The Mysterious Incident at the Akashdeep Estates - Part 1

The official jeep made its way through the narrow winding streets of the small coastal city.

"Yes yes ! that is it , right here , that is the house , number 23 is visible on the pillar , and I can see the name of the house, Amrutha Nilaya !” said Inspector Ganesh“You can drop me off and park the jeep under the tree.. why don’t you go to that restaurant in the corner and have a cup of coffee and something to eat as well since we have a long drive ahead of us. Please give me a call as soon as you are back" , Inspector Ganesh alighted from the jeep instructing his driver.

As he opened the gate , he looked at the neat little garden with approval and proceeded to climb the short flight of steps that led to the front door. He rang the bell and waited expectantly for the door to open and see the look of surprise on their faces - he very much wondered whether they would be happy to see him or not , because the circumstances under which he had met the couple was anything but pleasant since murder is never a pleasant occurrence nor easily forgotten especially when people have been personally involved in it !!!

Inspector Ganesh sighed as he remembered the incident that had taken back 2 years ago .. Just then the door opened and the tall, good looking man who opened the door broke into a wide happy smile of recognition when he saw the Inspector .

"Sir ! what a surprise ! When did you come here to our town! "

" Pleasant surprise , I hope" - grinned the Inspector as he extended his right hand to Rohit , who clasped his hand and opened the door wide to let him into the neatly furnished house.

As they stepped into the hall Rohit called out " Anita look who has come, you are not going to believe this "

The young lady who came out from the interiors of the house was attractive and glowing obviously in the last stages of pregnancy . Anita too gave a happy smile to the inspector and sat down besides Rohit and soon they were speaking about old times over cups of tea and snacks.

Rohit asked the Inspector - “How did you find us here Sir ?”

"I had gone to your bank to meet Mr Ashok who is a relative of mine and while speaking about mutual friends he mentioned your name and I confirmed it was indeed you when he said that you were married and your wife was called Anita. He told me you were on leave, also gave me your address and directed me to your house. So, I decided to visit you at home .."

and continued with a smile  ...“ I am very happy to see you both and to know that your family is expanding “

“ Sir we always speak about you and we have the highest regard for you although the circumstances under which we met were difficult . But we understand that you were duty bound to do whatever you did. We are very glad and feel grateful that you took the trouble to locate us and decided to visit us , right Anita ?” while Anita nodded smilingly and said …” I agree “

Inspector Ganesh looked at the time “ I have to go reach Bangalore before it is too late and we have a long drive ahead of us but this visit has rejuvenated me and somehow relieved me of the burden of guilt that I carried within me of having hounded innocent people” 

He continued - “ My job is such that at times we tend to doubt innocent people and many a times feel helpless when we are unable to make amends for the mistakes committed . But now I am happy and relieved! “

He turned to Anita “ Anita I know you have a husband to care for, a home to look after and more importantly the job of looking after yourself and the little one , but I have a request to make which I hope will not burden you further and make you refuse..."

Both Rohit and Anita looked at Inspector Ganesh with interest … Anita said “Tell me sir, what is it that you want me to do ? “

Inspector Ganesh said “ I have never been able to forget the incident at Akashdeep estate and it was one of the most complex cases I have handled so far. Although we managed to solve it, I constantly think and wonder about the other aspects of the case “

“What other aspects sir ?”

“Well, you know Rohit, Anita – a crime happens or takes place when human emotions are involved and get out of hand. It does not happen on the spur of the moment except in self-defense or when professional criminals are involved !

"There is a background to every crime and it is the little incidents and inter personal interactions between people that ultimately lead and culminate in a crime especially murder which is the worst of all since a life is lost forever “

Rohit was thoughtful and so was Anita as they both remembered the past..

“ Sir, I agree with you, but in a way I am glad I was there at that point of time because I met Anita at Akashdeep and fell in love with her “

Inspector Ganesh too looked at the couple with affection and said, yes that was true and he was glad too.

“ But my request is of a different nature. I would be very interested to know all the minor details and the every day happenings carrying some relevance, that took place at Akashdeep while Anita was there and it would give an interesting insight into the crime that we police people are unable to get our hands on . People are either scared or wary of us police folks and do not divulge too many details ”

Anita was looking perplexed at this , not being able to understand what exactly the Inspector was driving at “I still don’t understand , sir ? “

“Well, you could write it down , narrate your experience“

“Write it down ! Sir, I am sure I will not be able to do that, I don’t have the capability and more importantly my memory may not be very accurate.”

“But you could try doing it?”

“I am sure she can do it Sir , especially now since I am going to be away for 3 days to visit Vidya akka , who is not keeping well , planning to bring her back here .. Anita, you can definitely give it a try,? Only don’t miss out any of the details about our own love story “ Rohit ended grinning

 Anita threw a cushion at him ..” wait and see what I am going to come up with , don’t blame me later “

Laughingly Inspector Ganesh got up to leave since by then his driver had come back and already called him . He hugged them both affectionately asking Anita to take good care of herself and said goodbye to them..

( To be continued )

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