Moon Gazer continues……

However, the gang was to strike again. On 11 August 1991, in the posh south Delhi residential colony of Saket, again under my jurisdiction, Major (Retired) Bakshi was found dead in a pool of blood with his head smashed. His house was ransacked and valuables looted. I was on serious notice now, but believe it or not, worse was yet to come.

Mausam Bhawan is the headquarters of the India Meteorological Department and is located on Lodhi Road in New Delhi. The road divides the south police district from the New Delhi district. The sprawling campus of Mausam Bhawan, however, was a part of the south police district and therefore under my charge. Though the building has an impressive façade, I never gave it more than a passing look while driving down Lodhi Road. That was soon to change, and change so much that even today, as I drive by, I cannot help but take a good look at it, a shiver making its way down my spine as I recall the gruesome crime committed in its precincts.

At the rear of the imposing building of Mausam Bhawan are located the residential quarters for its employees. On 28 January 1992, in one of these residential quarters, allotted to one Mr Saddy, the deadly gang struck again.

Deepanshu Saddy, a student aged eighteen, his sister Umang Saddy and their mother Kamlesh Saddy were brutally attacked in their sleep. While Deepanshu died on the spot, his mother and sister were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Umang Saddy miraculously survived, but her mother Kamlesh died of shock when she got the news of her son’s death.

Nothing could be more debilitating to the self-respect and morale of a young police officer than visiting such crime scenes. The sight of innocent people clubbed to death in their sleep, their blood-soaked battered skulls, pieces of human flesh and blood splattered all over, ransacked boxes and cupboards, grieving and wailing next of kin, can make even the most hard-boiled cop cringe.

To be continued……