Police on Thursday ruled out foul play in the death of Sujan Dasgupta, author of the Eken Babu series, saying the death was caused by cardiac failure that could have been triggered by some medical issues.
Dasgupta, 78, was found dead on Wednesday morning in his eighth-floor flat in Tritiya Apartment in Udita, a housing complex on EM Bypass in southeast Kolkata.
Police said he was lying on the floor of his bedroom in front of the washroom when guards broke open the apartment’s door. The family help alerted the guards as Dasgupta was not answering the door.
“The autopsy surgeon has said he (the author) died of cardiac failure. No signs of foul play were found during the post-mortem,” said deputy commissioner of police, east, Gaurav Lal.
The police said they had not received any complaint from Dasgupta’s family. Sources close to the family said Dasgupta’s wife Shamita, who had gone to Santiniketan, had last spoken to him around 9.30pm on Tuesday. “After the phone call he went to bed,” said a family friend of the Dasguptas.
The police handed the body to the family after the post-mortem. The body will be preserved in the mortuary of a private hospital along the Bypass and the last rites will be performed after the couple’s only daughter, Sayantani, reaches Kolkata from the US.
Sources close to the family said the daughter is expected to reach Kolkata on Friday morning. Anirban Chakrabarti, the actor who plays the detective Eken Babu, said: “I met him so many times last month. He was fit for his age and we never thought something like this could happen to him.”
Best known for his Eken Babu stories, Dasgupta also wrote several novels including like Nibhrite, Sujan Katha, Goyenda Hajir and Manhattan-e-Manhunt.
Biker injured
A 30-year-old motorcyclist was injured after his motorbike was hit by a private bus on Bijon Setu in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge on Thursday morning.
Police said Tapas Haldar, a resident of Kasba, was taken to a private hospital where he was treated and discharged.
The cops have arrested the bus driver and impounded the vehicle
RKM EVENTS
The Ramakrishna Mission Lokasiksha Parishad and Agricultural Training Centre of the Ramakrisha Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, inaugurated its 54th annual celebration and Sri Ramakrishna Mela and exhibition at the ashrama on Friday. The events will continue till January 22. The Ramakrishna Mission Lokasiksha Parishad is holding exhibitions on drinking water, forest management and other issues as part of its rural development initiative. Agricultural Training Centre principal Manas Ghosh said the institute organised exhibitions on various aspects and technologies of agriculture. “Almost all types of winter vegetables along with off-season produce were presented,” he said. The annual celebration and Sri Ramakrishna Mela and exhibition were inaugurated by Swami Divyananda, Adhyaksha, Ramakrishna Math, Cossipore.
