sacks ready to pick up vegetables for sale in market. The Sarpanch was a wholesaler and also dabbled in real estate in and around Ratnagiri district. Hundreds of sacks of vegetables and other things were lying in a big hall. Some of them were even confiscated by then henchmen of the Sarpanch from the villagers for not having paid the dues.

Ananya was found stabbed and her wounded body sliding down an Electric Pole as was evidenced by the blood stains. The boy was laying dead a few meters away with several stab marks over his neck and chest. The weapon used for alleged murder was not found on the spot but was recovered from a nullah. The killer seems to have thrown it as he was trying to flee from the spot. There were no eyewitnesses to the incident except a villager who saw the dead bodies and reported about it to the Police Station.

It was clear, according to Bhalerao that the killer was well known to the murdered victims, atleast to the boy who had been killed. It seems that the boy had been killed first and the girl must have panicked and attempted to flee before she was forcibly pinned and killed. It was not clear as to why no one around did not even hear the screams possibly let out by the girl or boy in question for help.

PSI Bhalerao was introspecting on the whys and hows of the case. He was deeply upset as to why his team overlooked the sack of vegetables lying abandoned in the field much close to the site of murder or was it planted later?

Bhalerao took a deep breath. He was a bachelor and thought of his work all the time. This inconvenienced many of the constables and the head constable working under him who were much senior in age but he commanded a lot of respect.

Bhalerao wanted to ask the Sarpanch a few questions but he was barred from doing so by Inspector Mokashi. The Sarpanch hated Bhalerao as he was too upright to his liking and inquisitive by nature. There were not many crimes in the sleepy town of Javhar but the clandestine activities of the Sarpanch attracted the curiosity of the prying eyes of Bhalerao.

In investigation, many a times, a strong instinct backed by scientific investigation helps in solving the puzzle. Bhalerao backed his instincts that the young man who died in the rickshaw accident and the mysterious sack that lay abandoned would lead him to the crime sooner than later. Little did Bhalerao know that it won’t be that simple as he expected.

Inspector Mokashi rang the bell twice.

His orderly Sachin was, as usual, slow to react. He was busy reading the local village newspaper “Jan Sandhya”. The news did not matter much to the semi-literate villagers as much as an erotic sex story published in the inner pages along with titillating pictures of the filmy heroines. Sachin kept his paper aside and rushed inside the cabin.

“Two cups Green tea” ordered Mokashi.

Sachin saluted Mokashi and rushed out to instruct the canteen. Apart from taking the orders of Inspector Mokashi and assisting Mokashi’s wife in her domestic work, Sachin had nothing much to do. But his very closeness to the Inspector made him a subject of envy and everyone in the office talked to him with respect, except PSI Bhalerao.

Holding the paperweight like a crystal gazer, Mokashi began to ponder over things. He wanted to link the accident victim to the murder of the Sarpanch’s daughter and attribute the motive behind the murder to be a fight between two sparring lovers over a pretty girl and finish the matter forthwith. His wife and children were already nagging him to take them out to some resort for the New Year weekend. Mokashi was never interested in prolonging any case, particularly this murder case. The various questions posed by PSI Bhalerao who is directly investigating the case irked him.

“You can’t be lethargic, Mr. Bhalerao.”

Mokashi said, pushing the cup before Bhalerao as he sipped away his cup of Green tea with an irritating sound.

“No Sir, allow me to join the dots and make it a presentable case before the Court.” said Bhalerao.

“Look Bhalerao, no doubt, you are intelligent and smart officer. But you sound to me more who is very theoretical. Throw away your bizarre imaginations. Your theory sounds good in a training academy. Investigation on the filed is a serious practical business and any delay would hamper the merits of the case.”

“Sir, I appreciate your concern. I am going through the cell phone evidence of the accident victim and then there is that sack of vegetables…..”

“Look, I won’t give you more than two days. Finish off the matter. This is a very simple case. Do not be a Rahul Dravid, be a Dhoni. If you cannot do this within the deadline, I have men at my disposal who can present a final report in place of you. Do you understand?” Thundered Mokashi annoyed by Bhalerao’s response to his queries.

“Yes Sir.” Bhalerao was a picture of calm and poise though he did not like the way Mokashi was interfering in his investigation without any resourceful input.

As Bhalerao stepped out, he noticed Sachin, who was, as usual, reading “Jan Sandhya”. It was a local newspaper and the murder of the Sarpanch’s daughter Ananya continued to hog the headlines. The above news would not even have got a mention in mainstream newspapers. Interesting, the national and international news shared space in small brackets. One other local news appearing below regarding suicide of a middle aged man residing in Javhar Taluka diverted the attention of PSI Bhalerao who was lost in his thoughts as he snatched the newspaper away from the hands of Sachin.

To be continued....


THE MYSTERIOUS KILLER SACK - CHAPTER 1
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/sureshmiyer/mysterious-killer-sack-serial-story-6682/

 

thanks shashiv

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warm regards
Suresh