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'Even if they saw anything they will not open their mouths'

Part I: Murder in the mosque

A Ganesh Nadar in Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu

Inspector A Sankaralingam has a good reputation. Like many policemen in Tamil cinema, he has trimmed his bushy moustache. Again, like his filmi counterparts, he is a man of few words.

The inspector says he is not in the habit of making arbitrary arrests, and that he will surely nab the culprit in 48 hours.

Ruling out personal vendetta behind the murder, Sankaralingam felt the killers wanted to trigger off a communal clash. He said the group that hurled bombs at churches could be behind this attack.

"It happened at night. They know people will not open their doors at that time, and even if they saw anything they will not open their mouths."

Outside, three lawyers approached the inspector to plead with him to release one of the suspects. "Please, let one of them go. You have six with you. His wife is sick."

The inspector doesn't bite. "You lawyers should stay in court. Do not come to the station and interfere with investigations."

Asked if these were suspects in the murder, the inspector confirmed that the police had picked up six suspects who were outside the mosque that night.

The lawyers left after arranging for lunch for their clients.

Crescent Nagar, on the outskirts of Palayamkottai, is a sleepy little village.

A dozen policemen stood about 50 yards away, in the shade of the Crescent Nagar school wall. Locals, speaking in low voices, say such an incident had never occurred before.

Despite it being one of its kind, there is no sense of tragedy anywhere, probably because the victim was not a local. In fact, who would kill a man miles away from his surroundings? And why?

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