VIVIFICATION

46 Punishment

Part 46 Punishment

Sarath continued...

"Not only that, your honor, she tried to kill Khushi and her husband," Sarath said, making Sheetal shocked.

"Who is Khushi?" The public prosecutor asked.

"She is Arnav's college mate. Sheetal thinks they have affaire. That's why she sent some goons to finish them. I was with her when she arranged for the goons to kill Khushi. I pleaded with her not to do that but she didn't give heed to my plea. She paid five lakhs for them"

Sheetal could not believe Sarath was telling all this.

"Would you like to cross-question him?" The judge asked the defense lawyer.

Junior Roy stood up.

"Yes, your honor... Mr. Sarath built up stories very well. He put up all the points against Sheetal to show how cheap she is. But, the fact is, he is the one who smuggled cocaine" He said that was not least expected by both Sheetal and Sarath.

"No... he is lying" Sarath shouted.

"Do you have proof?" The judge asked.

"Yes, your honor. I would like to interrogate Mr. Suman Mathur"

Both Sheetal and Sarath were horrified. Suman Mathur? What did Suman do in this matter? What did he know?

"Permission granted"

Suman was called to the witness box. He came and greeted the judge.

"Mr. Suman Mathur, tell us what do you know?"

"I'm Suman Mathur. Khushi's husband. Whatever Sarath told is true... except for one. Sheetal insulted Arnav... she restricted her daughter from calling her mother... she drinks a lot... she even insulted Arnav in front of his school staff once... She sent a few goons to kill us. As I'm a brown belt in karate, I fought with them and saved ourselves. Everything is true except for one... she didn't smuggle cocaine. In fact, she didn't even know her car had been used to smuggle cocaine. It was Sarath who is the smuggler here"

"Your honor, he is blaming me for no reason"

"No, your honor. We have one more witness here... Mr. Rajeev. I would like to ask him a few questions. Please grant me permission" Roy asked.

"Granted"

Sheetal and Sarath had no idea who Rajeev was. Rajeev was called to the court. Sarath was thunderstruck, seeing him whereas Sheetal was confused. What did he know about them? He was none other than the servant of the Hotel Paradise. Son of Suman's company's watchman.

"Namaste, Sir," Rajeev said.

"Who are you? Where are you working?

"I'm working in the Hotel Paradise. They are regular customers of our hotel. They came to the Hotel Paradise every day. Sarath sir used to leave the room alone in Sheetal Madam's car. Sometimes, he met with a few people in the hotel itself. One day I heard their talks. That was when I got to know they are dealing with drugs,"

"And, Suman Mathur got to know about it. He followed Sarath and captured some photos too. Here they are" Roy submitted them to the court.

"No your honor, I don't even know who was in the photos"

"But, the person in the photo said he knew you very well..."

Sarath was horrified.

"Yes, Mr. Sarath. The Narcotics department already caught him and found many smugglers' numbers in his contact list..."