Chapter 5
Note – DO NOT READ if you have not read the previous chapter(s)
Inspector Mahadev
looked at the jar that had the artificial eyes. The eyes were floating on the
solution and it fascinated Mahadev.
Mahadev said,
“These look like real ones”
Veterinary
doctor Nageshwar said, “Yup.. These are made scientifically with the intent of
making it look real. These prosthetic eyes are made of thin acrylic tissue
cells. All the three chimps were implanted with these. The ‘Ocular Implant’
device would be embedded into these cells surgically. ”
“Interesting…
What do you think would be the intent of these implants on the chimps?”
“Definitely not
a good intent”
“Oh.. Why do
you think so?”
“I have a
reason… Follow me.. “
Nageshwar
walked in the front and Inspector Mahadev followed him. They came out of the
room and walked in the corridor. In next few seconds, Nageshwar stopped in
front a room on the right and pushed the door.
The room had a
couple of stretchers. On one of the stretcher, a chimp was lying on its back,
with its eyes and legs stretched. It was unconscious and there were a bunch of
sensors attached to it along with the Saline drips. There were frequent moments
on the chest of the chimp and the monitoring devices indicated that it is
alive.
Nageshwar said,
“This chimp is the one that we are trying to save.”
“Okie”
Nageshwar
walked closer to the head of the chimp, turned to Mahadev and said, “I want you
to have a look at the head of the chimp and tell me whether you see something”
Mahadev looked
at it for a few seconds, nodded his head is denial and said, “Hmm.. Sorry
doctor.. I couldn’t see anything unusual”
Nageshwar took
a deep breath and said, “That is ok Inspector. A doctor would have cracked this
question quicker. Never mind. Let me tell you what was done to this chimp. They
have done a ‘Brain Surgery’ on this chimp”
Mahadev was dumbfounded
as he heard that.
“What??”
“You heard it
right… It was a Brain surgery. In medical terms, a ‘Craniotomy’ was performed.
In this procedure, a section of the skull called ‘Bone flap’ will be removed to
access the brain. Post that, they have implanted the prosthetic eyes. ”
Mahadev was
shocked and replied, “Oh my goodness”
“I would say
that it is a brutal procedure done on this little one. Now, it is very
important to find out why this was done… “
“Ya…true.. I will need your detailed report on this, so
that I could send these to my forensic experts to look for more information in
this case”
“Sure.. I will
get you the required reports. However, I will suggest you another option. I
have a friend Sidharth, an entrepreneur. He owns a couple of corporate
companies in the city. One of them is a Bio Research and Development. It is run
by a gentleman named Pratap, who is also a research scientist. You can get an
opinion from him too. That would help to speed up your investigation.”
“Oh sure… “
“I will talk to
him today and get an appointment for you”
“Yes please”
“Ok then.. I
will let you know”
“Thanks
doctor.. We will meet again when needed.. “
Both shook
hands and Mahadev came out of the room. Just then, he saw SI Venu standing in
the reception. Venu came forward as he saw Mahadev and saluted him.
“Hello Venu.. “
“Sir.. I have
brought Habibullah along with me.”
Venu turned his
head towards one of the pillars in the reception. Habibullah walked in their
direction.
Habibullah
turned to Mahadev and said, “Hello sir”
Mahadev scanned
him from top to bottom and said, “Hi…So, you know one of the guys who were in
the van…right?”
“Correct sir”
“What do you
know about him?”
“His name is
James…He is a driver and also involved in brokering sales of used cars. Twice,
he came to me with details of cars that he wanted to be sold. He was looking
for buyers. I was not too interested in those and ignored him. As a part time
job, he was working for a corporate company too.”
“Which one?”
“I forgot the
name of the company sir… Once he came to me in the company’s car as it had some
issues. He was in uniform. It was a light blue colored shirt and trousers.”
“So, you had
done some repairs on the car…right?”
“Yes sir”
“Didn’t you
give him a receipt?”
“I did sir”
“Didn’t you
write his name in it?”
“The usual practice
is to just scribble the amount in a piece of paper and hand it over, only when
asked. Usually, we don’t follow the practice of writing in a proper bill book”
“Hmm ok.. You
said that it was a blue and blue uniform…correct?”
“Correct sir”
“Did it have a
logo in it?”
Habibullah was
thoughtful for a moment and replied, “Sorry sir… I couldn’t recollect”
“Most of you answers
are negative… why is that so? Are you trying to hide anything?”
“Sir!!! He was
not a regular customer. If he were one, definitely I would have provided some
useful information. And the last time I saw him was with the Van that was in
the newspaper...”
“Do you have
any information about the guy who accompanied him?”
“He was fair,
tall about 5’10” and around 30 years of age.”
“Were they
discussing any topics of interest?”
“I didn’t hear
them discussing anything sir”
“Hmm”
Mahadev turned
to Venu.
“Venu?”
“Sir?
“We don’t have
much useful clues from Habibullah except one”
“Ya.. The
uniform colour…”
“Correct.. We
have to shortlist the companies that has blue uniforms”
“I will start
enquiring about that sir”
“The enquiry
should be confidential…”
“Sure”
Mahadev turned
to Habibullah.
“Habibullah!!! Keep
your mouth shut on this matter”
“Noted sir…"
“Fair enough”
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