The head cashier of State Bank of India’s Patliputra branch, James Michael Dextas, who was shot dead by an assailant on June 14, could have been a victim of mistaken identity.
On the day of the murder, a few employees of the bank had said that the assailant was looking for one “Verma”.
The “Verma” turned out to be B.K. Verma, the head cashier with a different SBI branch (The Telegraph is withholding the name of the branch because of Verma’s safety), the police said on Wednesday.
At the day of the incident, the assailant entered the cabin of James in which Verma used to sit eight months ago.
When asked, Verma said: “Yes, the police had contacted me and asked me a few questions. I was working at the Patliputra branch as the head cashier eight months ago. I was later transferred. However, I never had any enmity with anyone. I have nothing to do with the incident.”
The police, when contacted, agreed that the murderer was looking for B.K. Verma.
“Yes, the man who killed James was on the lookout for B.K. Verma. The robbery angle is out of question now, as it was a one-man show. However, it will not be correct to point out at anything specific right now,” deputy superintendent of police (law and order) Vivekanand said.
Sources said since James used to sit in Verma’s cabin that could have led to the confusion.
“The altercation between James and the killer lasted for a few seconds. It can be that the assailant’s target was Verma but he had never seen him. Since he did not meet him earlier, he had no idea that Verma was transferred and James was working at his place. He went to his cabin and James must have said he was not Verma but the killer didn’t believe him. This must have led to the altercation after which he was shot at,” a police officer said.
“If this is the case, then it is a mistaken identity case where James died without a reason. If Verma was the target, it is now sure that the killer had no idea that Verma has been transferred. This proves that he had never seen Verma. However, these are assumptions and we are keeping all options open,” the cop added.
