(From top): Debasish Bagchi. His wife Swarnali. The Bagchi residence on Hari Ghosh Street. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Bishwarup Dutta

A 42-year-old man was caught red-handed by his mother while killing his wife and trying to strangle his 11-year-old son early on Monday.

Family members locked Debasish Bagchi in the room and went to Burtola police station, a five-minute walk from their house.

The cops took wife Swarnali and son Dibakar to Medical College and Hospital, where the woman was declared dead on arrival. The child’s condition was stable.

“Bagchi, drunk, strangled Swarnali with a gamchha and then gagged her with a pillow. He was caught while trying to smother Dibakar with a pillow,” said an officer.

He reportedly admitted to the crime but refused to disclose the motive.

A preliminary probe revealed that Bagchi, a sub-contractor working for the PWD, had borrowed several lakhs from money-lenders and was not in a position to repay.

“The two-storeyed house on Hari Ghosh Street, where the family lives, is in Dibakar’s name. The child’s grandfather had handed over the ownership to him four years ago. Bagchi may have planned to kill his son and sell the house, which is worth more than a crore,” said an officer.

Bagchi had also demanded money from Swarnali’s mother, Kalyani Sanyal, who lives in Durgapur.

Kalyani came to the Burtola house three days ago — she has been living there since — and gave a bank draft for Rs 50,000 to her son-in-law.

Around 1.30am on Monday, the maid of the family woke up on hearing Dibakar’s scream. “Peeping into the room through the keyhole, she saw Bagchi trying to suffocate the boy with a pillow. She immediately alerted the other family members,” said Vineet Goyal, the deputy commissioner of police (headquarters).

Bagchi’s mother Beethika rushed into the room — the door was not locked — and was shocked to see both Swarnali and Dibakar lying unconscious. A gamchha was tied tightly around Swarnali’s neck.

Beethika immediately called Kalyani from an adjacent room. “Swarnali was alive when the two women entered the room. They even poured some water into her mouth. The two then came out of the room, bolted the door and went straight to the police station. The domestic help was asked to stand guard,” said Goyal.

“When we reached the house, Bagchi was found sitting in front of Swarnali and Dibakar, both lying unconscious. We arrested him and took the woman and the child to hospital,” said an officer on the case.

Neighbours told the police that Bagchi, despite being neck-deep in debt, was a spendthrift. “He returned home drunk almost every night and had other vices. We are trying to find out what had led him to borrow such a huge amount from money-lenders,” the officer added.