Police Emergency, may I help you?
Near Mount Senoria School,
they found a body.
Is it a dead body?
Seems dead, madam. That's what they're saying.
Okay, I'll send a unit now.
Hello?
I'm at the scene, sir.
And it looks like a murder.
She killed him! She killed her husband!
We have the victim's wife and mother-in-law.
His mother insists they killed him.
Look how she killed my son!
She killed my son.
Go, bring the stretcher.
-Shall I go and bring it now, sir? -Yes. Quickly.
-Measure the length. -Straighten the legs.
I've served for 14 years.
We never know what kind of cases come our way.
Actually, it's quite thrilling being a police officer.
Especially a case like this.
Come. Quickly.
The complaint states that
the wife and her mother committed the crime.
Go in.
Sit there.
Wait till the senior inspector comes.
No one confesses to murder.
They stop at nothing to prove their innocence.
The DCP's here.
Move back.
Sir.
He was Santhosh Kumar, 31 years old.
-When was the body found? -Seven o'clock, sir.
His wife's name is Yamuna.
We've taken the deceased's wife and mother-in-law to the station, sir.
All injuries are to the head.
-Nowhere else? -Nowhere else.
Shall I open it?
Don't open it. Just move it away.
There are no defensive injuries on his arms.
-Move the body. -Yes, sir.
Don't take him! Bring her here, kill her!
Why are you looking at me? My son is dead! Don't take him anywhere.
That's his mother, sir. And that's the brother.
She has been like this all morning.
Poor woman has lost her son.
Yes, sir. That's why we haven't said anything.
Look at my sweet boy lying there!
She kills people and takes their money.
Bring her to the station. We can't do this here on the street.
My son is dead. My son is dead.
I'm the senior-most officer in the north jurisdiction.
As soon as I'm informed of a murder, I go to the crime scene.
You know what the family says?
"They may be dead now."
"But at least make sure that the criminals are punished."
Please, sir, I touch your feet. I want justice.
Of course, you will get justice.
"They must be arrested, jailed, hanged, punished."
That's what the victim's family expects.
As police officers,
it's our responsibility to fulfil those expectations.
Sir, the media.
In this area, at around 7:00 in the morning,
a corpse was found in a sack.
We're registering a case for murder at the Nandini Police Station.
We are confident that we'll find the culprits as soon as possible.
Sir, the family's accusing his wife of the murder?
Had they been married for only a year?
I know you must have seen the victim's mother
accusing his wife and mother-in-law.
Santhosh's wife and mother-in-law lived in one house
and his family lived in another.
Santhosh lived in both.
His family claims that his wife and mother-in-law
tried to extort property from him.
This is the reason they are blaming them for the murder.
We'll register the complaint and track down the culprits.
Whoever they may be.
Thank you, sir.
There was no blood at the crime scene,
this confirms that the murder happened prior to moving the body here.
Let's go to their house. See if we can find any clues.
Yes, sir.
It's harder to find clues if days go by.
But this is a fresh case. So we must search the house.
And if the murder happened there, then we'll definitely find some evidence.
Looks like there's been a celebration here.
-What is all this? -For my sister's birthday.
-What's her name? -Yamuna.
-What does your father do? -I don't have a father.
-He passed away? -No, divorced.
They are living separately.
Flashy tastes, sir.
Look at this decoration.
I wouldn't have all this stuff in my house, even for a day.
This must be the girl.
She looks young.
She's 19, sir.
-Who is this? -My sister.
When she was in the 5th grade.
Old picture.
-Any recent ones? -In the wedding album.
Go, get it.
Bring it.
-Who's this? -My mother.
-This is your mother? -Yes.
-Is that him? -Yes, sir.
Okay.
Take this.
Finding out where the crime took place is very important.
But we didn't find any clues in the house.
Where it happened? How? The motive?
These are basic questions. Without which, a crime can't be solved.
They disposed of the body stuffed in a sack.
Dumping a corpse in a sack, that too in a public place,
causes great panic.
We must find the connection between the victim and the accused.
There could be financial differences, extramarital affairs.
We need to develop the story that finally leads up to the offense.
What should I write down? Was it a love marriage?
Love marriage. Okay.
You celebrated the first anniversary?
-Yes. -Did you get them married?
Yes, sir. We spent two million rupees on a grand wedding.
There were 10,000 guests.
She wanted earrings like they wear in the movies.
So I had five gold necklaces, bangles and earrings made for her.
-Did he move in with you? -Yes, because I was unwell.
Okay.
So you moved in with your mother because you were ill,
and your husband moved in to be with you.
-Mother's name? -Shamala K.
Was your daughter-in-law under her mother's thumb?
More than that. She was just like her.
-Were the couple happy? -She lived with us at first.
And then she made him move out.
And they both moved in with her mother.
But she didn't sleep with him.
They didn't sleep together like a married couple.
They've been extorting money from him from two years.
And pressurizing him to put the house in her name.
-When did you last see her? -Yesterday.
Yesterday at 1:30.
She killed Santhosh. I even told my brother-in-law.
They killed him and put his body in a sack.
-That small girl? -You think she's a small girl?
Do you know how many men she's been with? Small girl.
That girl is happy about this.
Sir.
Land dispute cases are very common. Every station has them.
They happen mainly due to the steep rise in property value.
Bangalore is an IT hub. The Electronic City.
Industries are developing and growing by the day.
Land prices are now ten times more than what they were ten years ago.
This is his area. He has four or five houses here.
He rents them out.
Yamuna and Shamala don't own any property.
The family's accusing them of the murder
because they say that Yamuna's mother asked Santhosh
to transfer some of his property to Yamuna's name.
Which he didn't do.
We brought the mother and the daughter in for two reasons.
They're here as suspects, but also for their own safety.
If we release them, his family could cause trouble.
Postmortem reports?
There's one injury on his forehead.
-Is it by a machete? -Not by a machete.
A machete wouldn't cut that deep. It's more likely an axe.
There are ten people in my team.
Are these ligature marks?
They look like ligature marks. He was strangled.
Each of us, uh, have our own theories
about how the murder was committed.
The body wasn't flung here. It's been gently laid down.
If they'd flung it, it'd be in a heap.
It's like somebody who loved him laid him down gently like this.
There are no self-defense injuries on the body.
So we are pretty sure it was done while he was sleeping.
They used something to strangle him
and then stabbed him on the head with some kind of machete.
His name was Santhosh.
So, it was a gift to my husband on my anniversary.
He liked very much.
And he said that it was an unforgettable gift to him.
My mother-in-law has accused me for murdering my husband.
So we are staying here.
I have heard from the police person
that he has been packed in the sack and thrown out.
I shouted, I cried.
It was a bad experience to myself and it's unforgettable. Even now, I'm…
Now, it's feeling like, yes, he went somewhere, not dead.
The way he was looking, they used to think that he's a very angry person.
But, uh, inside, he was a softhearted person.
The way he treated me, the way we chatted,
those things I miss, really.
So…
Forget the chairs, just come in.
You all know the details of this case.
The prime suspects, as reflected in his family's statement,
are the wife and mother-in-law of the deceased.
You have them in custody. Conduct the enquiries.
Explore all possibilities. Look into every single angle.
Check the CCTV footage to find out how the body got there.
Mobile phone analysis should reveal where Santhosh had been
and whom he had met.
Also check the criminal history of the deceased.
This is a sensitive case. It might not be what we think it is.
But we must solve it quickly.
Lohith is an extremely responsible officer.
He gives 100% to the job, and he's very lucky.
When someone is assigned an important case,
they might give their 100%,
but when Lohith is assigned to it, they have a breakthrough.
So hardworking plus lucky, both.
There's a camera here.
-Shall we check it? -Sir, it won't help.
There's a hotel up ahead. They'll have cameras.
The body was dumped at a crossroads.
Looking at CCTV footage from around the area
should show us how it got there.
This thing happened only after two o'clock, morning, early morning.
2:00 to 5:00.
In between that time, we're searching the CCTV camera footage.
Show us your CCTV footage. Where is it?
-It will be in the office. -Show us.
-Who's there? -He's asking for you.
1-1-7-1-7 Write that down.
Should we send it now or once we've finished watching?
-Is the camera working? -It's working.
But our view is only till there.
Turn it on. I'll just check and leave.
I'll just check this and leave.
It's useless.
It doesn't cover the road.
We can't sit still. We're always thinking about ways to solve the case.
It's also a creative challenge for us, thinking of the various possibilities.
It's only when we find that crucial clue, no matter how small,
that we'll make a breakthrough and solve this case, 100%.
This is ten meters away from where the body was found.
There's a woman.
What? Where did she come from?
I think she has trash in her hand.
-Who is she? -It's not his mother.
We don't have a clear view of the spot where the body was found.
There are no cameras there.
We've been checking the four roads which lead to that spot.
But we've found cameras on only three of them.
Can you see someone?
Look at that rickshaw.
-It just passed by. -It did.
There's nothing there.
We're not even ignoring dogs.
Take this and give it to them. Take it. All three of them.
The wife and mother-in-law were accused,
so everyone, including my superiors and me,
thought it would be easy to solve the case.
They haven't been ruled out as suspects.
But so far, we haven't found anything that proves that they're guilty.
Hello, sir. Lohith here.
We looked into Santhosh's history.
He wasn't really a man of good character, sir.
There are criminal cases against him.
Yes, sir. In 2015, there was a case registered against him
and he was arrested.
He was convicted of sexual offenses against a minor
and went to jail for a couple of years.
Okay, sir.
Normal people leading normal lives
don't get murdered like this.
He was a shady character and someone could've had it in for him.
If he was a good person, this might not have happened to him.
Hello, my baby.
Come on. Let's play, let's play.
The time I get with my children in the morning is the best part of my day.
-Hmm. Hmm. -Hmm.
Our elder son is special.
What?
He's very talented.
But the thing is, we don't really understand his language.
He lives in his own world.
Say, "Daddy."
"Daddy."
People say I'm in a powerful position at work.
But that's just my profession.
This is my life.
Come, sit.
He can be quite difficult at times.
He gets very upset if I punish him by hitting him.
I think the few times I have, I regretted so much,
I end up crying.
Sit with me.
On this side.
Being a policeman, I can solve other people's problems.
But some things are not in our hands.
I can't do anything about my son's condition.
I can do everything except this.
It's in God's hands.
That's what I pray for every day before I leave.
Bye, my son. Bye, Shri.
Ask the rest of the team to come here.
Sir, about the Santhosh murder case.
Based on the complaint of the victim's family,
they claim his wife and mother-in-law killed him.
But we haven't gotten any breakthroughs yet.
There's no proof of their involvement.
Our team went through all the CCTV footage available in the surrounding area,
where the body was found, we didn't find any clues.
His phone was switched off around 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
On the day of the incident?
Yes, sir. Same day.
We are trying to figure out what happened
after 4:00 p.m. on the day of the incident.
That's very crucial.
It's very important that we figure out what happened at that time.
Okay, you do that. Do whatever is necessary.
Sometimes, these kinds of micro-observations
can lead us to huge breakthroughs.
Using this approach will lead us to a logical conclusion.
So let us not just work on presumptions.
Let's see.
It's been three days since the murder.
We've solved these kind of cases within 24 hours.
When a task assigned to us isn't going as planned,
I feel, "What must they think about us?"
I pray every day.
I ask God to help me by removing all the obstacles in the case.
We must think about things with a cool and clear mind.
And we might see new details
that we missed on day one at the crime scene.
I remember seeing these kinds of sacks very often during my childhood.
But you don't see these kinds of sacks too much nowadays.
Especially in a place like Bangalore.
The smallest clues solve the biggest cases.
Sit down.
Take a look at this sack.
Take it out.
Put it over there. That's it. That side.
What kind of sack is this?
This is a government feed-sack.
-What? -Government cattle-feed.
A sack for cattle-feed?
Yes. This is for feed and that's for oil-cake.
Oil-cakes and feed?
-Where is it found locally? -You won't.
Someone from the village may have brought fruits in it.
Could you find it with somebody who keeps cows?
Yes, they could also have them.
Let's look for somebody who has cows.
Yes.
There's a guy walking.
-The guy in shorts? -Yes.
Sir, he looks like Anand. And he has cows.
-What time was it? -Sir, 5:28 a.m.
That's Anand, at 5:27.
He's wearing shorts.
Anand is Santhosh's neighbor. He walked by at dawn.
I don't believe in coincidences.
Does the road go left from there?
Yes. And then towards where the body was found.
He's not carrying anything at first. Then he brings something on his way back.
Let's bring Anand in.
Get in the car.
We're taking you to the station.
Look, Anand,
tell us everything honestly.
Criminals will always try to protect themselves.
They would say or do anything,
and go to any extent to prove that they didn't do it.
But no matter what, we'll always get to the truth.
Sometimes they just need a little "treatment."
And then they will speak.
-I'll tell you, sir. -Get in.
I'll tell you everything.
-Who is this? -It's me, sir.
-What were you doing out at that time? -To tend the calves.
-At 5:00 a.m.? -I let them out at 5:30.
-You go past empty-handed? -Yes, sir.
Sir, we ran out of milk, so I was going to buy some.
You have cows, why would you buy milk?
I forgot somebody's order. So my wife gave him our milk.
When was this?
I don't remember the day, I just remember buying the milk.
Don't tell me you don't know, you bastard. Think or I'll crack your skull.
It was on the 14th, the day of the murder.
You didn't see the body?
Sir, there's something wrong with the camera,
I woke up at 5:50 that day.
Don't talk about timings, you bastard. Answer what I'm asking you.
I really don't understand this, sir.
I beg you to believe me, I know nothing, sir.
I swear on the lives of my children.
We sometimes use mind games during interrogations
because it's impossible to solve the case otherwise.
We may end up mistreating an innocent person,
but to deliver justice, we can't hold ourselves back.
We need to keep our emotions aside.
If I let it trouble me, I can't work on the police force.
Any leads?
I think we can rule Anand out.
If he was involved, he wouldn't have casually walked by
at that time of the day to buy milk.
So Anand's not a suspect anymore.
I'm not pressuring you.
Because if we start panicking, our minds will stop working.
That's what's happening now.
Sir, I'm even dreaming about this case.
Let's regroup in the morning with fresh minds.
I'm 100% sure we can solve this case.
But we've been rushing things, doing this, doing that,
and trying to wrap the case up within 24 hours.
And all that pressure is making us panic.
Sir, the footage we have reviewed so far isn't sufficient.
We don't have any leads.
If we widen the search area of the CCTV cameras,
we might find something.
That's a very important point.
Let's check every camera within a 200-meter radius
from where the body was found. I'm sure we'll spot him.
Yes, sir. That is the only way to do it.
Should I call sir?
Yes, please do it.
It's ringing.
Namaste, sir.
We have collected some new CCTV footage in which you can clearly see Santhosh.
It's definitely him.
I've sent you a video, sir. Please have a look.
Hmm, okay.
This is new footage, sir.
Yes, you can see Santhosh walk past. That's him.
He goes into a house.
But he never comes out.
Santhosh's phone turns off at this point.
Hmm, okay.
The man he went in with comes out of the house.
Him?
He and his wife come out, sir.
He takes Santhosh's bike away.
-Right, I see it. -Sir.
We spoke to our informants who said his name is Manju.
He's an auto driver.
We are tracking his phone, sir.
According to the signal, he's 70 kilometers west of Bangalore, sir.
Stop here.
You go ahead.
Go on.
Come.
I won't run away, sir.
You keep walking. Tell her to come in the front.
Come in the front.
Hello, sir.
Mission accomplished.
Yes, sir.
He was his neighbor, sir. A friend.
So you think he and his wife did it?
Yes, sir. It's all on the CCTV footage.
They are both involved. We got her as well.
They have two sons.
We left the children with their grandmother,
and we have the couple in our custody.
It's finally over, sir. We've been up all night.
Finding that crucial clue makes you feel like, "Yes! I did it!"
It's hard to describe that feeling.
We won't accuse him right away.
We'll just show him the evidence and tell him that this is his fate now.
No matter what extent we have to go to, we'll get him to reveal the truth.
-Congratulations. -Sir.
Good job.
-What time does he arrive? -2:00 p.m., sir.
-Is that him? -Yes, sir.
Manju.
-He's calling Santhosh? -Yes, he called him, sir.
That's Santhosh, sir.
His final steps.
Last time he's seen alive?
Sir.
-The wife comes out. That's her. -She freely participated?
Yes, sir.
Fast forward.
Show us when he comes out at night.
-Is that when he brings it out? -Yes, sir.
Wait. They're bringing it.
He does it so fast.
She gets in with the dead body? Oh, God.
Here it comes.
His feet are sticking out.
-Do you see it? -There's the gunnysack.
Come here fast.
How many of you went last night?
There were six of us, sir.
Did he tell you the motive?
Yes, sir, he's told us a little bit and it sounds plausible.
But I feel like there's more to it.
Sir, what he's told us
is that Santhosh was a complete bastard.
You know, he secretly filmed Manju and his wife
in their bathroom five years ago.
Apparently he had placed hidden cameras in their bathroom
and caught the couple while they were taking a shower together.
He's been blackmailing them ever since.
So Manju says he couldn't take it anymore and that he's heavily in debt.
Which is why he called Santhosh over
on the pretense of paying the blackmail money,
and then struck him with an axe.
Come with me…
He told us that Santhosh was on his bed watching TV.
And Manju came from behind
and struck him on the forehead with an axe.
Good, well done.
Your inspector told me yesterday that this case was rather tough.
-No, sir, just that-- -Said that there were no leads.
Yes, sir. That was the hard part.
Especially when his mother claimed
that his wife and her mother killed him.
She threw us off track, sir.
We will arrest these two based on the CCTV footage.
At least now the victim's family will know what really happened.
Also, now we know that his wife and her mother were innocent.
And they won't be falsely charged.
We had kept his wife and her mother at the station.
There was a lot of pressure on us to arrest them as they were accused.
Well, ma'am, do you realize what just happened?
You're lucky this murder case came to us.
Because now you've received the valuable gift of life.
If you truly value it, you will lead a good life.
Anyone else would have arrested them and sent them to jail straight away
and thought of the next step afterwards.
But after four or five days, we found the real culprits.
And we feel really proud that this case was solved at our police station.
Don't go to their house now. I've warned his father and brother
that I'll teach them a lesson if they bother you anymore.
Go now. Give your brother a better future.
-No, please. There's no need for that. -Thank you, sir.
I'm really grateful to you.
Just stay honest and pray for a good life.
Our kids must be wondering why we left them and went away.
One is seven and the other is 11.
Both boys.
We were a happy family. The four of us were like friends.
We used to eat together, feed each other.
They're my world.
There's nothing without them.
I don't know what I'll say to them.
My heart feels so heavy.
I don't know how I'll face them now.
Under the jurisdiction of Nandini Police Station in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar,
a 31-year-old man called Santhosh was found murdered
and stuffed in a gunnysack near his house.
This is the incident that we have been investigating.
The culprit, Manju, and his wife Savithri, were friends of the deceased.
They say that Santhosh extorted about 300,000 rupees from them.
And that he was also demanding sexual acts from Manju's wife Savithri.
Last week, he demanded 30,000 rupees
and threatened to spread rumors about Manju's wife if he didn't pay up.
He also threatened to leak some private illegal video
that he had taken of the couple.
He gave him a deadline of two days to pay the money.
The day of the murder was the deadline.
It's rare to feel sympathy for the accused.
But the reason behind this murder is tragic.
They could've gotten justice if they came to the police.
But they decided to take matters into their own hands
and messed it up completely.
Baby?
I'm home.
-Hi. -Let's go out.
You have to eat first.
Let's eat first. Then we'll go out. Come.
Come, let's eat, come.
I feel sad when I think about their children.
Where are you going?
They're going to jail,
so the children will be deprived of both their parents.
I feel terrible.
Emergency services, hello?
Madam, someone's been murdered in the house opposite mine.
I'm their neighbor.
I can't see my sister like this.
There's a boy in the house.
Who's the victim?
-It's a lady. -Okay.
The boy on the ground floor was screaming, "Mother, get up."
-Okay. -The bedroom is covered in blood.
Where is it?
This way, sir. To the left. Inside.
Oh, my God!
I've sent the crime team, sir.
Two officers are speaking to the neighbors.
They will get back to us with all the information.
I've never handled a murder case before this.
When you look at the whole situation,
the pool of blood,
her clothes were totally disheveled.
And all this suggested that there was definitely a struggle.
I felt that she was murdered by someone who knew her.