Vantage Point

SASARAM POLICE STATION, BIHAR.

TIME: 10.00 am

“Sir, this week I can give you only 15%. Competition has grown so much that we no longer can demand the prices.”

“Don’t give me all these stupid excuses. You are after all a pimp. I can completely wipe you out from the records and then out of the society. I’ll reduce the percentage to 20% but I need three girls per week, instead of two”, said the inspector scratching his belly. Then he called out his constable, “Ramu, take the money and send this disgrace out of the station. And also call in the next case.”

“Namaste sir, I am Arun. My daughter went missing this morning. Please do something sir” said Arun, crying heavily.

“Don’t panic and just explain me clearly what happened.”

“Sir, at around 7 a.m, I was going to drop my daughter in her school and midway and we stopped at the Neelam market to buy groceries. I told her that I’ll be back in five minutes and not to move from her seat. I went away and when I returned, she was not in the car. There were some blood drops on the back seat where she was sitting. I trembled and searched everywhere around. Then I came straight here” said Arun, in a choking voice.

“Show me the exact place where you parked the car.”

NEELAM MARKET,

12.00 pm.
“Inspector observed the surroundings and said, “Ramu, bring that panipuri stall owner, beggar and security guard of that ATM. And don’t forget to order two samosas and a tea.”

Kidnapping is such a case where interrogation is a more powerful weapon than an investigation and inspector Sasaram is said to be the best interrogator available in the state.

BEGGAR,

Explaining the scene between 6.45 am and 7.15 am.

“Sir, my ‘business’ was on a poor run and I had to start as early as 6 am so as to feed my family. This week, my posting is at the Neelam market junction and I was on duty at that time. Some red car stopped and this sir got down from it. I limped towards him. He talked to someone sitting inside the car and then gave me a ten rupee note and walked towards the market. Then suddenly around ten trucks passed from beside the car. After sometime, he was back with some big cover in his hand and a man was beside him. Within seconds, he was running everywhere around. That’s all I know sir.”

PANIPURI STALL OWNER,

Explaining the scene between 6.45 am and 7.15 am.

“Sir, I couldn’t see clearly what happened as my stall was filled with customers who come for jogging in the nearby park and take a break at my stall daily. All I remember was that this sir (pointing out to Arun) bought a large pack of panipuris from me and asked me to help with his car door as it would be difficult for him to do so, holding the big cover of panipuris. When I opened the door, he kept the cover inside the car and all of a sudden, he started panicking. He asked me whether I have seen any 10 year old girl nearby. I said no and he started running around, asking everyone.”

ATM SECURITY GUARD,

Explaining the scene between 6.45 am and 7.15 am.

“This sir came to me and complained that ATM machine was not working and I showed him another booth and he went away. Then ten trucks were moving on the road and some people got down from the first running truck and moved around. Then they climbed back into the last truck and went away singing some songs loudly. There was a red car parked near the road and door opened slowly. After sometime Arun sir came to me trembling with fear and asked me “Have you seen anyone getting down from the car” and I said that someone opened the door 2 minutes ago and must have gotten down at that moment. We both then went searching everywhere and she was nowhere to be found.”

“Ramu, call all the check posts and ask them to check each and every truck carefully for the girl. Call Rani back and ask her to inform us if she gets any ten year old girl as the new prostitute. Spread the posters of the girl around the market and announce a reward for the person who brings back the girl. And also trace the beggar. They steal away the children to please their bosses for getting them a new beggar.”

They tried everything and even waited for the phone call of the kidnapper but did not get any! Three months later, the case was closed due to no clues or evidence.

AFTER 2 YEARS:

Police got a phone call from people complaining about the rotten smell from the Arun’s house. They haven’t seen him in days and suspected that he is dead. When police broke into the house, they found the body of a girl and in the post mortem, it was revealed that she was being constantly raped from more than two years and she died of the internal bleeding in her brain due to some injury. The inspector just collapsed onto the floor scolding himself for missing that one point. Two years back, when they went to the market, Arun showed him the parking spot. Talking or involving in some activity with beggar, guard and stall owner to gain their attention just enough, leaving a door unlocked so that it may get opened due to wind, planning the timing so as to overlap with the time where movement of trucks is at the peak in Bihar, showing the inspector a specific spot from where all these things form a closure and his view gets entrapped within the limits Arun had set; all these things were the part of a plan. They saw only what Arun had shown them and they searched only for what Arun had wanted them to do so. The girl was never in the car. A perfect plan for a psycho whose lust made him do unimaginable things, without raising a doubt. He imprisoned the girl inside his home so that she won’t tell anything to anybody. There was only one hint, that all the evidences were too clear to ignore and too opaque to be seen through. A hint which is hard to find or may be a hint which is too easy that it may be overlooked.

v Bihar case is just a sample. There are millions of unsolved cases in our country which need just a vantage to get solved. Thousands of girls are being molested by their own parents which should be brought into limelight and children should be given knowledge about their body and places which are private to them and should be encouraged to complain to others when touched there. Prostitution should either be legalized or be provided with a severe punishment, so that they become part of the society rather than an anti-society. If we go on discussing, we get thousands of solutions. But the problem is with the implementation. Hope it gets solved in the near future.

“You only see what you can see from your point of view. It doesn’t mean that whatever you see is the only truth about it. For example, we read the title of this story as “Point”. To see everything clearly, we need something else, something which provides a better view than this. The word to the left of the word “Point” is coloured white. Just highlight it and you’ll see the actual title. All you need is to select a perfect point and hit the perfect target and that point is called the “Vantage Point”.”