2 Kolkata Teens Killed By Neighbour, Aides Over Rs 50,000, Bodies Dumped in Roadside Ditch; 4 Arrested

Two school students, aged 17 years who were missing for two weeks, were found dead in a roadside ditch in Basanti area of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Police said the teenagers, Atanu Dey and Abhishek Naskar, were strangulated to death by a neighbour and his accomplices over a monetary dispute.

The boys were missing since August 22 from Kolkata’s Baguihati area. The police have arrested four persons in connection with the case, while two more, including the prime accused, Satyendra Chaudhuri, are still absconding.

According to police, the accused had demanded ransom from the victims’ families after killing them. Those arrested have been identified as — Abhijit Bose (25), Samim Ali (20), Sahil Molla (20), and Dibyendu Das.

As per a preliminary probe, there was a dispute over Rs 50,000 between the victims and the accused to buy a motorcycle. Police said Atanu had given Rs 50,000 to Chaudhuri to purchase him a motorcycle. But even after several months, the accused did not buy the two-wheeler nor did he return the money, police said, adding that the problem began when Atanu wanted his money back.

Police said, “Prima facie, it looks like Chaudhuri strangulated the two to death with a rope. He seemed to have asked for the ransom after the two were killed. Their bodies were dumped in Nayanjuli on Basanti Highway. Local police in Nayanjuli had taken them to Basirhat morgue.”

The bodies reportedly lay unclaimed in the morgue and were identified only on Tuesday.

Sharing the sequence of events, police said Chaudhuri had called Atanu on August 22 promising him that he would go to purchase a motorcycle and invited him to come along in a vehicle where five others were waiting. Abhishek, too, joined them.

Addressing the media, Biswajit Ghosh, DC DD Bidhannagar Police, said, “One of the suspects broke down during the probe and confessed to having strangulated the two children in the car on Basanti highway. They later dumped the bodies in a canal. Prima facie investigation has revealed that Chaudhuri, who is now absconding, was well known to the family of Atanu. We were proceeding carefully in our investigation since ransom demands were made. It seems there was a dispute over Rs 50,000 which Atanu had given to Chaudhuri for the purchase of a two-wheeler.”

Ghosh said the police are probing all other possible motives also. “While Atanu was a target for this crime, Abhishek was present in the vehicle by chance and was killed to remove evidence. Three ransom demands and SMSes were sent to the family of the victims. All messages were sent after the murders were committed,” he said.

Angered by the crime, local residents ransacked the house of prime suspect Chaudhuri.

The families of the victims have demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Taking cognisance of the matter, Bengal Women and Child Welfare Minister Shashi Panja has sought an urgent report on it from the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of the area.

BJP attacks police for their ‘inefficiency’

The Bengal BJP attacked the police for taking so long to identify the bodies, which lay unclaimed in the morgue for two weeks. Bengal Assembly Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari slammed the police saying that their efficiency has “hit rock bottom by acting as lackeys of TMC leaders”. He also demanded a probe into the victims’ families’ allegation that Baguihati Police was initially reluctant to take action.

Meanwhile, Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder, who reached Baguihati to meet the victims’ families, was stopped from entering the area by the local women.

(With PTI inputs)

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