Part 46 Punishment

Sarath continued...

"Not only that, your honor, she tried to kill Khushi and her husband," Sarath said, making Sheetal shocked.

"Who is Khushi?" The public prosecutor asked.

"She is Arnav's college mate. Sheetal thinks they have affaire. That's why she sent some goons to finish them. I was with her when she arranged for the goons to kill Khushi. I pleaded with her not to do that but she didn't give heed to my plea. She paid five lakhs for them"

Sheetal could not believe Sarath was telling all this.

"Would you like to cross-question him?" The judge asked the defense lawyer.

Junior Roy stood up.

"Yes, your honor... Mr. Sarath built up stories very well. He put up all the points against Sheetal to show how cheap she is. But, the fact is, he is the one who smuggled cocaine" He said that was not least expected by both Sheetal and Sarath.

"No... he is lying" Sarath shouted.

"Do you have proof?" The judge asked.

"Yes, your honor. I would like to interrogate Mr. Suman Mathur"

Both Sheetal and Sarath were horrified. Suman Mathur? What did Suman do in this matter? What did he know?

"Permission granted"

Suman was called to the witness box. He came and greeted the judge.

"Mr. Suman Mathur, tell us what do you know?"

"I'm Suman Mathur. Khushi's husband. Whatever Sarath told is true... except for one. Sheetal insulted Arnav... she restricted her daughter from calling her mother... she drinks a lot... she even insulted Arnav in front of his school staff once... She sent a few goons to kill us. As I'm a brown belt in karate, I fought with them and saved ourselves. Everything is true except for one... she didn't smuggle cocaine. In fact, she didn't even know her car had been used to smuggle cocaine. It was Sarath who is the smuggler here"

"Your honor, he is blaming me for no reason"

"No, your honor. We have one more witness here... Mr. Rajeev. I would like to ask him a few questions. Please grant me permission" Roy asked.

"Granted"

Sheetal and Sarath had no idea who Rajeev was. Rajeev was called to the court. Sarath was thunderstruck, seeing him whereas Sheetal was confused. What did he know about them? He was none other than the servant of the Hotel Paradise. Son of Suman's company's watchman.

"Namaste, Sir," Rajeev said.

"Who are you? Where are you working?

"I'm working in the Hotel Paradise. They are regular customers of our hotel. They came to the Hotel Paradise every day. Sarath sir used to leave the room alone in Sheetal Madam's car. Sometimes, he met with a few people in the hotel itself. One day I heard their talks. That was when I got to know they are dealing with drugs,"

"And, Suman Mathur got to know about it. He followed Sarath and captured some photos too. Here they are" Roy submitted them to the court.

"No your honor, I don't even know who was in the photos"

"But, the person in the photo said he knew you very well..."

Sarath was horrified.

"Yes, Mr. Sarath. The Narcotics department already caught him and found many smugglers' numbers in his contact list..."

"But, what can I do if he has their contact numbers?"

"Let me finish Mr. Sarath. You might have deleted all the calls from your phone but no communication company would deny Narcotics if they asked for anyone's calls list. They gave them your incoming and outgoing phone call list. Now also, will you say you have no connection with smugglers?"

Sarath gulped down.

"Your honor, Mr. Sarath cleverly put the blame on Sheetal and tried to escape from this case in the name of an approver. But, truth can't be hidden"

Sheetal could not believe she had been cheated so cunningly. She didn't expect Sarath would take her for granted. How stupidly she was roaming with him... thinking of marrying him. How easily he cheated her...! She fumed in anger.

The public prosecutor stood up.

"Well... there are many sub-cases in this case it seems. Sheetal Kapoor tried to kill Khushi and Suman. It seems she is a cruel woman who doesn't hesitate to do anything for money. She should be punished for the deeds she did, your honor" he finished the argument.

"The judgment reserved" the judge left the court.

Sheetal and Sarath were brought out of the court by the police. They would be taken to the jail again. Sheetal ran her eyes in the surroundings. She saw a gun in the inspector's pouch who was talking on the phone. Without thinking of anything, she took the gun and shot Sarath. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood. Everything around them stopped for a few seconds. Everyone ran towards Sarath to check whether he was alive or not. The inspector snatched the gun from Sheetal's hand. Junior Roy sighed. Nothing could save Sheetal anymore, no matter whether Sarath died or not. She had shot him in the court campus. It happened in front of judges, policemen, and the public.

Sheetal walked to the police van not minding about Sarath and sat in it. Roy rushed to her.

"What have you done, Madam? We could have broken the case if you hadn't done this"

Sheetal turned her face opposite to him and said nothing. She saw Suman looking at her. She gulped down hard. Being a transgender, how loyal he was to Khushi. He not only saved her life but got her patch up with her man. If she had not tried to kill them, Suman might not have followed Sarath. Then there would not have been a chance for him to know about Sarath's drug dealing. She unknowingly dug her grave.

The van moved. Roy stood helplessly, looking at Sarath who was taken to the hospital. He was still alive as the bullet didn't penetrate his heart but he was in a serious condition.

Suman rang Arnav. He attended the call.

"Haan, Sumi... tell me," Arnav asked, flipping a page of a file.

"I'm in the court"

"Court? Did you go to the court?"

"Yes..."

"What necessary, Sumi?"

"It is... I came to the court as a witness against Sarath. He turned everything on Sheetal. How could I let him escape? That's why I submitted all the proof I collected regarding his drug dealing"

"When is the judgment?"

"The judgment reserved. The judge didn't declare the date. And the case will not end..."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes... Sheetal shot Sarath"

"Whaaaat? Shot? But how did she get a gun?"

"She snatched it from an inspector"

"Did he die?"

"He was taken to the hospital but has very less chance to be alive"

"What's the reason she took a gun in her hand?"

"He told everything about her... he didn't hesitate to degrade her. That must have angered her"

"Where is she?"

"The police took her to jail"

"Mmm"

"She will get fourteen years sentence for sure"

"Did Mr. Roy leave?"

"He is standing helplessly. Will talk to you later I suppose"

"Ok... have you finished your formalities?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you going home?"

"Yes... NK is waiting for me"

"Ok, I will meet you guys in the evening"

"Ok," Suman disconnected the call sighing.

This was not what he expected. He wanted not only Sheetal but also Sarath to be punished but he didn't expect, it would make Sheetal angry. Then everything got changed. She herself increased her punishment in the process of punishing Sarath.

To be continued...