People gather in front of Gour Saha’s house in Siliguri on Tuesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, Aug. 12: The body of a rice trader, who had been missing since August 7, was found in a well near New Jalpaiguri area today.

According to police, Gour Saha (26) of Ghoogomali market here was strangled to death and his body dumped in the well by his friends who also run rice shops.

The culprits, Chandan and Bholanath Saha, were taken into custody today and the police are looking for two more persons. The law enforcers said the duo had killed Gour over business rivalry.

“We took Chandan and Saha into custody and during interrogation, they confessed to strangulating Gour with a towel and throwing the body into the well on a vacant plot, about 3km from their locality,” said Vijay Singh, the circle inspector of Jalapaiguri Sadar. He added that the body had been fished out.

According to Nitai, the deceased’s twin brother, Gour had received a call from Chandan around 9.30pm on Thursday and he soon went out of the house. “Since both were friends and had celebrated Ulto Rath together last year, we in the family thought that they were having fun this time as well.”

When Gour did not return many hours after he had left the home, the family members smelled something foul. They lodged a complaint with Bhaktinagar police station on Friday.

“We, in the meantime, searched all places where Gour might go. What is shocking was that Chandan had accompanied me during many such searches,” said Nitai.

He added that the arrested persons were jealous of Gour’s business growth.

Asked what had made him believe that Chandan and Saha had been behind his brother’s disappearance, Nitai said: “When I asked Chandan whether he had met Gour, his reply was that he had gone home before 8.30 on Thursday night. Later, an eatery owner in nearby Chikar More told me that Chandan had bought roti and meat from his shop around 9.30pm. I asked Chandan why he had lied and called the police later.”