What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
A missing-person complaint in Murshidabad has unravelled into a chilling murder investigation involving an alleged financial dispute, a staged ransom call and the grisly dismemberment of a 36-year-old man.
Sujit Mondal, a bidi worker and known BJP supporter from Ward 13 of Dhulian Municipality, disappeared on August 28. His family filed a missing-person diary roughly eight hours later. What initially appeared to be a disappearance would soon reveal something far more sinister.
Police say CCTV footage became the first major breakthrough. At around 7:38 a.m. on August 28, Sujit was allegedly seen being taken by motorcycle into a rented house near Dhulian Dakbungalow More by one of the suspects. Investigators believe he was killed there within hours.
According to police, at around 1:30 p.m., one of the accused allegedly left the premises carrying bags containing parts of Sujit’s body. A second trip was reportedly made at approximately 2:55 p.m., when the remaining bags were allegedly taken away.
Yet the perpetrators allegedly attempted to create an entirely different narrative.
Police claim that after the murder, a ransom call was made to Sujit’s family using his mobile phone, with the abductors allegedly demanding money. Investigators say the SIM card was removed from Sujit’s phone and inserted into the mobile phone of Tajkira Bibi, enabling police to trace the calls and identify the suspects’ location.
By the early hours of August 29, police had arrested Samaul Haque and Tajkira Bibi from the rented house. Following their interrogation, investigators arrested Jani Sheikh, identified by police as Tajkira’s younger son-in-law.
The investigation then turned to motive.
Police say the central thread appears to be money. Samaul, a Farakka resident who owns a clothing shop and had previously worked as a driver at a bidi factory, allegedly knew Sujit from that period. Investigators believe Sujit had lent him several thousand rupees and that tensions escalated when he demanded repayment.
Police further allege that Samaul and Tajkira had been living together in Dhulian for seven or eight months while presenting themselves as husband and wife. Jani, a migrant worker who had been working in Sikkim, was allegedly brought back to participate in the killing.
On Friday, police finally recovered a severed leg from a canal in Samserganj. Investigators reportedly believe the recovered remains belong to Sujit. Searches continue for the rest of his body.
For Sujit’s family, an investigation that began with hope has instead become a desperate search for the remains of a son, husband and father, while investigators piece together the final hours of a life allegedly ended over a dispute that began with money.
