Bangalore

June 23, 1999

In the heart of Bangalore, amidst the cacophony of a

city that never sleeps, Inspector Adikesh found himself navigating the

labyrinthine alleys of Vidyaranyapura. His vehicle's tires hissed against the

rain-slicked roads, reflecting the somber rhythm of his thoughts. The orders

from Vikram Makizhan had been clear, but the weight of the unsolved mysteries

pressed heavily upon him.

As the inspector returned to the station, the air

was pierced by the shrill ring of the old rotary phone, its sound like a

harbinger of dark omens. The message from the Triveni Theatre was a chilling

echo through the corridors of time and fate:

            "Another

will perish on the seventh floor."

 The message was

like the sudden strike of lightning in a stormy sky, revealing stark,

unsettling truths. Across twenty police stations, the

message reverberated like a death knell, signalling not merely another crime

but the culmination of a relentless twelve-month investigation that had yielded

only grief and futility. The message was a prophecy of

doom, a shadow of the past that had refused to dissipate.

In the cruel theater of fate, Selvan Rawuthar stood as the enigmatic

villain, a shadow in the dark corridors of justice. His infamy stretched across

twenty-eight cases, each one a somber note in the grim symphony of his life.

Three years of silence had only deepened the mystery. After his

last act—a brutal assault on a judge with a shotgun-he had vanished into the

ether, leaving behind a void that the police had been unable to fill. Vikram Makizhan's suspicions linked Selvan to the series of murders

that had gripped Bangalore. It was not just a case for Adikesh; it was a

personal vendetta, a quest driven by a haunting sense of duty and despair. The

narrative of death had begun twelve months prior, with a series of victims

whose lives were extinguished like candles in the wind, each one a symbol of

wealth and power tainted by the blood of betrayal.

The Beacon of Death

The first chime of death's bell sounded with the

tragic demise of Sanjay Rangsawami, the nephew of Inspector Adikesh. The

accident—an overturned container truck-was more than a mere mishap. It was a

dark omen, with its horrifying twist: Rangsawami's head, a macabre trophy, was

missing.

In the grim tableau of Tamil Nadu - southern state

india, this was no ordinary accident. The missing head became a symbol of a

deeper, more insidious conspiracy. As Bangalore's officers uncovered the

wrapped bundle on Commercial Street, they discovered the head—a hundred

kilometres from where the body had been found. This grim revelation was a sign

of the insidious nature of the murders.

Adikesh, deeply involved and emotionally invested,

spearheaded the investigation with a resolve tempered by personal loss.

A witness, the owner of a hotel in Tirunelveli, had

identified two suspects-young men from a factory in Peenya, Bangalore. The

suspicions grew when blood was discovered at the site where their vehicle had

been parked. The investigation led to Ravi, a dealer in illicit substances,

whose involvement was as enigmatic as it was troubling.

Ravi's confession, while unsettling, did not reveal

the identity of the true orchestrator. The murder of Rangsawami remained a

haunting enigma, with the depth of the conspiracy beyond the grasp of ordinary

investigation.

The Paths of Death

Faced with a dead end, the police decided to trace

Rangsawami's criminal network. Their investigation led them to Rajan, a

Malayali leader of a gang operating in Karnataka. Rajan's arrival at the

station, wielding a dual-headed axe, was a scene etched in darkness.

His defiant entrance, axe in hand, was a symbol of

his twisted bravado. He threw the axe onto Adikesh's desk with a chilling

declaration:

 "I am

the one who stood by while four were killed. In the eyes of the law, I am the

second defendant."

The blood-stained axe was a grotesque symbol of

violence and defiance.

Rajan's arrival, a dark play of fate, revealed the

severed heads of four brothers from the gang. The heads, despite their bloodied

state, were unmistakably recognisable. Adikesh knew immediately that this was

not merely an act of violence but a deeply personal affront.

Rajan's confidence was unsettling, but the mystery

of the first defendant remained unsolved. The case took a grim turn, with the

number of suspects fixed at four, yet the mastermind remained elusive. The

media frenzy over the case added pressure, casting the investigation as a

monumental failure.

A Bitter Revelation

As the case was handed over to a new team, Adikesh

was left with a profound sense of defeat. His anguish was not just for his

family but for the elusive truth that continued to evade justice.

The Deputy Inspector general of police, Karnataka recognising

Adikesh's burning determination, appointed him as the second-in-command of the

new investigation team, hoping that fresh leadership might unravel the knot of

deception.

"Who will take over this case?"

Adikesh asked, his voice tinged with frustration and

hope. The answer was both surprising and foreboding:

 "Tomorrow, a new investigator from Mumbai

will assume charge. He has handled numerous cases and encounters across Kerala,

Mumbai, and Chennai. His name is Vikram Makizhan."

The name resonated with both promise and

trepidation. Adikesh knew that the investigation was far from over, and the

quest for truth had only begun. The case had been handed over, but the shadows

of doubt and darkness lingered, awaiting the light of justice.