Darjeeling police have arrested two more suspects from Maharashtra for the murder of Pradip Ojha, 52, a jeweller and former teacher of a well-known ICSE school in Darjeeling.

Ajay G. Kumbhar, additional superintendent of police, said a police team arrested Sachin Deshmukh, 42, and Gautam Prakash Mali, 22, from Maharashtra on January 21.

On January 16, police arrested two suspects Nitin Popat Kale, 30, and Ashutosh Irkar, 21, from Darjeeling, who Ojha knew and who were also in the jewellery business.

Ojha was found injured with his hands, legs and mouth tied with tape at his Guddhi Road residence on January 12 by his son and a neighbour, and declared brought dead at Darjeeling district hospital.

Police said Sachin and Gautam came to Darjeeling on January 8 and stayed with Nitin and Ashutosh for a day before shifting to a hotel. Sachin and Gautam knew Ashutosh.

“Investigation suggests Nitin was the main conspirator. The motive was robbery,” said Kumbhar.

Nitin and another aide, currently on the run, allegedly kept watch outside the building while Ashutosh, Sachin and Gautam entered Ojha’s flat, police sources said.

“The arrested duo were sent in police remand for 10 days by the court of the chief judicial magistrate on Tuesday,” said Pankaj Prasad, assistant public prosecutor.

Police recovered Ojha’sjewellery and a phone from the arrested. However, Ojha’slaptop is still missing.

Ojha’s murder has come as a major shock for Darjeeling where the crime rate is relatively low.

Siblings accuse man of killing dad over land

Malda: A person, accused by siblings of killing his father over ancestral land in Malda, was detained for questioning on Tuesday.

Two sons and three daughters of deceased Satyanarayan Mandal, 65, of Nazirpur, Manikchak, alleged their brother Ashok strangulated their father for a 3.5 bigha plot. Police acted on their complaint.

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