The Nadia house where Tagore’s sister Saudamini Devi lived. Picture by Subhashish Chowdhury

Krishnagar, Nov. 22: A Nadia house where Rabindranath Tagore’s sister Saudamini Devi lived and the poet often visited sparked a feud between two prospective buyers leading to the murder of one last night.

The mutilated body of farmer Sunil Ghosh, 52, a resident of Dignagar on the outskirts of Krishnagar town, was found early today outside an under-construction building.

A police officer said both Ghosh and grocer Sukumar Debnath wanted to buy the house in Dignagar.

“Today, Ghosh was supposed to make an advance payment to the family that now owns the house,” the officer said.

Ghosh’s elder son Samir alleged that his father was murdered by criminals hired by Debnath. “Debnath was trying to persuade current owner Jiten Sen to sell the house, or at least a part of it, to him,” Samir said.

The single-storey house is located inside a 15-cottah compound that also has a pond and rows of coconut and betel nut trees.

“My father had agreed to pay Rs 16 lakh for the property. He was excited about the house because of its association with Rabindranath Tagore,” said Samir, who runs a cellphone shop.

Samir said that after Sen rejected Debnath’s proposal, the latter “approached my father”. “But my father refused.”

Sen did not want to speak on the issue.

The police arrested Debnath and his aide Sanjoy Durlabh today.

Nadia police chief S.R. Mishra said: “Debnath confessed during interrogation that he was involved in Ghosh’s murder.”

Another officer said: “Durlabh called Ghosh over to the under-construction building last night on the pretext of negotiations. When Ghosh reached the spot, hired goons hacked him to death.”

Sanjit Dutta, a librarian who wrote the book Phulodore Bandha-Nadia Rabindranath on Tagore’s association with the district, said Saudamini Devi came to the house after getting married to Sharadaprasad Gangopadhyay.

“Tagore had visited his sister in the house several times. The house was sold by Gangopadhyay’s descendants to the Sen family of Krishnagar in the 1940s,” Dutta said.