The Telemarketer Case

In October 2021 Jeet Thakur Sahai was asked to assist on a case. A telemarketer was found dead in the early morning next to a small garbage dump in South Delhi. The garbage dump was close to many office buildings where people worked late hours (sometimes even till midnight). The lead investigator of the case was Inspector Pramod Palekar.

Inspector Pramod, Jeet and two police constables went to the garbage dump where the corpse of the telemarketer was found. Police had cordoned off the area and the corpse was to be sent to forensics for a post mortem. Identification found in the corpse’s wallet let the police know that the deceased’s name was Sherul Hussain. His identification card stated that he was an employee of Wiztek Telemarketers. Sherul died of a severe blow to his head by a blunt object.

Wiztek Telemarketers’ office was on the 6th floor of the Nariman Building about a kilometer away. Inspector Pramod, Jeet and the constables went to the office and started their investigation. They first talked with the manager there. His name was Hansraj Dhillon.

Jeet: “We are sad to inform you that your employee Sherul died. Can you tell us who he worked with and if he had any problems with anyone?”

Hansraj: “Oh no! That is terrible! Hansraj worked in a shift closely with nine other telemarketers. I will give you their names on a list. You can talk with them as well. They are working today.”

Inspector Pramod: “What about his problems?”

Hansraj: “As far as I know he was having some personal problems. He mentioned that recently his sister Fatima and he had a big argument over money. At work he got along with everyone except two people. Their names are Ravi Nadela and Mohan Agarwal.”

Inspector Pramod and Jeet questioned Ravi and Mohan separately. Then later they went to Sherul’s home and questioned Fatima as well. Fatima gave Inspector Pramod a wedding card of a wedding that

happened a few days ago. It was Sherul’s friend Aziz’s wedding. Fatima mentioned that while Sherul attended the wedding he was not too glad for some reason.

Later Inspector Pramod, Jeet and the constables returned to the police station. There Jeet discussed with Inspector Pramod.

Jeet: “I think we should check the shoes of the suspects as the corpse was found in the garbage dump. It could be that some virus or fungus is attached to the bottom of a shoe and we may be able to determine that after forensics take a look.”

Inspector Pramod: “Yes, we could do that. That is a nice idea.”

The next day, Inspector Pramod sent a team to get the shoes of Hansraj, Ravi, Mohan, Fatima and Aziz. The shoes that were asked for were the shoes they were wearing two nights ago (the evening of the murder). Some of the suspects were hesitant but the team insisted and mentioned that they would get a court order if they did not cooperate. They were able to get the shoes of everyone and they were sent to forensics for examination.

After two days the results were sent to Inspector Pramod. Inspector Pramod and Jeet read the results and Aziz’s shoes had a trace of fungus from the garbage dump.

Inspector Pramod went and brought Aziz and for questioning to the police station. Upon further questioning from Jeet and Inspector Pramod it was found out that two years ago Aziz had complained to Sherul’s former boss about a small incident at work. Back then Aziz and Sherul were colleagues. Even though Sherul had not stolen 2,000 rupees from that office Aziz thought he did and complained. Sherul was fired from that job and soon he got another job. Later it was found out that the theft was done by someone else. Sherul was very upset about this incident. Recently Aziz apologized to Sherul when he invited him to his wedding. Two days ago a few friends met for a dinner at a restaurant including Sherul and Aziz. As the dinner was completed after 9 pm the friends went back to their respective houses. Sherul and Aziz were walking back and were close to the garbage dump as they walked. Sherul confronted Aziz as he was still upset and pushed him very hard. He fell on the garbage. Aziz saw a big stone nearby and picked it up in a fit of rage. He struck Sherul on the head. Sherul fell down on the garbage dying. Aziz panicked and ran away and threw the stone in a lane nearby. He did not think that Sherul would die. He thought that Sherul would be hurt.

Inspector Pramod arrested Aziz. A case against him in the local court would commence in the next two weeks.

Inspector Pramod thanked Jeet for his help. Jeet was glad that he could help out.

The next day Jeet returned to his office at the Research and Analysis Unit of the Delhi Police.