Killed in Konkan

Konkan's hidden pristine beaches that can easily be the best in India and give Goa a run for its money are yet to be transformed fully as tourist destinations. Long white coast, beautiful roads, lush green hills, awesome homely sea food, authentic homestays just few hours drive from Mumbai making it a perfect weekend destination.

This Konkan darshan is however entangled within a murder mystery.

It was a long weekend of Republic’s Day. An early morning start from Mumbai was must to avoid the expected traffic of many more holidayers. The first stop was breakfast at Shree Datta at Panvel junction. Steaming hot vada pav, red spicy missal pav and delicious sabudana khichadi – we had set the theme for this trip – Food! The plan was to start from farthest point Harihareshwar and then come backwards along the cost.

Harihareshwar is said to be blessed by Lord Shiva. Surrounded by four hills, it is here the river Savitri enters the Arabian sea. After a quick darshan to the temple, I moved to take the famous pradkshina that takes you up the hill and down towards the rocky sea which is accessible only during the low tide. You can witness the furry of waves on the face of rocks – injured, bruised, eroded but creating some picturesque formations. You don’t want to miss this so check with locals for low tide timings. Just when I was about cross over to the beach, I saw a few locals waving viciously and a quick crowd started gathering. Curious, I followed. There was a body entangled amongst rocky crevices. It was a young girl in her late twenties. Looking at her one piece green dress, she definitely was a tourist and not a local. The body was badly bruised – not by any weapon but by the shells. The mountain had developed a strange array of white pointed shells that could easily cut through any shoe. The body could have washed in during the high tide and was only visible now as the waters had receded. “Some one call the police” shouted one of the locals. A young guy immediately started filming the scene with his mobile. I had to make my army history known to be able to walk near the body.

After a careful but quick examination, I asked few guys to help me take the body out of the rocks on to the flat bed. She was stout, not very slim, about 5 feet. Her hair was short, shoulder length; she was fair and had small brown eyes. One of her sandals was missing, probably washed in the sea. She did not have any identification on her. A few constables had made their way by then. I had quick word on my background and they were happy to take any professional help that they could. After all besides the petty fights over land or drunkard husbands, it was rarely anything else the local police had worked on. The senior inspector knew the word would spread immediately and it would become a media sensation. I took some close up pictures of her hands, legs, neck, back and face before the body was rushed in an ambulance.

Where we found her body

I walked back towards the temple and the beach; realizing I had completed my pradakshina. The sun had set by then and a full bright moon had rose behind the hills. The sky was bright red and the sea was quite. There was a coconut seller and a sweet corn seller who were my first point of investigation. “There are only 3 hotels and few homestay here; she must be from one of them” said the corn guy while blowing air on his coal. “There was a picnic bus of young college students this morning; she can be from that group” said the coconut vendor. It took about an hour for me and Inspector Salunke to cover all the hotels including MTDC to know she was not a guest of any of these.

Road to Diveagar

Next day morning, I received the preliminary medical report which suggested the death happened atleast 24 hours before. There was also a hotel key of some Kshitij holiday home, Diveagar found in her pockets. We had our first lead. Inspector Salunke and I had got acquainted and could even trace a far family relation. We left in his Tata Sumo towards Diveagar, about 40 km from Harihareshwar. It was a scenic coastal ride along the Arabian sea and all I could think was about this girl as I continued starring in the blue waters. A mobile beep disturbed my thoughts. Salunke had received an SMS confirming she was strangled first and had possibly been sexually abused. My initial guess when I had taken photo of her neck came true. This was a murder and not a case of drowning.

Unlike Harihareshwar, Diveagar had many more home stays. The place is famous for the gold ganpati that was found in 1994 and then stolen from the temple only to be melted by the thieves. A stone statue now adorned the under renovation temple. We could finally locate the Kshitij holiday home near the beach. Run by a local this place was famous more for its authentic Konkani food. It had only 4 rooms and the owner confirmed that the girl was indeed staying in his hotel for 2 days and he was waiting for her to come back. We opened her room; we already had the keys which were found on her. She stayed alone. Nothing extra ordinary in her room – same suit of clothes, couple of shoes, a book. The bathroom had her clothes drying and few shampoo bottles. A look at the guest register and we finally got her name – Priyanka Khanna. The hotel had a beautiful “wadi” – large backyard garden with coconut, chestnut and banana plantations. A well in middle supplied water for local consumption. It exited directly onto the Diveagar beach. It is a huge 2-3 km beach with white sand and shallow waters. There were water sport activities going on and one of the boat riders confirmed she had taken a jet ski ride 2 days back. The hotel owner informed us that Priyanaka had mentioned she is going for day trip to the Janjira fort before he last saw her. He was kind enough to offer us lunch – a fish thali with fried pompfret, king fish curry with roti and a tangy and spicy local drink called solkadi.

Salunke had to visit the Murud police stations first before we head to Janjira fort. We had to load our Tata Sumo on to the ferry and take a 20 min boat trip from Dighi port. A quick update to the local police station and we were enroute to Janjira. Janjira is considered to be one of the strongest marine forts in India and is accessible by sailboats. An engineering and architectural marvel built in the 17^th century, this fort was feared for its 3 long range cannons. Our only hope was the guy at the ticket counter or the guides at the fort of they had seen Priyanka 2 days back.

The ticket vendor was simply clueless. The long weekend meant significantly larger crowd and he just did not have time to notice the visitors. Salunke asked all the guides to gather at the entrance. The main entrance has a stone carving, depicting six elephants trapped by a single tiger, a symbol of the bravery of the Siddis. There were 3 guides another 3 kids who acted as historians of the fort. All of them visibly scared on this unplanned interrogation. Salunke and I were aware, that one or more of the men standing in front of us could be the killers. The constable noted their name and address but none of them could confidently recollect Priyanaka, except for a kid who said he saw a girl in this dress.

We took a local boat back to Murud. It was evening by then and a lot of local fishermen were returning back to Dighi or Murud. We decided to visit the famous Murud fish market. Outside, there were many fisherwomen who sold dry fish. Dried prawns and fish are a delicacy in this part of Maharashtra. The place was filled with strong pungent smell of the dry fish. Salunke was planning to take back some home. Inside, you could find almost any kinfd of fresh sea fish – pomfrets, surmai, rawas, snapper, prawns, crabs, mackerel. One of the fisherwomen identified Priyanaka and said she had visited in the afternoon but the market was not open then. I had a feeling this was a work of local or some stranger. Bodies dumped in the sea are known to travel many a miles before reaching the shore. We decided to probe further with local fishermen and we could smell something fishy! The news had already reached them through the local newspapers. Salunke instructed no one to leave town. We stayed back in a small hotel in Murud and enjoyed some fresh king prawns and fried mackerel over a drink.

Salunke at Republic parade

The Murud fish market

It was Republic Day and the town had dressed up early for the local prabhat yatra. Scores of school children of all ages drumming their way to the Tahlsidar office for flag hosting and celebrations. We sneaked some time with the Tahsildar to give him a quick update on the case and head back to the fishing village. We were accompanied by a sniffer Labrador; Salunke had ordered a piece of Priyanka’s dress to be sent to Murud. We started making our way through the alleys of local houses. We then reached the boat jetty and started probing the fishermen there. Two constables took the Labrador around the boats to check for any traces. Minutes later we heard the bark and rushed to the place. It was small fishing boat – Tipu. I hoped in to look closer and could not find anything except some nets. Just as I was about get out, a saw a blue sandal in the fore end. I took it out using my handkerchief and it was the missing right shoe of Priyanka. Just then we saw a young guy running from the corner but could not escape much further. By evening, he confessed. Priyanka had taken a ride back from Janjira in his boat and he had taken her behind fort Padmadurg luring her for some beautiful photos. He had then brutally assaulted and raped her before dumping the body in the sea. Salunke thanked me for my support and took the murderer into custody.

I left back for Mumbai next day morning with a Kheema Pav breakfast. It dawned on me then – the theme for this trip – Food. Just got a bit spicy with the murder.

The unfortunate route which Priyanka's body took