“Its time, didi” Anand opened her
door gently and almost whispered.
She nodded, and got up. Silently,
but upright, she covered the distance from the room to the garden, where
friends, family, and associates had gathered.
Her husband had made excellent
arrangements. There was seating, cooling, refreshments, and a path for the
mourners to follow. Some loyal staff from the house and office was working to
manage the queue, unbidden. Grief binds people in strange ways.
She took her place in the pandal.
The bhajans went on for almost 2 hours. The pandal filled to capacity, then
overflowed.
After the bhajans, the family
mingled with close relatives. Friends and associates kept a respectful distance
and helped themselves to tea and refreshments. This phase was not going to last
long. 15 minutes tops. Then the first set of exits would begin and the family
would have to take their place near the exit. Which is exactly what happened.
Du, Nishit, and the kids stood
silently at the exit with folded hands. This part of the ritual was meant to
thank everyone who showed up to share the family’s grief.
Anand, who was a distant relative
and house manager, stood on the other side, hands folded and eyes moist.
**************
Du - the only child of Ramjas
Chahal, the industrialist. Money is like blood - it attracts hounds and predators
automatically. Ramjas, like most self-made industrialists, was watchful as a
hawk and maintained his relationships in just the right way. Relatives were
welcome to visit, but not to seek financial help. Friends were from similar
financial strata, except old friends who were always welcome for most things.
Take advantage of the man, however, and you have quite a different thing
coming. Vidya, Du’s mother, kept herself satisfied with unlimited money and no
interest in the business. Du, on the other hand, was a natural and took to the
work like fish to water. Ramjas ji was a very proud father.
And then, Du had met Nishit. And
fallen in love. So, Du and Nishit married, and Nishit came to live with them.
At first, he made the pretence of looking for his own employment but within 2
years, merged himself with the company.
The household was completed by
some staff that had been there for more than a decade – Bimla Tai, the de facto
housekeeper, Suranjan, the cook, Amit, the only driver who could drive Ramjas
ji’s personal car, and Anand, the only family member who was trusted enough to
be employed in the house. Anand was the house manager, confidante, and general
doer-of-all-things-that-needed-doing.
Anand had come to the house as a
young man, fresh out of Grade 12. Ramjas ji had hosted him for a while in the
house while he did job hunting. Within that time, Ramjas ji recognized the
talent of this boy and his inherent, incorruptible honesty, and offered him the
role of house manager.
And now, 18 years later, Ramjas
ji had passed away. Vidya ji was already gone. The next generation was full and
well in the saddle.
************
Barely six months later, Du
attempted suicide out of grief. The loss of her only surviving parent, her
mentor, and her everything, had been too much. She had tried therapy and other
things, but it was just too much to bear. Her suicide note was emailed directly
to the police, so that her family, and especially her children, faced no
hardship because of her selfish action. She simply could not go on.
It was just that Constable Uday needed
to buy bhajjis from just that store, otherwise his mother-in-law would have
fried him as well. And that was what saved Du. As soon as the police control
room read the email, they immediately alerted all beats and one beat happened
to be off route by as much as 5 kms (which in Mumbai traffic, is one hour) –
but in the direction of Du’s house. They were at Du’s house in under 10 minutes
and since emetic action is part of training, the police officers were able to
revive her successfully. If touch and go had an illustration, this would be it.
As always happens in high-profile
cases, Du vehemently denied that she had attempted suicide or sent that email.
She even asked for the cyber cell to be involved. But the police are always
smarter. Nishit was also interrogated. But they really found nothing to
implicate him. If anything, he had been very mindful of his wife’s grief. He
had almost single handedly taken over parenting full time. He had resigned from
all work roles, leaving Du to manage things in office as she pleased. He had
accompanied her to therapy sessions, taken her out on holidays, organized get-togethers
with people she liked. He had confided to his friends, however, that his
struggles were going unaddressed. Though not as close as Du, he was also
attached to his father-in-law, and having to deal with two losses – of his fil
and his wife as he knew her, coupled with the additional responsibility of
being the full-time parent to one teenager and one 8-year-old – it was not easy
on him. The police found out that as of last month, Nishit had also secretly
started taking therapy.
The house staff was interrogated
too. They all confirmed the same sequence of events. Mam was depressed but not
suicidal. Sir was just God’s gift to Durga ma’m and the kids.
Bimla Tai, who had also taken
care of Du as a child, was more tearful than the others. “I did not take care
of even my own child the way I cared for Du beti. Seeing her like that was so
heartbreaking, I wish I was lying there instead of her. May no mother have to
see what I had to see that day.”
Amit, who had taken to driving
Durga didi now, was equally surprised. “She barely spoke after sahab died. But
when she did, she was confident and kind. No, sir, I don’t think she would try
to kill herself. Because she was aware of her duties – to the company, and I
think, to her children.”
Suranjan was the only one who
said that he had very little interaction with Durga ji, since Nishit bhaiya now
took care of the household. He had nothing to contribute to the interrogation.
Since nothing significant had
happened to Du, the case was closed and filed. And that was that.
Until, September, 2024. A good 4
months later.
This time, there was no suicide.
Du just lost control of her car and it crashed. There were no survivors. Du was
alone in the car. She crashed against the wall of a flyover. Bam!
Was Durga depressed? Her house
staff, especially Bimla Tai, refuted that idea vehemently. She was definitely
recovering. Maybe her medicines made her cocky and adventurous. Maybe that is
why she accelerated from 60 to 100 within seconds.
Du’s car was a luxury sports
sedan that was all bells and whistles. It had the latest features inside and
the top-end safety features inside and outside. In a crash, the zillion air
bags should have deployed and saved her. But they didn’t.
The body was handed to the family
after post mortem and the police was about to close the case as an accident caused
due to overspeeding, when one mischievous post on social media created a
flutter – “What use are luxury cars if they can’t save our lives?” said the
post. It was made from an anonymous account.
Immediately, it was as if a
floodgate had been opened. Hundreds of people reported lives lost in luxury
cars when security features did not work as intended. The brand of car that Du
was driving got special attention, of course.
This public clamour and the sheer
number of cases made the Ministry sit up and take notice. India CEOs of all
luxury brands were called and asked to demonstrate their safety features in
crash tests to be conducted in India.
Obviously, this led to clamour.
International luxury carmakers do not demonstrate safety to third world
governments. Politely, but firmly, by the minister himself, no less, were these
czars informed that if the crash tests were not demonstrated in Indian labs,
their road safety certification would not be valid in India.
The carmakers asked for 6 months
to comply with this requirement. After a very generous donation to the right
funds, this request was approved.
***************
And that is how the Durga Ramjas
Death Case was officially reopened and handed to Rahul.
He was specially chosen for this
case by the higher ups for very simple reasons – One, he loved cars. Two, he
loved technology. He had put two unsuccessful applications for a vacancy in the
national cybercrime team. Three, he was an IPS officer, which meant that some
level of gravitas and intelligence could be expected and a CBI enquiry could be
averted by the state police.
****************
The case had to start from
somewhere, so it started from the car. The airbags had not deployed. But why?
The car manufacturing company said that this was because the car was traveling
at a very high speed at the time of impact and therefore there wasn’t enough
time to deploy airbags. They also created illustrations to prove what happens
in the event of a crash at such high speeds. The crash tests in labs are done
at half that speed, they argued.
The illustrations soon made their
way to social media and people started to argue about the human error component
of this accident. Why speed on a road like this?
Rahul heard the luxury car maker.
It took all his self-control to not burst out laughing.
“How is impact detected?”
“By a sensor on the outside – all
around the frame, there are sensors. As soon as even one is activated, all air
bags deploy immediately.”
“Did the sensors fail this time?”
“No. The sensors must have
detected the crash but the deployment takes 0.3 seconds, and we did not have
that much time because of the speed.”
“Then why can your cars go at
that speed?”
“With all due respect, sir,
following the speed rules of the country is the obligation of the driver.”
“Hmmm… this is a connected car,
no?”
“Yes sir, it is connected to the
user’s devices through Bluetooth. But unfortunately, that device was also
destroyed in the crash. So, we have no access to logs. But the cctv footage
clearly shows how fast the car was going.”
And that was that. The government
increased the fines on rash driving all over the country.
Luxury car makers were asked to
deploy speed jammers above the speed of 80. Politely but firmly, they declined.
************
God knows whether it was a desire
to see the house that made him do it, or just idle curiosity. But Rahul made an
appointment with Nishit to discuss the case at the latter’s house.
Nishit was very welcoming. He
would have to invite his parents to stay with him soon, to take care of the
kids, or send them to a hostel. Du used to take care of the office because she
was so much better at it. But now, if he had to manage everything alone…. Well,
it simply wasn’t possible.
“Mr. Nishit, I am sorry, I have
to ask – who inherits the wealth?”
“Well, there are three parts – me
and the children. The children get everything that she got from her father. But
I am the Trustee until they turn 18. I get some of her shares in companies. No
one else gets anything significant. All the loyal members of the staff, and
some extended family members get a few lakhs each.”
“Are you much richer?”
“Not really. But even if I was,
how would it matter? Have you seen my life? Would you wish this even upon an
enemy?”
Rahul agreed that he would not.
Anand was invited to join them.
Anand mentioned that Durga didi
was not like her father. She had inherited the same astute judgement about
business, but not the wisdom of understanding people and their potential.
“Durga didi would not have offered me the job of the house manager, for sure.”
Anand concluded.
“Was she polite and nice to the
staff?” Rahul asked.
“Yes, she was. She was warm and
kind. Just not a good judge of people. She sometimes hired people who were not
the right fit for the culture of this household. Sometimes, she scolded the
children unnecessarily. With Ramjas ji and Vidya ji, one of us, usually Bimla
Tai, would save the children from the parents. But with Durga didi, you could not
interfere when she was scolding. Even bhaiya could not always step in. So, in
those ways, she was different. She was more… formula driven and less personal.
Like Ramjas ji or Nishit bhaiya will get a gift for every member of the staff
based on what we need in that year. But Durga didi would give me a budget and
ask me to order the same thing for everyone. That was her style of working.”
“Nishit ji, was Durga ji a rash
driver?”
“She was a good driver. But
whether she was going to be rash depended on her mood. Some days, she was. Some
days, she wasn’t. She loved this car and would not let any one else touch it.
Every weekend, she took this car for a spin. Sometimes she took me, usually she
went alone.”
“Like this time?”
“Like this time.”
“Thank you for your time. I am
sorry about the trouble caused by this social media post.”
“At least it has told people that
luxury cars cannot save their lives. Maybe they will drive more safely now.” Nishit
concluded as he opened the door for Rahul using a voice command on his smart
home app.
“Oh wow! You have the full Adora
Home suite! How lovely!”
“Yes,” Nishit smiled for the
first time, “Anand got us to install this. He is the tech wizard in the house.
He knows all about these latest things. He told me that I don’t have to call
the staff for simple things like drawing a curtain, or raising the temperature
of the room, or turning on the fan, etc. He takes care of most shopping, but I
like to stock up on the girls’ favourite things, school supplies, books, etc.
myself. It is such a blessing since we installed it. This thing is being used
in so many homes nowadays.”
“That is true. Take Care. ” Rahul
waved a bye on his way to the car. The meeting ended with almost a sense of
friendliness. Camaraderie, at the very least.
***************
Rahul knew he could (and should)
close the case on negligent driving. But he didn’t. He spent night after night
on his laptop, reading and making notes.
The fatigue showed during the
day, and within a week he was warned about his absentmindedness or lethargy.
But the nightly research continued.
A week later, he made a progress
report to his seniors. They approved his plan of action. The case was not going
to be closed.
***************
As in most investigations, speed
was key. The warrants were delivered and assets seized on the same day. In
fact, at the same time.
The cyber research office,
Rahul’s dream office, became his war room for 2-3 days. The guys here were
really good. He was beginning to understand why he had been rejected. IPS was
not good enough. These guys were top notch white hatters.
At the end of the third day, they
had their case.
All that remained now was a
presentation and then more warrants.
Rahul was apprehensive. “Is this
conclusive? No doubt at all?”
Satyam, his SPOC at the cyber
unit patted his shoulder, “Relax, Tiger. We got this.”
The presentation was made and the
warrants were immediately issued.
**************
It took them two days, but then
he cracked. The best way to disarm an educated culprit is to show him proof.
That is what they did.
“I know how you did this. I just
want to know why.” Rahul said kindly when he knew the guy was going to crack.
“Oldest reason in the book, sir –
money.”
“You could have polished off a
little bit at a time and no one would know. You don’t even directly benefit
from the will. Why do this at all? And why now?”
“See, I am not a thief. That is
why Ramjas sir had given me the keys to the house. He also ensured that I
remain well-watered. So, no greed. He had his money and I had mine. But his daughter had no tameez – no manners.
She did not treat me like Ramjas ji and Vidya ji. And I did not want to steal.
I am not a thief.”
“But you are a murderer?”
“I will explain it to you like
this. There is a tap and a plant near the tap. The tap gives out water which
keeps the plant alive. Now, the plant does not want all the water of the tap.
Only enough to keep his life going and growing. One day, the tap decides that
it will not give any more water to the plant. Now, the plant can either die, or
it can break the tap. If the plant is a survivor, what will it do?”
“How do you get money as a result
of her death?”
“I don’t get the money. My tap
restarts. That is more important. And you have to remember, I did not expect to
get suspected. Like, ever.”
“That part is true. You are a genius.
In the first case, you put the drug in her bitter morning drink, using her
automated dispenser for the job. The
email was a touch of perfection. But then, the police car reached in time to
pump her out. No one believed her when she said she had not sent that email or
attempted suicide. It was her IP, her id, her everything.
In the second case, you hacked
the car. Durga did not crash the car. You did. From this house. The car
company’s servers tell us that they knew what had happened and had to stop the
truth coming out no matter what. They didn’t know WHO had done it. But they
knew WHAT had been done. Where did you learn to code like that?”
“I just like coding. Why do you
think I got Nishit bhaiya to invest in the full smart home solution? Did you
know that most smart home solutions use open-source core to save money? What is
easier to hack than open-source code?”
Anand was charged.
***************
Rahul and Satyam were preparing
for their final debrief to their joint seniors.
“But Rahul…” Satyam looked up
from his laptop.
“Yes?” Rahul responded.
“How did you know where to look?”
“The car companies told me.”
Satyam: “Sorry?”
Rahul: “The diligence with which
they hid the fact that this was a smart car, connected to their servers and all
communication, including voice communication within the car, is backed up
almost instantaneously on their servers. That’s how I knew that this was a
smart car crash. Then, it was just a matter of finding out who was tech savvy
enough in her circle to do this and get away with it.
The rest, we did together – surveillance
of all smart cameras, smart speakers, cloning smartphones, IP tracing, until we
zeroed in on our hero man.”
“Well, at least this time it’s
not the husband.” Satyam shrugged.
“Thank God, Satyam. The kids need
him.” Rahul mentioned quietly.
