Stories

Crime never pays

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Crime never pays Shashank Purandare 1

Mumbai-Pune expressway is a delight to drive on with speed limits up to 100km/h and three wide lanes to drive on. Most of the times, motorists used to exceed these limits by a wide margin until speed cameras came up and stiff fines were imposed.

Sujay was however, a cautious driver and always drove within the limits. He suddenly realized that he had a flat tire. It was two am and he was driving in his Honda city. He had just crossed the second toll and could see the Dehu road exit ahead. He braked his car. He was safe since he had those tubeless tires. He switched off the engine and got down to inspect the tires. As suspected, the left rear tire had a puncture. As he was about to open the boot to take out the stepney, two masked men suddenly appeared from nowhere. Both had knives in their hands.

“Do not make a sound. Hand over all the cash and valuables, and no harm will come to you and your wife.” Said one fellow. Sujay could not see their faces as both were wearing masks, so that only eyes were visible. Sujay did not panic. He opened the front passenger door and woke up Sujata, who was sound asleep till that time.

Like Sujay, Sujata also did not panic. Both knew that it was fruitless to resist. Sujay handed over his wallet and watch. He had about ten thousand rupees in cash. Sujata removed her neckless, mangalsutra and earings. Thankfully, they did not ask for their phones. Both the men collected the valuables and disappeared riding their bike by the Dehu road exit.

Once they left, Sujata started shaking in fear. Sujay pulled her close to him and calmed her down.

2

Ragini got into the Pune bound Shivneri bus at Maitri park, Chembur. The bus was half full but no window seats were available. Ragini put up her hand bag on the rack and got into the aisle seat midway in the bus. Her purse was resting on her lap. About 20-21 year old college going girl was seating at the window seat. She smiled at Ragini and adjusted herself so that Ragini would have sufficient space to sit. Ragini smiled back and said thanks to her. As soon as she settled in her seat, the bus started. She already had purchased her ticket before boarding the bus. Shivneri bus does not have a conductor. Tickets are issued by the controller at the bus stop before boarding.

“Hi, I am Neha,” The girl at the window seat said. Ragini introduced herself. Neha was eating chips from a packet. She offered some to Ragini. She accepted and started munching. As those were masala chips, something got stuck in her throat and she started coughing. Neha offered her water in a plastic bottle. Ragini drank some and the coughing subsided. She thanked her and returned the bottle.

She started feeling sleepy and was fast asleep in minutes.

She woke up with a start, since somebody was shaking her. “Madam, get up. We are in Pune.” The driver said. She reached for her purse, but it was missing. Her handbag, kept on the rack, was also missing. Only her phone was lying on the seat next her. She realized that she was robbed. She picked up her phone and dialed 100. 3

“Good morning.” Rashmi greeted Mr. Pradhan, Superintendent of Police, CID branch, her boss. She was finally back in her home department, the CID, after stints on loan in anti-corruption unit and the narcotics divisions.

“Sit down.” Said Mr. Pradhan. “We are getting lot of reports of looting on Mumbai-Pune expressway recently. I want you to visit police stations at Dehuroad and Pune railway station. Liaison with the inspectors investigating these incidences and report back to me.”

“Yes sir.” Rashmi saluted and left.

Rashmi was approaching her 30th birthday. She had an attractive face, a fine figure and was supremely fit conforming to police standards. She left the Mumbai HQ and started for Dehu road in her jeep. She arrived at the Dehu road police station in couple of hours. She conferred with Inspector Jadhav about looting near Dehu road exit on Mumbai-Pune expressway. It seemed that the modus-operandi was always the same. Nails were laid down on the expressway during night hours just before the exit. The cars were made to stop for tire-puncture and passengers were looted at knife point. But their phones were left alone. The reason was easy to understand, as phones were traceable these days. No fingerprints were ever found as gloves were worn. No description of the thieves was available except height, built and gender as faces were masked. The bikes could be any of the thousands running on road. In short, almost a perfect crime. There were always two people, both male, probably in late twenties and spoke fluently in Marathi, Hindi or English, probably well educated.

Rashmi requested Inspector Ramesh Jadhav to visit pawn shops in Dehuroad to check if any stolen valuables were traded for cash. Rashmi thanked the Inspector and left for Pune, promising to keep in touch.

She arrived at the Pune station police station and met Inspector Vinayak Joshi. He produced the FIR filed by Ragini Pendse. It was obvious that she was drugged and then robbed. It was unclear where exactly the girl sitting next to her got down as the bus had stopped at the food mall after the Khalapur toll plaza. Nobody noticed whether the girl was on the bus till Pune or not since the bus was half empty all the time. But at least the modus-operandi was clear. She was drugged and robbed. There were no clues available, except a description of the girl given by Ragini. The police sketch artist was able to draw a portrait of the girl. A copy of that was given to Rashmi. After promising to stay in touch, Rashmi left for Mumbai.

On the way back, she received a call from Inspector Jadhav from Dehu road police station. He had visited various pawn shops in Dehu road area but had drawn a blank. Obviously, the thieves were smart enough not to sell the jewelry close to the place from where they had lifted it.

4

Back at Mumbai HQ, Rashmi reported back to SP Pradhan. Since there were no obvious leads to go on except a sketch of Neha, that sketch was sent to every police station in Mumbai and Pune along with a look-out notice. SP Pradhan then asked Rashmi to take help of Inspector Tushar Deshpande and a rough plan was made to nab the culprits red-handed. Tushar and Rashmi were asked to work on it.

During the next few days, Rashmi, disguised as a common traveler, made several trips on Mumbai-Pune Shivneri bus, hoping to catch Neha, as the girl called herself. Tushar was always with her, sitting separately at the back, keeping a watch on Rashmi. Tushar was tall and handsome, and was well trained like Rashmi. But several trips went by without any results.

For a few nights, Rashmi and Tushar travelled in a private car in the night on the expressway disguised as a couple. But nothing happened. It was as if the thieves had given up stealing. But both Rashmi and Tushar did not give up. They both knew the virtue of patience. Investigations were always like that. It required lot of persistence. That was the first thing taught at the police academy.

Inspector Jadhav and Joshi were also busy. They nabbed several known offenders but did not find what they were looking for. The stolen jewelry also did not surface even after keeping a watch on pawn shops which were known to deal in stolen merchandise. Circulation of Neha’s sketch also did not turn up anything.

SP Pradhan instructed Rashmi to use more operators on Shivneri buses and to use more drivers to drive in the night as a bait for the thieves. But all these efforts were in vain as no more robberies were reported. The police department was getting more frustrated day by day. 5

At morning 6 am, Rashmi’s cell phone rang. The inspector on line requested Rashmi to reach Panvel exit on the expressway going towards Mumbai as soon as possible.

Rashmi made time in her jeep and reached the spot with the help of GPS coordinates within forty-five minutes. What she saw there shocked her.

A Hyundai venue was stopped in the middle of the exit road. The driver was lying slumped on the front driver seat, stabbed multiple times. Apparently, he was dead. Inspector Chavan from Panvel police station came forward and briefed Rashmi.

The same MO of laying the nails on the road was used to stop the car. But this time, the driver, who was a young person, seemed to have resisted to the attempt of theft. Panicking, the thieves knifed him, killing him in the process. They seem to have then fled on the bike. The whole incidence was recorded on the CCTV camera fitted at the exit point. These theft incidences had now taken a sinister turn with this murder.

Rashmi reached the highway control room to review the CCTV footage of the incidence. After seeing the footage police could recover the number on the number plate on the bike. An immediate BOLO was put out on the police radio and to the toll plazas and police control points. However, after searching the DMV data base, the plate turned out to be fake. The knife recovered from the wound did not show any finger prints. The attacker must have worn hand gloves. But the faces of the assailants were not visible as they had worn masks. There was nothing stolen as the attacker panicked and left in a hurry. Again, the police were left without any clues to work with. With this murder, these thefts were now likely to stop.

6

Rashmi and Tushar got in to the Shivneri at Mairi park for the umpteenth time a few days later. It was 1pm. Immediately Rashmi noticed the girl seating next to the window in the middle of the bus. Rashmi casually sat next to her. Tushar got Rashmi’s signal and sat two rows behind. Rashmi had only her big purse carrying cash and some jewellery, usually carried by the ladies. She kept it in her lap and started eating masala chips from the packet she was carrying. The girl was definitely ‘Neha’. Finally, the CID had a breakthrough. Rashmi choked on the chips and started coughing even as the bus was on the way to Pune. Rashmi started looking for the water bottle in the purse, spilling some of its contents in the process. The girl offered a water bottle, which Rashmi gratefully accepted. The girl also helped Rashmi put the things back in her purse. Rashmi turned her head away from the girl and ‘drank’ from the bottle, spilling some water as the bus bumped through the potholes on the road. After some time, Rashmi fell ‘asleep’.

After the toll plaza, the bus turned in to the food mall. The driver stopped the bus and shouted a twenty-minute warning. Most of the passengers got down. Tushar stayed behind. After a few minutes, the girl calmly got up, lifted Rashmi’s purse, took out her phone and kept it on her seat. She took the purse and started for the door. Tushar was right behind her. Rashmi got up from her ‘sleep’ and followed Tushar. As soon as the girl got down from the bus, she was apprehended by two women constables from Khalapur police station who were alerted by Tushar earlier on phone.

She was taken to the police station and interrogated by Rashmi. Since she was caught red handed, she had no defense. She confessed to the theft. On further investigation she revealed ten such earlier thefts. She was taken to her house and most of the jewelry, stolen earlier, was recovered.

7

Rashmi, after getting back to Mumbai, reported back to SP Pradhan. He was naturally happy. But, the Panvel murder was still unsolved after nearly two months. He asked Rashmi to continue the investigation.

Another month went by. Then, one night, Rashmi and Tushar again drove towards the Dehu road exit. And Lo and behold! They had a flat. Both got down, alert in all their senses. They had their revolver in their back belt. As soon as Tushar finished his inspection of the flat tire, two men appeared welding knives. Without the slightest hesitation both were shot in the legs by Rashmi and Tushar. Simultaneously, a police jeep appeared on the scene. The two culprits were handcuffed and taken to the Dehu road police station. They were in their late twenties, surprising well educated. Under intense third-degree investigation, both admitted to the murder and the thefts. They said that they resorted to crime since they could not get jobs. But little did they knew that unlike jobs, crime never pays.

PS. Even though this is a work of fiction, similar incidences have been reported on Mumbai-Pune stretch.