The decomposed body of a labour contractor was disinterred from a bunker at a house in South Dinajpur district on Sunday, 13 days after he had been reported missing.
Saddam Nadap, 31, had been missing since May 18. His relative Moumita Hassan, a homemaker, was arrested for allegedly murdering him.
Sources said Saddam was from Koklamari, a village under the jurisdiction of Pukhuria police station in Malda district. But he used to stay under the jurisdiction of Englishbazar police station in the district. On May 18, Nasrin Khatun, his wife, filed a complaint at the Englishbazar police station, saying her husband had gone missing.
“She accused Rahman Nadap and his wife, Moumita Hassan, of kidnapping her husband. Police initiated a probe and interrogated the couple,” said a source.
Moumita admitted she had killed the youth and concealed his body at her father’s place at Tapan in South Dinajpur.
A joint team of Malda and South Dinajpur police reached Sihar-Balkahar village with Moumita on Sunday. They raided the house of Bashir Mondal, her father and a farmer, where Moumita showed them a bunker which she had made to conceal Saddam’s body.
The police dug the bunker and recovered Saddam’s decomposed body. It has been sent for post-mortem. Some police personnel have also been posted in the area.
“The investigation is in progress. We are trying to find out the motive behind the murder and whether the woman had any accomplices,” said a police officer.
Officer found dead
The body of a Customs inspector was found on a betel nut plantation near Birpara in Alipurduar district on Monday afternoon.
Sources said Narayan Chandra Barman, 45, was posted at the Birpara office.
He used to stay in a rented accommodation in Birpara and had been missing since Friday night. His body was found on Monday. Police suspect that Barman moved close to a swollen stream or river and was swept away.
The police are waiting for the post-mortem report.
Additional reporting by our Alipurduar correspondent