Guha (top) and Akhtar after he was arrested. (Surajit Roy)

Malda, June 13: Murdered Congress leader Biswanath Guha’s driver has confessed to the crime, but police are still baffled about the motive and have interrogated the dead man’s wife.

Guha, 56, the vice-chairman of the Englishbazar Municipality and the Malda district president of the Intuc, was found murdered in an under-construction lodge, 500 metres from his house in the Fulbari area of the town around midnight last night.

Guha’s head had been smashed with bricks, said the police. “He was also shot once in the head and stabbed,” said Malda district police chief Satyajit Banerjee.

Although a knife and the bricks have been found, the firearm is yet to be traced.

The driver, Akhtar Sheikh, has been remanded in seven days’ police custody. “The residents caught Akhtar at Guha’s house when they went to inform his wife about the the murder”, said Banerjee. “He had Rs 17,000 in his pocket.”

“Akhtar had gone there to speak to Guha’s wife,” claimed Ganesh Banerjee, a close confidant of the Congress leader.

The police interrogated Guha’s wife Lakshmi twice during the day. “It is not clear why she is so keen to protect Akhtar,” said the police chief.

The residents also caught four persons from the crime site. They have been detained.

The police said Akhtar had driven Guha and Lakshmi to a cultural programme at the District Sports Association’s stadium last night. Afterwards, Lakshmi was dropped home around 10pm and Guha and Akhtar went to the lodge owned by the Congress leader.

Around 12 midnight, Uday Roy, a local youth, heard cries for help and alerted neighbours. They found the four men near the body and locked them inside a room. Akhtar was brought from the Guhas’ residence and all five were handed over to the police.

Akhtar, 32, hails from Jadupur in the Englishbazar police station area, and had been Guha’s driver for the past 15 years. Guha’s first wife Moitri had eloped with their other driver 10 years ago, said the police chief. Guha married Lakshmi five years ago and the two have a two-and-a-half-month-old son.

In his lifetime, Guha had been no stranger to crime. In 1992, he was sentenced to life term for the murder of a Congress supporter in Malda. After four years in jail, he was acquitted by the high court. He had a number of other murder cases pending against him.

There was a virtual bandh in Malda town today.