The breeze in the early morning of the peak winter season in Shimla brought a tingling sensation, especially in the open parts of the body exposed from the half-sleeved T-shirt. Despite the temperature running below 7 degrees, Superintendent of Police Avinash Mishra decided to continue with his jogging routine, leaving his bungalow at 5 am.
The initials of his name had become synonymous with his early morning jogging routine, with his subordinates calling him AM Sahab, of course, in his absence.
This morning was no different, and Avinash kept running at a decently high speed at the Annandale ground in Shimla. The lush green ground surrounded by dense Deodar forest and a hub for sports like cricket, polo and golf offered an irresistible scenic view. The place is also a major tourist attraction, with the peak season witnessing a huge crowd.
Becoming an IPS at an early age made Avinash the SP even before he turned 30. He had just been promoted to the rank of SP, and his hardworking nature with due diligence in every investigation got him the prestigious SP, Shimla post for which many officers senior to his age had their eyes on.
From Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh, Avinash had cracked the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Exam in his first attempt at the age of 22 and got the Himachal cadre. With his meritorious rank, he could have chosen IAS. However, his inquisitive nature and dream of seeing a crime-free world prompted him to take up the IPS.
As his jogging time was nearing completion, Avinash noticed unusual behaviour among a couple of dogs moving around in the Deodar trees area. True to his profession, with an extra inquisitive nature, Avinash decided to enter the forest area to find out what the matter was.
He did not find anything till about 100 meters, and once thought of turning back as he was to get ready for a department meeting. However, not satisfied with his own decision, he had a second thought and started walking further.
Another about 100 meters, and what Avinash saw made him almost trip when he took two steps back in utter shock. It was a male torso. The head, both arms and legs were missing. It took a few seconds for him to come back to his normal senses.
Once his emotions were under control, he walked further to search for the remaining parts of the body, but to no avail. ‘Who could commit a crime with such brutality?’ the question kept arising in his mind.
Avinash immediately called the area police station in charge, asking him to meet asap with a sizable number of men and the forensic team.
Meanwhile, about 9 km from Annandale, a group of tourists was enjoying the scenic view at Chadwick Falls.
Three young couples from Mumbai decided to venture deep into the forest and began to walk a few feet away from each other as they were engrossed in appreciating nature’s beauty.
Suddenly, one of the female members had a loud cry, making others rush towards her. The scene made them dumbstruck for some time, with the young woman who first witnessed it tightly holding her male friend, simultaneously crying loudly. The remaining parts of the body, the torso of which Avinash had found, were lying scattered. The most shocking scene that gave goosebumps to the group was the head with eyes wide open. It was the head of a young, clean-shaven man.
The moment they could gather courage, the six of them started running recklessly towards the crowd.
Noticing the scared youngsters, a couple of tourists rushed towards them. ‘There are, there are …,’ the young woman who first noticed the body parts was gasping for breath but tried to speak, eventually ending up sobbing.
‘Cool down, cool down. Have some water and tell us what happened,’ a middle-aged man spoke gently while trying to console the woman.
The male friend had a few sips of water and narrated what they witnessed inside the forest. The tourists who had surrounded them were shocked to the core.
Looking at the crowd gathered at one place, two constables on a routine patrol approached them.
Once the group narrated their ordeal, the constables started running towards the spot. They asked the male members to accompany them to show the exact spot.
One of the two constables puked the moment he saw the head. He did not have the strength to witness such scary scenes, which often made him a laughing stock at the police station where he was posted.
The second constable immediately informed his senior, who had by now learned about the torso as messages were flashed on the wireless.
After briefing the team at Annandale, Avinash rushed to the Chadwick Falls area. Once he reached the spot, he spoke to himself, admitting this was indeed a scary sight.
What shocked him was the head of the victim, as he realised it was his khabari (informant), Dhani Lal, who had helped him bust some major cases of charas (cannabis) smuggling. Dhani Lal himself was part of a charas smuggling syndicate. However, about a year back, he was arrested, along with other gang members, by Avinash while he was Deputy Superintendent of Police.
During interrogation, Avinash learned about the constraints that pushed Dhani towards the narcotics syndicate to earn quick money. He had lost his parents at an early age and had the responsibility of two sisters who had crossed the age at which most girls in his village got married and had children.
Dhani was repeatedly told that it would be difficult to find grooms for his sisters as they had already crossed the age of 25. Dhani was helpless as he was from a poor family and had no money to spend on his sisters’ weddings.
In fact, looking at Dhani under tremendous stress, the elder sister attempted suicide. The younger one saw her in the nick of time and managed to save her.
Under pressure, Dhani decided to earn quick money. One of his friends, who had already joined a drug syndicate, asked him to join the gang he was working for.
Within a few months of joining, Dhani was arrested along with four others by a police team led by Avinash. Dhani was part of the group that was to hand over 50 kg of charas to a buyer from Delhi.
Dhani broke down during interrogation and narrated his ordeal, which was the reason behind his taking the wrong turn in his life.
Avinash felt bad for Dhani and saw a potential informant in him. He convinced Dhani to become an approver and name the gang leaders. He was assured that this would help him in securing bail and eventually getting acquitted in the case. Dhani agreed.
Dhani named the gang leaders, with the top one identified as Kundan Singh alias KS.
KS was a notorious charas smuggler and had his network spread across India. His main buyers, though, were in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Mumbai.
According to unconfirmed estimates, KS had an annual turnover of Rs 1500 crore from the charas smuggling business.
Dhani’s revelation helped Avinash to raid three godowns belonging to the KS syndicate, leading to the seizure of charas worth Rs 110 crore. A few gang members were arrested. However, KS managed to escape with some of his close associates.
The successful operation and Dhani’s consent to become an approver when the chargesheet was filed helped him secure bail in a couple of months’ time.
Avinash soon realised that absconding KS was behind the brutal murder. He knew the narcotics syndicate committed murders with such brutality to set an example for those thinking of ratting out the gang.
Sky fell on Dhani’s sisters, who knew their future would now be totally dark, as their only support was brutally killed.
Avinash, too, was devastated by the killing and took an oath to catch KS at any cost.
However, he had no inkling that he was proceeding on a dangerous mission where he would have to encounter a corrupt system and some deadly syndicates that had already vouched to subject Avinash to a more brutal experience.
One of his ‘well-wishers’, too, was part of this corrupt system whose job was to push the daredevil officer into the jaws of death.
A deadly conspiracy and a game of betrayal was about to begin.
To be contd.
Crime Alert 