The Mysterious Murder of Highway 99!

Some of the facts in the story might confuse you!

On a dark moonless night, a man was found brutally murdered on the streets of Highway 99. The body was discovered by a group of people who were marching towards a cremation ground nearby. Like decent citizens do, without wasting a minute, one of them informed the police about the dead body. It was late night, streets of Mumbai city were empty and maybe for the first time Police vehicle reached the crime scene within half an hour. Police inspector Wilson Lobo and his team started their investigation work by questioning the people who found the body, and scrutinizing the body which was lying lifeless on an empty, silent and mysterious street. It was termed as a mysterious street because from many years this highway was closed for the betterment of the people as there were rumors of evil spirits roaming on the streets. People came toward highway 99 only if they had work related to cremation ground.

                “How was he murdered?” asked the inspector to a junior sub-inspector who was examining the body. Sub-inspector Martin, who was the only catholic person present there with inspector Lobo looked up and answered:

                “There are several injuries on all parts of his body. It looks like killer tortured him before killing him entirely.”

                Inspector Lobo bent down to closely look at the corpse lying on the road. It was quite an unusual murder. Murdered man had no fingers on both hands and legs; he had uncountable cuts on his body including a severe injury on his head. It was hit by a very solid substance.

                Maybe an iron rod, or a harmer was used while murdering him, thought inspector Lobo.

                After asking some basic questions to the people, inspector Lobo told them to move ahead towards the cremation ground. By the next day, inspector Lobo was left with three important facts related to the murder:

1)      The body was identified. It was of a very influential hotelier of New Delhi. He owned two 5-star hotels. 

2)      It wasn’t an ordinary murder and wounds on the dead body conveyed the same. There was a lot of hatred in the heart of the murderer.

3)      The case received immense media coverage, higher authorities were questioned, and so inspector was also under pressure to solve the case.  

 

The family of the hotelier, Rohit Sharma revealed that he came to Mumbai for a meeting with one of his clients on 19^th of August. After verifying with Rohit’s office, inspector got to know �" Rohit had no meeting with any client on 19^th of August, in fact it was lie. The 49-year-old hotelier had an affair with his 32-year-old secretary, Ms. Seema Rathore. Inspector Lobo also confirmed with the hotel if Rohit Sharma was there with Seema Rathore. It was true, Rohit had no official meeting with anyone and he was just in Mumbai for enjoying with Seema.

                “So, he lied to his family and came to Mumbai. Maybe someone from his family must have got to know about his affair with Seema and took a perfect revenge.”

                “There is a possibility of that. The property of Rohit Sharma was going to be transferred in the name of Seema Rathore after his death. They both were in love.” Inspector Lobo enlightened sub-inspector Martin.

                “So, there are strong reasons for the entire family for murdering him. First his affair with the other lady and second the property will also be on her name. It looks like someone from inside the house has done it, because only they knew where he was going.” Martin explained thinking whether inspector was satisfied with his thoughts or not.

                “I want to know the entire background of Ms. Seema Rathore by tonight. Meanwhile, I will just go and check in Delhi at his house. Maybe we’ll find some important clue because according to his wife, he had a lot of enemies.” Inspector Lobo said and departed for New Delhi after one hour.

                A short air journey was a joy for others but, for inspector Lobo it was a session of torture. He jotted down all the activities one-by-one in his mini-notepad and wrote it in a chronological order for studying purpose. It was not of much help but he was content with his attempt. What puzzled him the most was the fact that Highway 99 was far away from his hotel and it was not too late so, someone must have seen the murderer carrying Rohit’s body. Fifteen minutes later, inspector Lobo was standing in front of the mighty mansion of Sharma’s.

                One of the housekeepers opened the door for him and after introducing himself, he moved inside. He told the housekeeper to gather the whole family and within few minutes everyone was in the large drawing room.

                “Hello, I am inspector Wilson Lobo, the investigating officer of Mr. Rohit Sharma’s murder case.” He proudly introduced himself and continued, “May I know who is Mrs. Rekha Sharma here?”

                A tall lady of fair complexion raised her hand, staring towards the inspector. Inspector nodded his head and asked:

                “Did you know about your husband’s affair with Ms. Seema prior to the murder?”

                Lady maintained her cool and shook her head without uttering a single word. She wasn’t in a right frame of mind. She was extremely upset and her expressionless face said a lot about her emotions.

                “Shall I ask if there were any conflicts inside the family?”

                “What the…? Sorry but we are unanswerable to you.” A woman in her late 30s yelled.

                “May I know your name, please?”

                She was Anjali Sharma, Rohit’s younger sister. Rohit also had an elder brother who was currently living in London with his family.

                “Ms. Anjali Sharma, I request you not to shout at me. I am an on duty police officer who is currently investigating a murder case, and questioning the suspects. You’ve to answer whatever I ask you. And this is an order.” Inspector Lobo said in a firm voice.

                “There were no conflicts amongst us.” Rohit’s wife, Rekha said in a low voice. Her voice appeared to be soaked due to excessive crying.              

                “Are you even aware that the entire property of Rohit Sharma only excluding this mansion now belongs to Ms. Seema Rathore his secretary?”

                “W-H-A-T?” Everyone yelled in unison including Rohit’s both grown-up sons.

                ‘Finally, I have got something’, inspector Lobo thought.

                “Can I have a cup of coffee, please?” Wilson Lobo asked, smiling from inside.

 

By 8.30.p.m, inspector Lobo was back in Mumbai. He also called sub-inspector Martin with a private jeep and instructed him to drive towards highway 99. It was raining heavily, it was chilling and fog was forming, and amidst of it Martin was slowly driving the jeep.

                “What Ms. Seema said?” Inspector Lobo questioned.

                “She left a day before the murder. I saw the CCTV footage of the hotel, her flight ticket back to New Delhi and to double check I also confirmed with airport authorities. She wasn’t in the city.”

                “It is quite blurry here.”

                “Just like the other day” Martin responded and stopped near the crime scene.

                Inspector Lobo looked around to see if someone’s there and asked:

                “Do you think evil spirits reside here?”

                “I don’t know but I believe in them.”

                Again inspector Lobo, saw the position at which the dead body of Mr. Sharma was lying. He was lying straight; his hands were also straight as if he was standing in attention for the national anthem. It was already assumed by both of them that murder had happened four to five hours before they found his dead body. Why the murderer kept his dead body in a linear position? Well, nobody had an answer.     

               

Next day

 

Depressed with an unsuccessful press conference, inspector Lobo was feeling sick so he decided to go for a walk to feel relaxed. While walking on a crowded lane next to Diamond Garden, his mind was constantly working on Rohit Sharma’s case. His call record revealed nothing, he was lying from his family and was having an affair with his secretary. Seema was not in the city but had a motive to kill Rohit Sharma because after his demise his entire business and hotel has become hers. Members from his family were also under the watch but no suspicious movements were found yet. They too had a reason to harm Rohit due to his affair with Seema Rathore. There was too much confusion in the case.

Apart from the case, media gave inspector Lobo a special coverage for his failure over which he was still fuming. Nothing was going on right for him and suddenly, he saw something. It was something he had seen before… The wicked part inside Mr. Wilson Lobo smiled and said:   

“Congratulations, the case is solved.”

                Next day, Mr. Lobo found himself sitting in front of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Seema Rathore and the entire family of Rohit Sharma in the Sharma mansion. It was a sunny afternoon, the sky was clear and most importantly, and the murderer was going to be arrested today. Yes, inspector Wilson Lobo was sure about the murderer but still was confused about why it was done.

                “Ms. Seema Rathore you’ve a clear motive for murdering Mr. Rohit Sharma. Let’s assume you brutally killed him to acquire his business and property and become wealthy. Do you have anything to say in your defense?” Mr. Lobo asked Ms. Seema.

                “I was not in the city. I have already told this to you. You can check my airplane ticket for verification?” Seema Rathore responded confidently.

                “Okay! I believe you. What about the Sharma family? You guys too have a very strong reason to murder Mr. Sharma. You must have got to know about his affair with Seema and thought of teaching him a lesson. Is it so?”

                “No! We all were here. You can check the CCTV footage of this mansion. I think your team has already done it.” Anjali Sharma answered in a rough tone.

                “You all are so rich you can also hire a killer but your cell phone records are clear. The calls have been made to relevant people only. So, your family is on the safe side too.” Inspector said and smiled.

                “What is this childish investigation, Mr. Lobo? You said, you’re going to arrest the murderer but according to your comments all of them are clean then who is the murderer?” DCP yelled looking at inspector’s smiling face.

                “The man who made the master plan and killed Mr. Rohit Sharma is already behind the bars. New Delhi police arrested him today morning but I am here to know why was he murdered and someone here can enlighten us. But before that someone tells us the reason behind the murder I want to disclose how he was murdered. I must say, intelligence have no limit.” Inspector Lobo said. 

                “Go ahead and tell us!” Rekha Sharma said.

                “The murder was perfectly executed by one of the housekeepers working here. His name is Ashish Gupta. He booked a tempo for his family of eight to reach from New Delhi to Mumbai. He already knew Seema was going to leave a day before Rohit so he had his plans ready. The next day when Rohit left from the hotel, he was kidnapped by Ashish and his family. After kidnapping him they took him to a silent place or some closed construction site. There, he was tortured by them for hours and ultimately, they killed him. Ashish was also aware of Highway 99 as he had read about it on Facebook. But it was too risky to carry Rohit’s dead body till Highway 99 in a tempo and he did not want to leave Rohit’s body in the construction site itself. So, he made a plan. He cleaned and covered his dead body with a white cloth and put him on a stretcher. He transported him on a stretcher from the construction site till Highway 99. But by the time, he reached Highway 99 it was dark. I don’t know why he called the police station but after we came there, they proceeded towards to cremation ground.” 

                “I got to know about this due to four things which nobody would’ve noticed but accidently I came across those three things and it further made sense. The first time when I visited Sharma mansion, I saw a man whom I had seen during that night with the group. Second mistake done by Ashish Sharma and his family was �" he did not change the position of Rohit’s dead body. We lay in a linear position on a stretcher and that’s how Rohit Sharma’s dead body was lying when we reached there. Third thing made me extremely sure about the culprit. I was walking on the streets when I saw a group of people wearing white clothes and carrying the body of their loved one for cremation. That night, none of them were wearing white clothes and the most important fact: according to Hindu tradition mostly people cremate dead bodies in day light and not during night. That’s it. That is how this master plan failed, miserably.”  Inspector Lobo completed his explained and surely, deserved a round of applause but still the case was not over yet. Somebody was yet to speak. Why did Ashish Gupta kill the famous hotelier Rohit Sharma?

                “I wish I’d been there earlier. It might have made all the difference. So all I can tell you is why he was murdered. Ashish Gupta is my husband and few months back I was sick and could not come to work. So, I decided to send my daughter to work here instead of me so that they don’t cut off my salary. A day after her joining, the entire Sharma family went out for a vacation to Goa except for Rohit Sharma. There were some other plans going on in his mind. When next day, my daughter came to work here, he locked her and raped her.”

                Eerie silence followed her words. Everybody stood there blown and frozen, no one moved an inch. She continued:

                “My husband came looking for her in the house but Rohit did not let him enter and denied her presence in his house. He cruelly kept assaulting her as if she was lifeless! He kept treating her like a dead body for the entire night. She arrived a day after, her clothes were messy and she was lost in her own world of nothingness. She did not talk to us the whole day but eventually she ended up narrating the horrific incident which happened with her. Ashish lodged a complaint against him in New Delhi Police Station but, no one took any action against him. He had money and in this country whoever has money, has power! Police pressed us to withdraw the case and we also got calls from goons who kept threatening us. We tried everything but no one came forward to help us. Ashish and I suffered many sleepless nights imagining the amount of pain she must’ve suffered. We could not imagine. Ashish did not tell me before killing him otherwise I would’ve stopped him.” Ashish’s wife said, in a broken tone.

                Inspector Lobo tired consoling her but he couldn’t do so. He walked away without uttering a word.

                Next day, he saw a headline regarding him. Everyone was praising him but he was quite unhappy. If newspapers had covered the rape story of Ashish’s daughter and would’ve pressurized Police officers to take action against Rohit, today things would’ve been different.

                “I’m happy for you”, Mr. Lobo’s wife said.

                “But I’m not.”

                “Why?”

                “Things would’ve been different if police had taken an action against Rohit previously, but anyways he deserved to die.” He said and stopped.

                “This is how this country works �" people with money win, poor loses but ultimately, justice is served to everyone. It wasn’t right of Ashish to take the matters in his own hands.”

                Inspector Lobo closed his eyes �" an empty street of appeared in front of him. It was Highway 99!