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Mumbai ke plush Lower Parel area mein, SynergyX naam ki ek fintech company ki Saturday evening Zoom townhall chal rahi thi. Company ke CEO, Vibhav Mehra — 43, visionary but reclusive — ne sabko WhatsApp pe reminder bheja tha: “Attendance is mandatory. Important leadership decision aani hai.”
Zoom pe total 17 log login the, mostly Directors aur Team Heads. Vibhav ka video chalu tha, lekin audio mute. Sab log dekh rahe the — ek glass leke woh sips le raha tha, kuch papers dekh raha tha, aur kabhi-kabhi screen ke taraf muskara rah tha. Phir achanak, uska chehra bled ho gaya. Usne apne gala pe haath rakha, kuch bolna chaha… aur screen black ho gayi.
Pehle laga net issue hai. Par agle din news aayi — Vibhav was found dead in his Bandra home, glass still in hand, laptop open on that very call. Official statement: heart attack. Lekin uski sister Natasha, jo Bangalore se wapas aayi thi funeral ke liye, believe nahi kar rahi thi. “Vibhav active tha, Ayurvedic supplements leta tha. And he never drank during meetings,” usne kaha.
Natasha ne ek ethical hacker dost, Neel, ko bola Zoom call ka recording access karne. Jab unhone video dubara dekha, ek ajeeb pattern dikhai diya — Vibhav mute tha puri call mein, but ek second ke liye ek loud coughing aur glass girne ki awaaz record hui thi… sirf kisi ek participant ke local audio stream pe. Aur woh tha: Aryan Joshi, Chief Growth Officer.
Neel ne digital log trace kiya — Aryan call pe tha, but bina video ke, aur uska mic 1 exact second ke liye on hua tha just when Vibhav collapsed. Yeh coincidence nahi lag raha tha.
Natasha ne Aryan ko casually coffee pe milne bulaya, aur baat baat mein keh diya: “Bechara Vibhav… wafadar logon se ghira tha. Kisi ne kuch diya toh nahi uske drink mein? Tum dono toh same Laphroaig whiskey ke fan the na?”
Aryan ne palak jhapkayi bina bola, “Haan, but I stopped drinking. Liver fatty ho gaya tha.”
Par Zoom call se pehle ke timestamped DoorDash receipt ne kuch aur reveal kiya — Aryan ne Vibhav ke ghar pe ek specific snack aur drink package bheja tha, labeled under company name.
Police investigation khuli. Forensics ne Vibhav ke whiskey glass mein trace paaya — rare neurotoxin Gelsemium elegans, jise normally poison ke roop mein use nahi kiya jata aur jo 48 hours mein body se vanish ho jata hai. Yeh Chinese herbal research se link hota hai — jiska Aryan ka deep interest tha. Ek private Reddit thread pay mila ek alias, “G.E_PatientZero”, jo herbal poisons ke trials discuss karta tha — registered with Aryan ke backup Gmail under password hints matching uski dog’s name.
Raaz yeh tha: Aryan ne samjha tha agar Zoom call ke dauraan Vibhav slow poison se mare, toh sab kuch natural lagega — emotional overload ya anxiety-related heart failure. Par mute button glitch aur ek local audio spike uska carefully crafted illusion tod diya.
Aur motive? Aryan ka startup proposal reject kar diya tha Vibhav ne, jo uske shares dilute karta. Vibhav planned to demote him quietly. Toh Aryan ne badle ka rasta digital disguise mein chhupaya.
Final twist? Before police reached him, Aryan live LinkedIn session pe gaya — “On Leadership Transitions” topic — calm, composed, smiling. 10 minutes into the session, uska face pale pad gaya. Same symptoms. Bewajah nahi tha: Natasha ne uske flat ke fridge mein mila black kettle inspect kiya. Same tea blend — now laced subtly. Message clear tha: “Har streamed murder apne aapko repeat karta hai.”
Digital duniya jahan proof bhi vulnerable hai, wahin ek muted second can reveal everything.
