Two young masons have been arrested for the death of an ailing 62-year-old man, who was murdered while he was alone at his Baguiati home in October.

Sunil Chaki, who ran a business in wood products till a stroke restricted his movement, was found dead with his throat slit in his two-storeyed house in Baguiati’s Schoolpara on October 24.

Animesh Byapari, 21, and Pradip Mondal, 20, were picked up from their Rajarhat houses on Saturday night. The duo have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 453 (punishment for house trespass) and 380 (theft). They had been accused of murder in an earlier case too. The police said Animesh and Pradip have admitted to the crime.

“Animesh, who worked at Chaki’s house for many days in August, had masterminded the plan,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate. “During his stint with the Chakis, Animesh had stolen some items like a cell phone and gold ornaments from the house.”

During the daytime Chaki used to be alone at home as wife Nupur and their two sons would be at their offices.

The duo allegedly went to Chaki’s home around 3.30pm on October 24 . After Animesh rang the doorbell, Chaki came out on the first-floor balcony and dropped him the keys.

“Animesh opened the lock and went upstairs. After exchanging pleasantries with Chaki, Animesh left the house. But on his way out he stole the duplicate key to the main door that was kept on the fridge,” said an officer.

Around 20 minutes later, Animesh and Pradip entered the house after opening the main door with the stolen key.

“They went to a first-floor room adjacent to Chaki’s bedroom. They stole three gold ornaments and a few gold-plated items. They then entered Chaki’s bedroom and were trying to steal a camera from a cupboard when the 62-year-old woke up,” said an officer of Baguiati police station.

Animesh, fearing that Chaki would report the burglary to police, allegedly hit him on the head and neck with a hammer.

“To ensure his death, Animesh slashed Chaki’s throat with a sickle,” said Santosh Nimbalkar, the additional deputy commissioner of police, Bidhannagar.

The duo then allegedly took all the keys and came downstairs. “They closed the door and threw the keys away at 4.30pm. We will take them out to trace the stolen items,” said Tarakshanker Bhattacharjee, the officer-in-charge of Baguiati police station.

The duo have been sent to five days’ police remand.