Jayanta Ghosh visited Murshidabad 27 years ago, to attend his brother?s wedding.

His next visit, late on Monday or early Tuesday, turned out to be his last.

?Dada had been to Behrampore 27 years ago to attend our wedding,? recounted Ghosh?s sister-in-law Pratima, who identified the doctor?s body at Kandi Sub-Divisional Hospital.

?He kept contact with his brother over phone. He was very busy and could not make time to visit our place. Whenever we went to Calcutta, we met him. He was very concerned about us,? she added.

Ghosh?s younger brother Achintya lives with his wife in Behrampore, but the police are certain that the doctor did not intend meeting him on this visit.

The sleuths are almost unanimous that he was forcefully brought to the district.

The killers had slit Ghosh?s throat and threw him on the bridge over the Mayurakshi near Sundarpur village, in Murshidabad, 250 km from Calcutta.

?We are investigating why Ghosh was brought to Murshidabad. After a preliminary probe, we suspect that a car carrying the doctor had entered the district through Kalyani, Kalna and Phutisanko,? said superintendent of Murshidabad police Niraj Kumar Singh.

?His hands and feet were tied. The killers dumped him on the bridge, thinking him to be dead. But Ghosh was still alive,? he added.

It?s evident from the nature of the wound that the throat was slit in a running car, Singh pointed out. When Ghosh was dumped on the bridge, the rope around his hands had come loose.

The assailants made no attempt to snatch Ghosh?s watch and the gold buttons on his kurta.

The doctor?s family, however, believes that the murder could have been avoided if police were a little more discreet in probing the case.

?I personally think that by openly picking up people and questioning them, police had made the kidnappers panicky. Obviously, they were known to my brother and they did not take a chance,? said Ghosh?s elder brother Prasanta.