The Case of the 3 Murders

In October 2020 Jeet Thakur Sahai was asked by one of his colleagues in another department to help out on a case. His friend, Inspector Abhishek Vallabh, was the lead in investigating three murders that happened at a business office the previous night.

Jeet, Inspector Abhishek and some police constables went to the office to investigate. They were met with the office manager Mandeep Khosla. The police and forensics team were investigating the murders of Tania Sharma, her father Pratap Sharma and uncle Mahendra Sharma. Tania was shot with two bullets in her head, Pratap had two bullets in his stomach and Mahendra had two bullets in his chest.

Their bodies were being taken by the forensics team for further investigation. It seemed that the killer had a silencer on his revolver and had come to the office last night to murder them. Later the forensics team would substantiate this information as well as provide Inspector Mandeep and Jeet with further information.

Mandeep: “Last night everyone had left our office at around 6 pm but Tania, Mr. Pratap and Mr. Mahendra were here. They were busy working and getting ready for an upcoming audit. Our business was textiles and we have a factory four kilometers from this office. Mr. Pratap and Mr. Mahendra owned this company for 21 years and Tania was working with them since the last nine years.”

Jeet: “Did they have any enemies?”

Mandeep: “I think a few people and companies may not have liked them but I can think of three enemies.”

Inspector Abhishek: “Please give us more details.”

Mandeep: “Three years ago Mr. Mahendra had a fight with the union leader Jamal Baktawer. Jamal worked at the factory. Tania and Mr. Pratap were very mean with Jamal on a regular basis. Then a dispute was over wages happened and Mr. Mahendra wanted to fire him. On one occasion Jamal

pushed Mr. Mahendra and Mr. Mahendra kicked him. Then people interfered and the fight was stopped. Jamal was very angry with Mr. Mahendra and he left the company. He mentioned he would get even with Mr. Mahendra later.

12 years ago Tania had a divorce with a man named Hemant Verma. Hemant was a nice man who worked as a sales manager in Noida. However, due to some differences, they had to get a divorce. Tania, her father and uncle put false allegations against Hemant and his family to trouble them and to get a divorce and a monetary settlement. Hemant and his family were very upset with the divorce’s bitterness and the unfair monetary settlement. Last I heard Hemant remarried and lived in Noida with his wife and one child.

Five years ago Mr. Pratap’s brother-in-law Shlok Mehta was very angry with him. Mr. Pratap and Shlok had worked on a project together and it was agreed that Shlok would get 20% of the profits. When the time came to give him his share, Mr. Pratap only gave him 14%. Shlok was furious and he filed a case against Mr. Pratap. The case is still dragging on in a local court. Shlok threatened Mr. Pratap once or twice in the past. He also never got along with Tania and Mr. Mahendra.”

Jeet: “Thank you for giving us these details.”

Inspector Abhishek was continuing with the investigation but decided to summon Jamal and Shlok from their homes in Delhi. They were brought to the police station for questioning. Hemant was called from his office in Noida as well.

Jeet and Inspector Abhishek talked with the three suspects individually in the holding room. When one suspect was questioned, the other was outside with police constables.

First they talked with Jamal.

Jeet: “Why did you kill Tania, her father and her uncle?”

Jamal: “Are sahib, I did not do that! I am glad somebody did but it was not me. Last night from 6 to 9 pm I was watching a Bollywood movie at a nearby theater with my brother. Here is my ticket. You can verify the details.”

Inspector Abhishek: “We will do that. Unless you get permission from the police, you cannot leave Delhi.”

Then they talked with Shlok.

Jeet: “You were so angry with Pratap that you killed him, Mahendra and Tania?”

Shlok: “No, I did not. I was very angry with him but I did not do that. Last night I was on a train from Bareilly to Delhi. The train arrived in Delhi at around 8:25 pm. I was not in Delhi between 6 and 7 pm. Here is my ticket.”

Inspector Abhishek: “We will further investigate. You cannot leave Delhi unless you get permission from the police.”

Finally they talked with Hemant.

Jeet: “So, you were a good husband, but Tania thought you were a bad one. On top of that, she, Pratap and Mahendra put false allegations against you. After so many years, you decided to kill them.”

Hemant: “No, that is not true. Yes, I was very angry with them back then. But I have moved on.”

Jeet: “Have you? I don’t think so. I think you were waiting for a few years to pass and then murder them.”

Hemant: “No, I have nothing to do with them anymore.”

Jeet: “I think Pratap alleged that you had an unsound mind and that you may have committed adultery during the marriage with Tania.”

Hemant: “Please stop! Stop! Yes I killed them! I was waiting for years to take revenge against these parasites!! Tania, Pratap and Mahendra made my life hell years ago. I was not going to spare them!!”

Inspector Abhishek: “They may have been very unfair and even wrong towards you back then but by killing them you have not done yourself any good. You did not think of your family, your wife and your child before you thought of killing these people?”

Hemant: “Yes, I have been very unfair to my family, my wife and my child. I was blinded by rage against Tania, Pratap and Mahendra. I wanted to ensure that they die through my hands. So, after a few weeks of intensive planning and finding out that they would work late last night at their office, I finally killed the three of them.”

Hemant was arrested and a court case against him would start in two weeks.

Inspector Abhishek thanked Jeet for his help in this case. Jeet mentioned that he was glad to help out.

The following day Jeet returned back to his office in Delhi and was looking forward to working on his current files there.