The cover of an anthology of verse penned by Rakesh Gupta and a friend. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Company secretary Rakesh Gupta’s murder could be the fallout of a financial deal gone wrong.

“A probe revealed that he was involved in a financial deal and had taken a loan of Rs 2,40,000 last year from the Shrachi group, where he worked. He had paid Rs 50,000 to seal the deal, but something went wrong after that,” said an investigating officer. “He was in a financial mess but was planning to buy a flat.”

Police have detained some friends of the Teghoria resident, whose body was found in Sodepur on Monday morning, his face smashed and limbs tied.

“The black patches on the face suggest that the abductors had dragged him before finishing him off,” the officer pointed out.

A police team, led by Belghoria subdivisional police officer Ashok Roy, visited Gupta’s flat in VIP Enclave and questioned his wife, mother and other relatives.

“We have seized his diary, laptop and some photographs and papers from his office. The pictures were shown to his wife. The involvement of a woman is being probed,” said Roy.

The sleuths are yet to trace Gupta’s cellphone but have got a copy of his call records, which suggest that he was in Barrackpore around 4.30pm on Sunday. Wife Babita had told the police that she had last spoken to Gupta on Sunday afternoon, when he called her from the airport. Thereafter, whenever she tried to call him, his phone was switched off.

The sleuths have also come to know that Babita is an LIC agent for nine years, though it was Gupta who ran the show. Sudip Banerjee, a development officer of LIC’s Salt Lake branch, had met Gupta in his flat on Sunday morning. “He was quite normal then. We had tea together,” said Banerjee. He came to know Gupta when he lived in Salt Lake.

The probe revealed that one of Gupta’s friends, Sanju, had accompanied him when he returned home late on Saturday. Sanju has been interrogated.

The superintendent of North 24-Parganas police, Supratim Sarkar, said the call details are being examined.

Ravi Todi, an owner-director of Shrachi Group, said: “We cannot confirm right now whether Gupta had taken a loan from the company.”

On the financial deal the sleuths are talking about, Todi said: “If at all he was involved in any deal, it must have been in his personal capacity.”