Police on Sunday arrested Ujjwal Soren, 24, a final-year MBBS student of Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH), who was in a relationship with Anindita Soren, 24, a final-year MBBS student of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital who died under mysterious circumstances on Friday.

Sources said that preliminary investigations suggest that Anindita had consumed several paracetamol tablets just before her death.

Anindita’s mother, Alpana Tudu, lodged a written complaint against Ujjwal on Saturday, stating he “might have forced her to consume the tablets”. She also accused him of refusing to marry Anindita.

The mother claimed that this resulted in Anindita’s death.

Anindita, who was admitted to MMCH on Thursday, died on Friday morning en route to Calcutta for treatment.

Ujjwal was detained on Saturday evening. He was finally arrested on Sunday and produced in court.

“The court sent him to a six-day police remand,” said a source.

Sources said that the accused has been constantly denying any role in his girlfriend’s mysterious death.

“We think Ujjwal Soren should be grilled further to obtain more information that might help solve the mystery behind Anindita Soren’s death,” said a senior police officer.

The police have learnt that Anindita consumed a large number of paracetamol tablets which led to her death.

“We are yet to get her post-mortem report. What we are trying to know is whether the medical student consumed those tablets on her own because of tremendous mental stress or whether she was forced to consume those tablets,” said a police source.

The police are looking to obtain the prescriptions and the treatment sheets from MMCH where Anindita was admitted on Thursday.

“Those documents are crucial for investigation,” police said.

As part of the investigation police will also be speaking to the doctors who treated Anindita in MMCH for their observations.

“If necessary, the police would speak to the MMCH officials too,” the source said.

Alpana, Anindita’s mother, had on Saturday alleged that Ujjwal summoned her daughter to Malda on September 8 and the duo spent three nights together in a hotel
in Malda.

“We will examine the register of the hotel to see the relationship they stated in the register. We will speak to the manager and the employees of the hotel and check the CCTV footage to get more details,” a police source said.

The girl’s mother had alleged that Anindita and Ujjawal had married in a temple in Odisha nearly four months ago following an eight-month-long affair.

“My daughter got pregnant and had to undergo an abortion in a nursing home in Calcutta. On August 6, she returned home to Balurghat in South Dinajpur district,” the mother said.

“On September 8, Ujjwal asked her to meet him in Malda. I was in touch with Anindita over the phone. She sounded feeble and unwell on Thursday. Later, we learnt that she was admitted to MMCH by Ujjwal on the same day. She died on Friday while being taken to Calcutta for better treatment on the reference of MMCH,” the mother added.

Neighbours of Anindita’s family in Balurghat are in shock following her death.

Nanda Saha, a homemaker in the locality, said: “Anindita was a well-behaved, quiet and studious girl. We never thought that her life would end so tragically.”

While the role of Ujjwal in Anindita’s death is not clear yet, this is the second high-profile death of a young woman in the state in recent times after a romantic relationship soured.

On August 25, Krishnanagar in Nadia was stunned by the murder of Ishita Mullik, 18, when her estranged boyfriend Deshraj Singh, 19, allegedly stormed into her home and shot her thrice in the head. Ishita had severed ties with Deshraj over his anger issues.