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Sunday afternoon tha, aur Mumbai ke Bandra mein, VortexTech ke founders apna weekly Zoom sync kar rahe the. Screens par smiling faces, casual clothes, aur background mein muted ceiling fans dikh rahe the.
Rohit Bajaj, co-founder aur public face of VortexTech, usual energy ke saath meeting lead kar raha tha. Par call ke beech mein, uske screen se ek ajeeb sa sound aaya — jaise kuch gir raha ho. Screen suddenly froze. Shruti, co-founder aur Rohit ki college wali dost, hass ke boli, “Lagta hai Rohit ka wifi fir se gaya.”
Meeting khatam hone ke kuch ghante baad jab Shruti ne Rohit ke ghar call kiya, toh unki househelp ne bataya ki Rohit apne room mein unconscious mila. Jab paramedics aaye, tab tak woh mar chuka tha.
Inspector Viyas jab site pe pahuncha, toh sabko laga heart attack hoga. But ek cheez ajeeb thi — Rohit ka laptop camera abhi tak on tha, Zoom session active, par kisi ko kuch suspicious nahin laga tha?
Company interior designer Aryan ne kaha, “Rohit ne kuch din se wellness supplement le raha tha. Stress kaafi badh gaya tha IPO ke pressure se.”
Shruti jab police ke saath Rohit ke laptop check kar rahi thi, tab usne ek detail notice ki — call ke dauraan, kisi ke screen ke ek kone mein thoda sa mirror reflection tha, jaise koi kuch liquid mix kar raha ho.
Postmortem report ayi: Rohit died of cyanide poisoning.
Cyanide? Aur apne hi bedroom mein, screen pe sabke saamne?
Viyas ne Shruti aur Aryan ke Zoom recordings analyse karwayi. Tab ek aur detail dikha — meeting shuru hone ke kuch minute pehle Shruti ek ‘Coffee Break’ le kar gayi thi. Fir lotte waqt Shruti ke background mein ek blurred image mein ek bottle aur ek cup dekha gaya.
Viyas ko Shruti par shak tha, par kuch aur chhitak raha tha. Aryan bhi suspect tha — woh Rohit ke shares mein zyada hissa chahta tha. Lekin Shruti aur Rohit ke beech old chemistry thi; woh kyun maarna chahegi?
Tab ek aur shocking twist aaya. IT team ne pata lagaya ki Rohit ka Zoom session breached tha. Kisi ne remote screen control access liya tha, jab Rohit coffee lene gaya tha. Uske password simple tha, aur koi close hi hack kar sakta tha.
Further digging se pata chala — Aryan ne ek dummy update ke naam par Rohit ko ek spyware install karva diya tha jo webcam aur mic ka control le sakta tha. Jab Rohit washroom gaya, Aryan ne Rohit ke laptop se kitchen smart dispenser ko activate kiya aur Rohit ke coffee ke filter mein cyanide dispense kar diya.
Real masterstroke: Aryan ek automation engineer tha, aur VortexTech ka home IoT division handle karta tha. Smart gadgets Rohit ke ghar mein Aryan ke hi setup kiye hue the.
Finally, Viyas ne Aryan ko pressure diya, aur usne confess kar diya. “Mujhe hamesha second fiddle banaya gaya,” usne bola, “Par main khud ke liye spotlight chahta tha.”
Sab kuch live ho raha tha — par kisi ne dekha nahi ki maut ek silent automation se aayi thi.
Zoom screen par sab kuch dikha, par asli crime camera ke bahar ho raha tha.
