Barrackpore police have started a murder case in connection with the death of a 20-year-old youth who was found dead in his car in Birati on the night of Navami last week. Police had earlier written off the incident as a road accident.

The post-mortem report that came on Thursday — 10 days after the incident — suggested that the deceased youth had two bullet injuries prompting the police to start a murder case on Thursday.

A case has been started against unknown persons under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Debanjan Das, a resident of Daga Colony in Nimta, was returning home after dropping a woman home on the night of Navami when he is believed to have died.

He was found dead in his car that had crashed against a lamp post near rail gate No. 5 in Birati on the northern outskirts of Calcutta.

His family had alleged that despite their requests to start a murder case, the police had been delaying the process. Officers of Nimta police station said the family did not submit any complaint in writing till late on Thursday afternoon that too after the police had started a suo motu case.

Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma said the suo motu case was started based on the post-mortem report that suggested that the deceased had received two bullet wounds. “We are looking into the allegations (against Nimta police station) and reason of delay in starting a murder case,” Verma told Metro on Thursday. Sources said Debanjan had two bullet wounds — one on the left side of his neck and the other one on his right elbow. The bullets were shot from a close range, the nature of injury had suggested.

Debanjan’s father Arun Das was the first to raise an alarm when he had visited the police station a day after the incident. He had spotted that despite being recorded as road accident, the airbags were not activated.

“Had the car crashed, the airbags would have been activated. I found a bullet head in the car which the police had overlooked. I had been requesting the police to change the charges and start a murder case. We are suspecting that a youth who had relationship with my son’s girlfriend had killed my son,” the father said.

An officer of the Barrackpore commissionerate, however, said that the police station had asked the family to submit a written complaint which they had failed to do till on Thursday.

Another officer, however, said police should not have waited for the family complaint and the seizure of bullet heads and the external injuries on the body of the deceased should have prompted the Nimta police station to investigate the matter with the seriousness it deserved.

“Officers have started examining the girl whom Debanjan had apparently dropped last before the incident. His call records were also being examined to verify the claims of his father that Debanjan was getting threat calls from the girl’s former boyfriend.