Yes, one is singled out as the culprit, but he simply could be the leader - as the facts say. Fair enough, the gang of four didn't want the innocent locksmith to see that it was Sushant inside, well paid him, and sent him off. However, if that amount of care was true, the added anxiety of what may have happened to their master inside should bring in some apprehension in them. But, almost proving themselves as bad actors if not clue givers, the innocent locksmith noticed none of that in their faces. Time was the essence: One characteristic finding there was that time seems to have become the essence. Strangely, there was a need for both hurry and delay. While the declaration of death was on the delayed side, the doing of the autopsy was in its opposite - the hurried side. Although the distant Cooper Hospital was chosen as opposed to the near ones as it had the favored doctors and was a frequently used hospital, it was also possible with the belief that the delay would dissolve the given toxins. But then, planners might have known that after death digestion stops. If so, they wanted to make sure he was definitely dead so gave the body a longer ride. On the other hand, the hurried autopsy at late night that too before the Covid19 result had come could be to erase the body itself through cremation. If the leg was truly broken, it could either demolish easy strangulation or reflect a drop while trying to make it a suicide. The autopsy: Giving them the benefit of doubt the missed time of death or even the non-committal passages in their report can be a signal given by the doctors to say ‘we are pressured’, but then other facts show otherwise. Although cremation helped the doctors, theirs being the ‘chosen hospital’ and it being the second goofed up autopsy report do incriminate them. Although, Rhea’s ‘I am sorry’ with a Sushant’s chest touch could easily mean ‘sorry to have left you when you needed me’ and not ‘I murdered you’ - as claimed, and it did show her interest in him despite the breakup, her team spending a long time in the not so appealing place is a legal surprise. Unless for security reasons, the filmed backdoor exit doesn’t let the suspicion go down either. The Mumbai Police (MP): With several ‘suicides’ left unsolved, uninvestigated, or delayed indefinitely, comparing MP with Scotland Yard is not comparing apples with oranges but doing so with a goat. True to that, far from doing a good job in this case, MP has looked almost like a complicit in the crime. While its incompetence starts from the beginning the list that continues looks endless. For example, neither the crime scene gets a cordon and people’s access prevented nor the room contents are made legally safe. Neither the vertical to supine position change in a ‘suicide case’ before their arrival gave them a frown, nor the suspects were suspected. While the official’s exit from the dead man’s room with a message of suicide wasn’t right in one way, their entry inside the room and the airing of their fear of the recorded video’s expose was wrong in both ways. Furthermore, while the choice of the Cooper Hospital wasn’t without their consent, the late-night autopsy without the covid19 report was even with their pressure. Accepting the undated report without a frown doesn’t make them innocent either. Despite being aware of the ended kinship, unlike those ‘unaware’ doctors, letting Rhea inside the mortuary, letting her stay for a long time, and then bringing her out through the backdoor, as confirmed by a recording, damaged it more. In the probe, while not filling an FIR showed their dishonesty, ‘useless’ grilling of the many unrelated Bollywood’s who is who and not the immediate suspects e.g. Rhea and the helpers would achieve nothing more than ‘we are working’. But then, the working effort wasn’t seen at work even when Sushant’s phone data was at hand. As if to make it a ‘fear is the key’, the thing that was not at hand - the lost key - was not even enquired about with the guys. Also, not informing people about the progress despite a national interest but talking to Rhea - when desired - wasn’t right either. While giving her a vehicle ride only made others frown, even the Supreme Court said insulting Bihar police officers and not registering an FIR, were both wrong. The fact is, in protecting Rhea and the rest, far from trying to solve the issue MP was not only seen to be protecting them but was seen as protecting itself too. Thus, the Bin Laden like rigidity to a no to a CBI probe and the disrespect offered to the Patna colleagues were collectively seen as a fear incarnate. Maharashtra politicians: Although the grand old ex-congressman, who recovered from a stroke is described as a man who thinks before he speaks, his ‘immature’ to the young relative who rightly asked for a CBI probe not only discredited his prestige, it almost implicated his party, the NCP, in the mess. Although, AU in text meaning somebody else, if proven, exempts the junior Thackeray, who was born with a silver spoon, the state’s resolute support for MP, denigration of Sushan’t family, and the rigid no to a CBI probe shows a partisan linkage. Also, while it accusing Bihar of having an eye on the upcoming election can be let off as politics and also its support for MP as Bihar vs Maharashtra, denigrating Sushank’s mourning family in support of MP isn’t acceptable in a civilized society. The media: It can safely be said that without the Indian TV media that did the role of an opposition, a detective, and a message spreader the whole thing would have been swept under the carpet. With them tracing Sherlock Holmes and airing evidence using hidden cameras to inform people when the police were not doing their job, neither the accused ‘media trial’ was right nor was the ‘media acting as a judge’ so. With them suspecting but not convicting anybody they weren’t executioners either. With the CBI tracing their suspects rather than that of the Mumbai Police, irrespective of the SC’s view on MP media people weren't wrong. The media success, however, didn't fall from the sky. It’s interesting that unlike the Tamil lady, who resented opposition to her lack of Hindi, seeing the mass appeal and a gold mine, Arnab learned the language and added a Hindi TV in his portfolio. It immediately became popular when he added the neglected Hindu causes to it. However, almost like Savarkar’s major role in Indian independence of which the Indian intellectuals are less aware, it was Kangana Renaut’s Jhansi ki Rani like interview to his Hindi TV show that inspired him to choose this case – even to make it a cause. Times Now saw the light not at the end but at the beginning of the tunnel tool! And when Prof Swamy entered the fray it became national. And when the social media added awareness, beating AajTak Republic TV became first among equals. Their symbiotic relationship was as clear as a 4k screen.

The Mumbai Police

Aditya Thakaray

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