Md Hamruj Alam (38) who worked as a labourer in the house Dilip Mukhopadhyay and Swapna Mukhopadhyay was arrested for murdering the couple and looting the house in Netaji Nagar near Tollygunge. Alam was picked up by the police from Bihar’s Katihar. According to police, he has confessed to committing the crime.
The elderly couple was found murdered on July 30. They lived in a two storied house in Netaji Nagar. Swapna Mukhopadhyay was found near the landing of the staircase, and her husband was found lying on the bed. Investigators said that they seemed to have been smothered.
The house was found to be in a mess – with things lying strewn around and cupboards had been searched, investigating officers said. The couple had been repeatedly approached by people who wanted to use the property for promoting business. The couple was apparently not keen on selling the house. They did not have children, and police are trying to figure out whether the murders had to do with the property.
Some labourers had worked in the house for repair and painting of some rooms a few days prior to the murder, and the labourers were under police scanner.
Alam ran away to Katihar after committing the crime and some of the things stolen from the house have been recovered from his house. He would be produced before the local court in Katihar, and police would appeal to the court for his transit. More details of the case will be known once he is interrogated further, said a senior officer.
The gruesome murder of the couple brought to the fore the vulnerable situation of the elderly in the city. Kolkata Police has gone on a special drive to collate data of elderly persons who have children and other family members living elsewhere in the city or in other states and countries. A number of steps are being taken to assure them of safety, how the police may be reached in times of emergency, and mostly to take certain preventive measures.
