How I cracked a dead-end murder

The word "presumptive" has acquired a distinct connotation after being used extensively to describe the huge losses in the Coalgate case and the 2G scams. This is a story of presumptive guilt with a twist. Recently, at a book launch of former CBI director Joginder Singh, my eyes were drawn to the cover, which depicted a man climbing a tall coconut tree. The cover triggered memories of a murder, which I had investigated as the superintendent of police, in Jamshedpur, over 30 years ago.

Investigation

At around 6am one summer, I was informed by the police control room that a servant had been found murdered on the roof top terrace of a mansion belonging to one of the biggest businessmen of the city. For legal reasons I shall refer to him as “X”. The deceased servant was a young man in his 20s, who had over 30 brutal stab injuries, indicating a crime of passion.

A quick examination of the crime scene ruled out any outsider’s entry, as there was only one entrance to the house through the main gate. This gate was manned by a guard and locked at night. Behind the house was a service lane, but no rear entrance. The back wall of the house was 40 feet high. In fact, the only access to the roof-top terrace was through an internal staircase.

Prima facie, there were only two possibilities. Either the guard had been compromised, or it was an inside job, in which case a family member was involved. The guard was immediately taken to the police station and thoroughly interrogated. At the end of the day, the investigating officers were convinced that he was not involved.

The next obvious target was “X”, since apart from the deceased servant, he was the only other person in the house (X’s wife, child and the maid had gone to Bombay to visit her parents). We did not take this line of investigation seriously as we all knew “X” and it was beyond comprehension that he could have committed this heinous crime.

We were at a dead-end, and after a few days a whisper campaign started in the press that the local police – including the SP - were going slow on the investigation in order to protect “X”. Since there was no apparent motive for “X” to commit this murder, a rumour was floated that he might have been in a gay relationship with the servant. It was further speculated that since there were only two persons in the house and one was dead with no outside entry, only "X" could have committed the murder – a clear case of presumptive guilt.

Pressure from the media and public started mounting, for detection and arrests, as it was a very high-profile case. Two weeks after the murder though, there had been no breakthrough in the investigation and it appeared we had no option but to arrest “X” on the presumptive guilt theory. However, we got a lucky break. One of the several police informers in the city hinted at a driver, who “X” had sacked a year ago, could be involved. Armed with this information, we questioned “X”. He confirmed he had sacked his driver a year ago, on the basis of a complaint made by the deceased servant that the driver was having an affair with his wife’s maid.

We immediately sent four teams to different addresses in Orissa where the driver was reported to be residing. One of the teams succeeded in locating him and brought him to Jamshedpur. We had barely started interrogating him when he made a full confession. He said he murdered the servant, because he had constantly objected to his affair with the maid, and had even got his services terminated.

Access

How had he managed to enter the house and access the roof-top terrace was the next big question? We took him to the house of “X” and asked him to show us the mode of entry. The driver explained that he was determined to take revenge on the servant, so one day he took a train to Jamshedpur and came to the house at night. He knew in summers, the servant used to sleep on the terrace. He went to the back alley and climbed a drainpipe attached to the 40-foot back wall of the house and entered the terrace. This was a sheer vertical climb and we were not convinced that this was possible. He said that in his youth he used to climb coconut trees in his village with a knife between his teeth. He used the same technique to climb the pipe.

Demonstration

He then gave us a physical demonstration in which he straddled the drainpipe and clambered up in a matter of minutes. After committing the murder, he slid down the pipe and, the next morning, he boarded a train to his village in Orissa.

It was a huge relief for us, as all the pieces of the puzzle were now in place. The press was called and given a demonstration by the accused himself. Everybody was satisfied that “X” was innocent and the person responsible for the brutal murder had been apprehended. It was a moment to savour. We had worked logically, not succumbed to pressures or taken any decision in haste. This had helped ensure that the true culprit was arrested.

The scene of crime of this murder was strikingly similar to the Aarushi/Hemraj double murders which I dealt with many years later. The body of a brutally murdered servant on the rooftop terrace, no apparent outsider’s entry, a crime of passion and presumptive guilt. However, this story will have to wait for another time.