Three men wanted in connection with a murder in Rajasthan, and believed to be hiding in Calcutta, sneaked into a residential complex near the Hyatt Regency hotel along EM Bypass late on Thursday night. They hid in a cornice before being spotted and apprehended.

CCTV footage captured one of the men dangling from a cornice, then jumping down to the ground in an escape attempt from the housing complex.

Residents of the complex said they saw at least three men of “strong build” jumping from one block to another, smoothly transferring across cornices.

“We spotted around three men hiding in the cornice of our housing complex. They were jumping from one block to another. They were of quite large builds, which scared us. When they realised we had seen them, they leapt onto the pipeline and climbed down the building,” said a resident of Purbachal Cluster IV along EM Bypass.

Neighbourhood witnesses added that the men fled the compound and ran towards a building housing IPS quarters. At least two of them were captured there; the third was later detained by a patrolling team from Phoolbagan police station in the vicinity.

“We received information about the suspicious movement of a few men who did not appear to be local. The patrolling team from Phoolbagan police station reached the complex and arrested them,” said an officer of Kolkata Police.

During further interrogation, the police discovered the three were suspects in a murder case in Rajasthan.

“We found that they were suspects in a murder case at Kuchaman police station in Didwana district of Rajasthan. Accordingly, the SHO of Kuchaman police station
was contacted, who also confirmed their involvement,” said Gaurav Lal, deputy commissioner of police (eastern suburban division), Kolkata Police.

The three have been detained and remain at Phoolbagan police station pending formal handover to Rajasthan Police for further investigation.