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Mussoorie ke outskirts mein ek elite girls-only bachelorette retreat chal rahi thi, hosted at the vintage Regal Crest Resort. Bride-to-be Natasha Malhotra, daughter of a Delhi MP, had invited apne college group ke chhote, tight-knit friends — Tanvi (fashion influencer), Rhea (psychologist), Liana (tech entrepreneur), Meher (ex-roomie, artist), aur party planner Aahana. Snowfall ke mood mein champagne, bonfire aur laughter ho raha tha.
Late night, daaru ka level peak par tha jab Natasha slip karke do-storey railing se neeche gir gayi. Sab ne panic mein emergency call kiya. Local police ne spot per report li — clear tha ki death instant thi, koi CCTV functional nahi tha.
Next morning, a handwritten note mila Natasha ke toasty ke andar. “Accident nahi tha. Tum sabko sach dikh jaayega.” Police ko inform kiya gaya, aur Inspector Sadanand Rawat ko case mila. Retired military officer se IPS bane Rawat low-key aur logical the — par yeh close-circle death par wo bhi confuse ho gaya.
Voh natasha ki digital footprint scan kar rahe the jab ek aur weird clue mila — resort ke Wi-Fi router ke logs mein ek hidden device track hua tha jo party ke shaam upload kar raha tha — audio files.
Audio file 03_01_22_22PM.wav duur tak snow crunching, aur ek conversation capture kar rahi thi:
Female Voice 1: “Tumne usse truth dare mein push kiya deliberately.”
Female Voice 2: “She deserved it. She ruined everything that night in Manali.”
Manali?
Inspector Rawat ne group ke saare phones seize kiye, par ek phone missing tha — Meher ka. Jab forcibly khola gaya to usme ek edited video collection mila. Har ek friend ke secrets uske phone mein stored they — Deepfake generated clips showing fake confessions, damaging reputations.
Ek aur shocking reveal — Natasha ki postmortem mein pata chala ki uske system mein zolpidem tha — ek sedative jo usually tab diya jaata hai jab kisi ko neende mein dhakelna ho. Uska blood alcohol concentration routine se zyada tha, par sedative ne balance aur coordination zyada impact kiya tha.
Interrogation mein Rhea ne bataya ki Natasha ne ek baar confess kiya tha ki kisi ne uska college boyfriend blackmail kiya tha drop karne ke liye — she suspected Meher, jinse uska ek identity-theft related argument hua tha pehle. Rhea ne bhi admit kiya ki Meher isme involved ho sakti hai, lekin koi proof nahi tha.
Finally, party organizer Aahana — outsider — ne ek chilling detail reveal kiya: “Meher resort pahunchnay se pehle do din Mussoorie mein kisi private cottage mein thi. She said she needed space. Main ne kabhi poocha nahi.”
Fir ek turning point aaya: Resort ki purani caretaker Savitri didi ne bataya ki death ke ek raat pehle Meher ne unse poocha tha ki terrace ka railing kitna strong hai, aur kya koi extra light install kar sakta hai.
Inspector Rawat ne dubara terrace ke railing area ka examination kiya — ek chhoti si screw missing thi jo railing ko loose kar rahi thi. Meher knew woh shaam public honi thi, with drinking and pushing around.
Socha gaya ki Natasha was made to take sedatives mixed in champagne, uske baad tension build ki gayi with taunts and dares. Climax mein ek small nudge, aur railing ne kaam kiya.
Lekin twist tab aaya when Rawat ne ek aur USB recover kiya Meher ke phone vault se. Inside thi ek note:
“If you’re reading this, I didn’t kill Natasha. But I wanted her to feel unsafe. She messed with my identity, made me leave two jobs. The railing — I loosened it for shock value. Didn’t know she’d be the one to crash.”
Matlab — Meher ne death ka setup kiya tha, lekin ek specific victim nahi target kiya tha. Natasha just happened to be the one in harm’s way.
Final interrogation mein, Meher broke down:
“Main sab ke secrets jaanti thi. Woh sab mujhe dekh ke haste the — par main editing kar sakti thi, narrative control kar sakti thi. Toh maine scare karna shuru kiya — audio bugs, fake truth-dares, deepfakes — sab ek game ban gaya tha. But Natasha died, and I didn’t anticipate that.”
Case mein manslaughter aur digital defamation ke counts lagaaye gaye. Meher was sentenced under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), plus cybercrime penal codes. Truth that killed unintentionally.
Jab sach samne aaya, resort ke loyal staff ne sabhi guests ko ek line mein bola: “Har chehra mask pehne hota hai. Aur kabhi kabhi, mask ke neeche dusra chehra nahi, ek aur mask hota hai.”
