Santiniketan, Jan. 10: Amaresh Kundu had slashed his left wrist before shooting Saswati Pal on Sunday in an apparent attempt to blackmail her into submission.

The girl’s friends have denied she was ever in love with the young man, but he accused her of cheating on him.

The Visva-Bharati MA student was killed with a revolver that Amaresh had stolen from Tollygunge police station in Calcutta, where he worked as a cook.

A Sangit Bhavan student who had rushed to the hostel room alerted by the girls’ cries for help said: “I heard the girls cry out that someone had slashed his veins.”

He also heard Amaresh tell Saswati that he could not live without her. There were gunshots a few seconds later. Amaresh had killed Saswati and turned the gun on himself.

Doctors who treated Amaresh confirmed the gash in his left wrist. “It appears that he used a blade,” a doctor said.

The police, however, did not find a blade on him.