A business associate of the slain trader Vikas Chandra Pal has been arrested for the murder. Police said Sanatan Dolui, 29, the accused, had also stolen lakhs from Pal’s house in Posta.

“Dolui has confessed that he strangled Pal,” said Damayanti Sen, joint commissioner of police (crime).

Sleuths said Pal had sold a plot he owned in Belda, West Midnapore, for Rs 6 lakh. Dolui allegedly stole most of the money after the murder. “We have recovered Rs 2 lakh from a cowshed in Dolui’s in-laws’ house in Danton in West Midnapore. He has deposited some money in his bank account and invested the rest in a saving scheme,” said an officer.

Code violation: CPM leaders of Salt Lake complained on Thursday that the Trinamul MLA of Belgachhia East, Sujit Bose, had violated the model code of conduct. They alleged that Bose had not removed the hoardings displaying his expenses from development funds. Bose said it was up to the poll panel to pull them down.

Trio held: Manab Biswas, Samar Kundu and Gopal Biswas were arrested in Lake Town on Wednesday for allegedly killing business rivals Uttam Das and Somenath Sarkar on January 16, 2008.

Stranded: Behala residents Sukanta Sengupta and Pratibad Sinha are stranded in Libya. Shila Sengupta and Gayatri Sinha, their wives, met Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee on Thursday requesting help to bring them home.