Chapter 3

Note – DO NOT READ if you have not read the previous chapter(s)

Velu and Mohan switched off their lights and waited to hear for Mahadev’s instructions.

Mahadev said, “It is not a good idea for everyone to go for a hunt… Myself and one of my men will go forward and yourself along with my men can back us up from behind. We will call out if we require any help. Just that you need to be on alert.”

Velu replied, “Fair enough.. “

Mahadev turned to one of his men and said, “Lets go”

Mahadev walked forward with his gun pointed towards the direction of the van. The other fellow followed to his left with the torchlight in his left and a pistol in his right. They were 10 feet away from the van and Mahadev noticed that the front seat was empty. He slowed down and checked whether anyone is hiding. He took couple of minutes checking the surroundings. There was no hint of anyone hiding.

After a thorough check in the front seat, Mahadev turned towards the direction of Velu.

He shouted, “Come over”

The rest of the team quickly gathered around the van. Mahadev said, “Velu!!! Is this the van?”

“Ya”

“Sure”

“Cent percent sure”

“Good.. Looks like the guys escaped sensing that they would be caught.”

“May be.. Let us see what we have inside”

Mohan walked to the backside of the van to notice a lock.

Mohan said, “There is a lock… Need to break it to explore inside”

Velu said, “Can you??”

One of the RAF men walked with a torchlight and showered the lock with the light. Mohan had a close look at it and said, “Damn!!!”

Velu heard it and asked, “What now?”

“Sir!!! Can you come over?”

Velu walked and looked at the lock. There were thick blood strains on the lock.

Velu, “Are they blood strains??”

“Yes sir.. “

“Let us see what the heck is inside.. Break it open.. “

One of the RAF men took his pistol and shot the lock twice. The bullets pierced the lock and it instantaneously gave up.

Mohan removed the broken lock and pulled the van door. The door opened wide and the torch showered the lights inside.

There were three chimpanzees on the floor with blood oozing from their ears and nose.

Location – Commissioner’s Office

Inspector Mahadev was briefing Assistant Commissioner Parameshwar about the incidents.

Parameshwar raised his brows in disbelief and asked, “Chimpanzees??”

“That’s right sir.. Two out of the three were already dead and the other one is in a critical condition… The Vet docs are trying to save its life. We found bleeding nose and ears in all the three chimps”

“Do we know the reason for their deaths?”

“The Vet doctor didn’t give any reasons yet. He said that he will let us know after the postmortem.”

“Is the PM over?”

“Should be over by now… we are waiting for the report”

“Were you able to track the van owner’s details?”

“The registration number is a fake one and belongs to a scooter which is 40 years old. The chassis number was purposefully damaged to hide its identity. But still, the van is scrutinized thoroughly by the RTO officers. We may get to know some clue in a couple of days.”

“What else do we have? Anything useful?”

“With the help of Velu and Mohan, we tried to sketch the driver of the van and the assistant with the help of a software. We have the images now..”

Mahadev handed over a file that had couple of images.

Parameshwar looked at those and asked, “And?”

“We tried to search through the images of the criminals to find a match. So far, we have not got any.”

“You may need to send these images to other states offices. If the luck is on our side, we may find a match.”

“May be.. I will do that today Sir”

“Ok.. Let me know if you find anything else.. “

“Sure sir.. “

Mahadev saluted him and left the room. As he was walking in the corridor, his mobile phone rang. He attended the call.

“Inspector Mahadev speaking”

“Inspector!!! This is doctor Nageshwar.. “

“Yes doctor”

“Where are you now?”

“I just updated AC about the case.. “

“Ok… The postmortem of two chimps are over”

“Ok… Any notable findings?”

“Hmm.. It is a bit complicated..”

“Like what?”

“The Chimps were injected with Anaesthesia in their spine…”

“For?”

“For a surgery”

“What kind of surgery?”

“You may be surprised. “

“Surprise me please”

“The eyes of the Chimps were removed and were replaced with artificial ones”