In Kolkata, class 10 students Atanu Dey and Abhishek Naskar were strangled in a moving car
The prime accused in the double murder of school students in Kolkata last month was arrested today while he was trying to slip out of the city. Satyendra Choudhury, 30, the alleged mastermind, was arrested from Howrah railway station by a special police team, officials confirmed. He has been sent to 14 days of police custody by the court.
According to police sources, the accused had switched off his mobile phone since the incident and was using multiple SIMs. However, police were keeping a tab on his relatives' phones and finally got his exact location when he called one of them, asking for money. Soon, a police team from Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate reached Howrah station premises and arrested Choudhury from outside a travel agency's office.
Class 10 students Atanu Dey and Abhishek Naskar were strangled in a moving car on August 22 and their bodies were dumped at two separate points in a canal in Basirhat near Kolkata. The bodies were finally identified by the victims' families last Tuesday in the police morgue.
An attempt to swindle Rs 50,000, on the pretext of selling a motorbike, had allegedly led to the murders.
The incident has brought to light a glaring lack of coordination within the police department. The bodies, found by Basirhat police, remained in the police morgue for more than two weeks, despite the victims' families having already approached Baguiati Police Station for help after the duo went missing.
The double murder had shocked the city and the families of the victims accused the police of insensitivity and negligence for not having acted on their complaints. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee then pulled up the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate and issued stern instructions to catch the culprits. The Inspector-In-Charge of Baguiati Police Station and a Sub-Inspector were suspended for dereliction of duty.