Mother & son booked for Salt Lake murder

Calcutta, May 7: Two days after the death of 30-year-old Sanjukta Mukherjee, police have started a murder case against her husband and mother-in-law.

Arindam Sarkar and his mother Jinjira, who were arrested yesterday, were produced in the Bidhannagar sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court today. They were remanded in judicial custody after the magistrate rejected their bail petition.

?There is enough evidence against Arindam and his mother to indicate that they were involved in the crime,? said public prosecutor Anjan Chowdhury.

According to police sources, primary medical reports have revealed traces of poison in Sanjukta’s stomach.

The 30-year-old was found dead in her Salt Lake home on Thursday afternoon, 20 days after she got married.

Arindam, a software engineer working for a multi-national company, and his mother were arrested after Sanjukta’s father lodged a complaint alleging murder.

Police officers said the mother and son are being interrogated.

The two have pleaded innocence, the sources said. ?However, there have been several inconsistencies in their statements, which are helping us solve the case,? said a senior official of Salt Lake police station.

The police are also probing whether Sanjukta was forced to consume poison. ?It is extremely unusual for a woman to commit suicide within 20 days of her marriage but we are exploring all possible angles,? said an officer.

He pointed out that although Sanjukta was found dead around 6 pm, her husband returned from office only at 8.30. ?It is surprising that he was not contacted earlier, despite the fact that he was carrying a mobile phone.?

The officer added that the police are waiting for the post-mortem report.

The police had said yesterday that Arindam has been suffering from a neurological disorder for some time and is on regular medication. Sanjukta had apparently told her family that if Arindam did not take medicines on time, he turned violent.

Sanjukta’s father Samar Mukherjee today said he would go to any lengths to ensure that Arindam and his mother are brought to book. ?I have lost my daughter but this must not happen to others,? he said. ?I never thought this would happen to her. She was killed in a planned manner.?

He added that ?there must have been some secret? of the Sarkar family that Sanjukta came to know, which is why she was eliminated.

Shakuntala Dutta, Arindam’s aunt, claimed the mother and son were innocent. ?One of our relatives found her lying on the bed and then she was rushed to two private hospitals. The first one refused to admit her and she died on the way to the second,? she said.

The defence lawyer said although Sanjukta’s family has accused the Sarkars of torture, she had not filed any complaint with the police.

Sanjukta’s death comes close on the heels of another alleged family murder, that of Pritha Nag.

Anish Biswas, a lawyer arrested in connection with the case, was produced in court today.

Biswas is believed to be close to Pritha’s sister Ileena Dasgupta and brother-in-law Prabir, the prime suspects.

The couple will be produced in court on May 13.