The Prodigal Son (Complete)

Chapter 16

The judge says, "Miss Roy Choudhary, are you ready to present the closing statement?"
Tanushree stands up and replies, "My Lord, we have got a few pieces of evidence that we would like to present to the court before the closing statements."
Bhaskar stands up immediately, "My Lord, defence has not been notified about this. And more importantly the trial is at its end. I don't think this should be allowed now. My Lord, I object to this."

Tanushree says, "My Lord, we found these pieces of evidence only last night. I know we are at the very end of the trial and we haven't informed the court or the defence, however they are vital to prove this man's identity. This trial is very important for my client. Court needs to see the evidence to know the truth. I will request the court to kindly allow me to present them."
"My Lord, this should not be allowed. This is not at all correct."
The judge says, "Mr. Ganguly, let the court decide whether it is right or not. Miss Roy Chowdhry, I will allow this."
She turns back and smiles at Sidharth.

"My first witness is Paresh Singh Neigi."
A tall man with broad shoulders gets up the stand. He wears a chequered shirt over a white t-shirt and brown trousers. There's a Himachali cap on his head and a scarf around his neck.
"Tell us where you are from and what you do, Paresh."
"I am from Rishikesh and I have a travel agency. We provide trekking and hiking packages to tourists."
"You had a group 4 years ago that had Sidharth Dewan in it. Do you remember that?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell us who was the guide for that trail that day?"
"My cousin Tamal."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. He left the job after that and went away. I have no idea where he is today."

Tanushree picks up a few sheets from her assistant and puts one copy on Bhaskar's table and submits the other to the judge.
"This is the booking details and other information from Paresh's tour agency that confirms Sidharth Dewan's presence there in the group with the guide Tamal Singh Neigi."
Bhaskar smiles, "Everyone knows Sidharth Dewan was present that day and died in the landslide accident."
"But what nobody knows is that it wasn't an accident but an attempt to murder Sidharth."
There's a murmur in the court, silenced by the judge.

"Tamal Singh disappeared just days after the incident and he is yet to be found."
"That doesn't make him a murderer and why would he?"
Tanushree turns to Paresh, "We will come to that. Paresh, there was an alert from the weather department about heavy rain for those days then why didn't you cancel the schedule for hiking?"
Paresh says, "It was booked for that day and I knew about it. I was in New Delhi for a conference on mountain climbing, so I didn't know about the warning. I have the tickets and pass for the same to prove it. Tamal was the one organising for them and he was present that day looking after the office. He didn't tell me about it. He went as a guide without informing me."
Tanushree picks up a few more papers, gives one copy to Bhaskar and other to the judge.

"My Lord, these are bank transactions to Tamal Singh Neigi before and after the incident date. The funny thing is it wasn't from Sidharth Dewan's account. The money was sent from an overseas account which is under the names of Barun and Basundhara Mital."
She turns to Paresh, "Do you have any idea why he received such a big amount of money?"
"No."
"Do you think your cousin is capable of killing someone?"
Paresh nods his head, "Yes. He was in the juvenile correction home for 7 years for killing his friend by strangulation for 50 rupees. He said he was a changed guy but I don't think he would not do anything for money."
"Thank you Paresh."

"My Lord, I really don't understand what Miss Roy Chowdhry is doing here? What is the purpose of this witness here? We are not in a murder trial but it is about fake identity. If Sidharth Dewan was murdered then it is clear that the person sitting in the court is not him."
Tanushree smiles, "Mr. Ganguly, have a little patience. My Lord, Sidharth Dewan was sent on this trip by Barun. By looking at the bank transactions, it is clear that he hired Tamal to kill him. Tamal took him out in bad weather and pushed him from the slope. My purpose here is to establish the fact that Barun and Darshan had motives to kill Sidharth. And they attempted to do so. But the question arises here: what was their purpose behind trying to kill my client?"