Coffee With Stranger

The Murder

The man splayed on the cement. Neck broken, limbs bent, dead. Police cruisers lined the street. Officer hovered around the scene. People are gathering, diverting eyes and unwanted glances, all for one reason, the dead body of the man.

Police Inspector Mangesh Gayakwad stared the dead body as long as he could, then turn away. He was used to seeing this sort of thing. Arriving at the crime scene and observing dead bodies was what he did for a living. Looking at the body he felt off.

The people from society had gathered near the dead body. Most people already knew and word spread fast. After all, we live in an ear of WhatsApp and Facebook. The society was a big one with 180 flats in total. It is situated in the Andheri area which is overcrowded by middle-class families.

Kids swarming the taped-off area, trying to see what had happened. Mobiles were held above the head. Shoulders nudged to get to the front. This was the most upheaval they would ever have seen.

Andheri was a small but overcrowded area. Nothing bad ever happened there. It was a type of society where people went to neighbours for a cup of sugar or to borrowed eggs. Where you knew every single person passed on the street. A tight-knit community with family ties. The crime was practically unheard of. Sure there was a usual domestic dispute from time to time but death? Especially of a young bachelor man?

The body lying on the ground was of a young man Mr. Vivan Malik who was working at a media company. Living there on a rented apartment, paying his rent before the due dates. No signs of any illegal activities, girls or bad habits.

Deceased.

It was around 06:30 a.m. the call came to the police control room about the body lying on the floor near the car parking area of the society. What Vivan was doing at the parking early morning? His neighbours knew that he was going for a jogging every morning at around 6 a.m.

Police had reached the site at 7 o'clock. It took hardly half an hour due to very low traffic in the early morning. Half an hour and entire society were already in the mayhem. The chairman and other society members were doing everything to prevent news from getting out.

The chairman had arrived and was doing his best to keep everything at the bay. Surely the people would be horrified to hear of something so traumatic.

Mr. Gayakwad was focusing his attention, listening to the sound of hundreds of iPhones clicking as the cameras went off. Society members were taking pictures, trying to get a first look, capture the perfect newsworthy shots.

From what he had gathered thus far, the man was killed by gunshots from the front side. There were 3 rounds of fire one was in the leg and another two were in the ribs.

"What do you think about this? Who the person could be?" Mr. Gayakwad was asking his fellow Mr. Shinde, who was a head constable in the Andheri Police Station.

Shinde took in another breath and faced his superior. "Looks pretty sure that it's a murder."

"Murder in the parking that too in the early morning?" Mr. Gayakwad shrugged.

"In all honestly, sir, I have no idea what to think. I am still processing all of this." Shinde replied politely.

Mr. Gayakwad was standing on the other side of the yellow tape, observing the scene in front of him. Everything seemed to be moving quickly and efficiently. The forensic team, photographers and medical personnel were busy at work, analysing the scene, taking photographs and looking for anything that might arouse suspicion.

Everyone was working cautiously, eyes peeled for something that could prove useful. A weapon, gunshot residue, fingerprints perhaps? There was nothing but the body, flat as anyone could tell.