Compass Box Killer (25 page)

The man who killed five people in cold blood is scared… He
is human, after all
, thought Virkar, as he came within striking distance of the man. In response, Hari Prasad plunged into the flowing water only to begin gasping for breath as his feet treaded water and his head was submerged by the black fluid. As the current pulled Hari Prasad away, Virkar swam swiftly towards his thrashing body. In a matter of seconds, Virkar was right behind Hari Prasad. In an expert move, Virkar snaked his arm under Hari’s jaw from behind and locked his arm around his neck. Kicking his legs up under the water Virkar used his free arm to cut the water in an expert backstroke. Hari Prasad thrashed his legs in the water but his upper body was immobilized in Virkar’s grasp. Virkar dragged Hari Prasad through the current towards the closest piece of land—the saltpans lying across the creek. In a few minutes, he touched dry land. He hauled himself on to the salt-laden hard ground and dragged Hari Prasad behind him, holding him by the scruff of his clown suit. Exhausted, he sat down; beside him, Hari Prasad, too, heaved in deep breaths. A couple of minutes later, their breaths stabilized.

Virkar looked at Hari Prasad, who stared back at him. ‘How did you kill him?’ he asked after a pause. For a few seconds, Hari Prasad did not say anything. Then he shrugged. ‘Helium gas from the balloons.’ It suddenly dawned on Virkar that helium gas when inhaled causes the vocal cords to emit a high-pitched sound that is similar to Donald Duck’s voice. The first balloon full of helium bursting over his head had caused Vasant Dixit’s voice to turn squeaky as he sang the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. The two life-sized balloons bursting right next to him had released helium at high pressure, asphyxiating him on the spot and creating stroke-like symptoms that finally caused death. As if reading Virkar’s mind, Hari Prasad said, ‘I wanted him to feel exactly how Tracy didi would have felt when she died while being choked by him.’

Virkar looked into Hari Prasad’s eyes and saw that there was no remorse there, only something resembling satisfaction. Virkar finally asked the question that had been troubling him ever since the case had begun: ‘Why did you give the compass box clues when your murders were perfect enough for you to get away scot-free? Hari Prasad just shrugged as he said, ‘Isn’t it clear, Inspector Virkar? I was never afraid of getting caught. I was just afraid that the murders would not catch anyone’s attention, like Tracy didi’s murder didn’t. I didn’t want my revenge to be brushed under the carpet and forgotten.’

As Virkar confronted the motives of the Compass Box Killer, he was very tempted to abandon his ethical code and embrace empathy. Ultimately, morality got better of him. He turned a steely eye on to Hari Prasad and said, ‘What was the point of taking revenge? You could have lived your life free and clean after prison.’

Hurt and anger flashed in Hari Prasad’s eyes. ‘You think I didn’t try? All through my sentence in prison, I educated myself in chemistry and Ayurveda. I wanted to do further research. But you know what they made me do. They forced me to use my research for wrong purposes. It was then I realized that I was trapped. My life had ended the day Tracy didi’s life had. She was like a mother to me, an orphan, who had no one to call his own in this world. She…she did so much for me.’ Hari Prasad wiped his eyes and continued, ‘It was then I decided that I just wanted to take away the lives of those who took ours.’

Virkar didn’t say anything; instead, he stood up and dragged Hari Prasad up to a standing position with him. ‘Let’s go,’ he said in a curt tone.

Hari hesitated and then said, ‘I have something for you, Inspector.’

‘What?’ Virkar raised a suspicious eyebrow. Hari Prasad reached into the pocket of his soaking-wet baggy clown pants and drew out a small revolver. Virkar froze as Hari Prasad opened the bullet chamber and showed him that it was loaded. But then he handed the revolver over to Virkar, who relaxed.

‘There is something else,’ said Hari Prasad. He put his hand into the other pocket and drew out an old metal compass box from it. Before Virkar could say anything, Hari Prasad handed it to him as well. Virkar looked unsure. Hari Prasad pointed at the compass box and said, ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’

‘What’s inside?’ Virkar asked.

‘The name of my last victim.’

Virkar’s throat went dry. He used the tips of his finger to pry open the compass box and, as usual, found a folded note inside. Without displaying any overt hurriedness, Virkar unfolded the note and in the familiar blood writing, read the name, ‘Hari Prasad’. Virkar looked up, shocked. For the first time, he understood that Hari Prasad was not going to be caught alive. He wanted to die.

Suddenly, he heard a shout behind him. Virkar swivelled around to see Raashi standing across the creek at the edge of the mangroves. She was pointing the handycam towards them, shouting at Virkar to get out of the way so she could get a clearer shot of Hari Prasad. He was amazed that she had followed them all the way here without him being aware of it. Virkar turned around towards Hari and saw that he had started to run away from him across the saltpans. Virkar aimed the revolver at the fleeing Hari but hesitated, his finger lingering on the trigger.

Behind him, he could hear Raashi shouting, ‘Shoot! Shoot!’ Just as it looked like he was about to pull the trigger, Virkar spun around again and shot directly towards Raashi. The bullet smashed against the lens of the camera which broke into pieces, destroying every bit of footage that was captured on it. Raashi struggled to maintain her balance but couldn’t. She slipped and slid into the soft slush around the mangroves. Virkar then hoisted his arm and threw the revolver into the slush; it plunked into the black water flowing in the creek separating them. With disgust written all over his face, Virkar cast one last glance at Raashi’s slush-covered figure. She stared back at him, stunned.

Virkar turned back to look at Hari Prasad who was standing at a distance, watching the scene. For a few moments, both Virkar and he eyed each other without saying a word. Then Hari Prasad turned and ran.

Virkar watched as Hari Prasad escaped. He only looked away when Hari was nothing but a black speck against the white salt mounds in the distance.

Official Report

B
ased upon the complaint filed by Ms Raashi Hunerwal in the matter pertaining to the killing of Mr Vasant Dixit at his home in Madh Island, Mumbai, a one-man judicial inquiry committee was appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Maharashtra, to examine and investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr Vasant Dixit’s sudden death and the involvement of Police Inspector Ramesh Virkar in the matter.

The following facts were found after the cross-examination of various witnesses present at the spot where the incident occurred. Also, results of the departmental inquiry ordered by Additional Commissioner of Police Abhinav Kumar and ACP Crime (South Zone) Wagh have been taken into account.

Findings:

1. Inspector Ramesh Virkar was present at the location under the guise of tendering an apology for an earlier misdemeanour; however, his express duty, as assigned to him by Additional Commissioner of Police Abhinav Kumar, was to extract a confession to the murder of Ms Tracy Barton, a UK national who was killed in Khandala in 2004. It is believed that it is because of Ms Barton’s unsolved murder that Hari Prasad, otherwise known as the Compass Box Killer, initiated his killing spree.
   
2. Inspector Ramesh Virkar was successful in extracting a confession from Mr Vasant Dixit. This was recorded using latest microchip transmitter technology with a receiver that was on board a civilian fishing vessel, namely the ‘Koli Queen’, contracted by Inspector Virkar for this job.
   
3. Inspector Virkar was on his way out from the premises when Mr Vasant Dixit was killed due to inhalation of a massive dose of helium gas (nitrous oxide). This was a result of the helium-filled balloons next to him suddenly bursting. At the time the mishap occurred, Inspector Virkar was at a distance of 300 yards from Mr Dixit and could not come to his immediate aid.
   
4. After the incident occurred, Inspector Virkar caught sight of the prime suspect in the Compass Box killings, the person known as Hari Prasad. The suspect was, at that time, exiting from a side door at the grounds.
   
5. Inspector Virkar gave chase to the said suspect, Hari Prasad, following him into the wooded area behind the Dixit bungalow. After having reached an open area behind the woods, Inspector Virkar came close to apprehending Hari Prasad. Whereupon, Hari Prasad brought out a revolver he had been hiding on his person and fired a shot at Inspector Virkar.
   
6. Inspector Virkar took evasive action to protect himself by ducking aside, whereupon the bullet went past him and hit the camera carried by Ms Raashi Hunerwal, who was also chasing the said suspect, Hari Prasad.
   
7. Inspector Virkar could only resume the chase after making sure that Ms Raashi Hunerwal was not grievously injured. But by the time he could confirm that she was not hurt at all, the said suspect, Hari Prasad, was out of sight.
   
8. Despite a lengthy search, Hari Prasad was not found in the vicinity.
   

The committee dismisses Ms Raashi Hunerwal’s claim that Inspector Ramesh Virkar fired a shot towards her which destroyed her camera beyond repair and led to the escape of the said suspect, Hari Prasad, aka the Compass Box Killer. Inspector Virkar was not in possession of a firearm, otherwise he would have fired back at Hari Prasad.

Recommendations:

The committee recommends that Inspector Ramesh Virkar be reinstated to his full service duties for displaying presence of mind in uncovering a long-unsolved case of murder and consequent cover-up as well as for showing exemplary courage in his quest to apprehend a dangerous criminal.

The committee also severely reprimands Ms Raashi Hunerwal, whose presence at the incident spot resulted in the escape of the said suspect, Hari Prasad, aka the Compass Box Killer. It also gives her a strong warning to not waste the time of the Court in the future with false claims.

End Note:

It is advised that the hunt for the said suspect, Hari Prasad, aka the Compass Box Killer, be deemed as inconclusive, and that the case may be closed.

I am grateful to:

My mother, Shakuntala, for her love and her prayers.

My publisher, Kapish Mehra, for his risk-taking abilities.

My editor, Kausalya Saptharishi, for her dedication to the
Mumbaistan
series.

My copy editor, Prerna Vohra, for her doggedness.

My friends, Ekta Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra, Arunoday Singh, Chitrangada Singh, Neelesh Misra, Geetanjali Kirloskar, Sudeep, Shylaja Chetlur, Ganesh Venkataraman, Raman Lamba, Monika Trivedi, Krishna Hegde, Tehseen Poonawalla, Stardust Gonsalves, Farida Haider, C.S.S. Latha, Atul Kelkar, Prafful Sarda, R. Gurudath, Justin Yesudas, Uday Ninjoor, Sid Coutto, Divya Kumar, Kumaar Rakesh, Vivek R. Singh and Reine Mountford for giving me their precious time, contacts and creativity.

The team at Rupa—Aruna, Maithili, Singh saab, Hina, Ankit, Hohoi, Anshul, Varun, Ashutosh, Sameer, Ramakrishnan, Sriram, Sharon and Rajan for their contributions, big and small.

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And all my readers, for making
Mumbaistan
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