Kolkata Businessman Killed, Buried, Wall Constructed on Interred Body; Mamata Visits Victim's House

Sudden construction of wall adjacent to a water tank raised suspicions among neighbours, who promptly alerted police. Preliminary probe revealed that the business partners killed Kolkata businessman Bhabo Lakhani, buried his body and constructed a wall on it. Two accused have been arrested. CM Mamata expressed shock and visited the victim's house as as her residence falls in the same area.

Kolkata : A city-based businessman was killed by hitting the head with a cricket wicket and later the body was buried next to the water tank, over which a wall was constructed in North 24 Parganas' Nimta. The alleged murder took place in the Rabindrapalli area of Nimta. The deceased businessman's name is Bhabo Lakhani, a resident of Bhowanipore, Kolkata.

The deceased businessman's business partners - Anirban Gupta and Suman Das - have been arrested by the police in connection with the incident. The cops from Ballygunge and Nimta Police Stations are jointly investigating the killing. According to police sources, the owner of the house from which the body was recovered is known to the deceased businessman. They used to do business together.

After the preliminary investigation, the police suspect that the murder was due to business enmity. A police officer, who did not wish to be named, said, "Based on the information, we have arrested two persons named Anirban Gupta and Suman Das. We are also investigating to check who else is involved in the incident."

It is learnt that the deceased businessman Lakhani had started living in Bhowanipore a few months ago. Sometimes he used to go out on business trips. According to his family, Lakhani was missing for several days. A complaint of kidnapping was filed by the family at Ballygunge police station. Based on the complaint, the police started the investigation. Soon after, his body was recovered from Bhabo's business partner's house in Rabindrapalli, Nimta.

The police went to the spot and saw that the body was buried and a wall was also constructed on it. Lakhani used to live in the same area as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The chief minister on her return to Kolkata from North Bengal straight went to the deceased's house and expressed shock at the crime.

Mamata described it as “pre-planned murder” and said that only persons with an extreme ‘criminal bent of mind’ can commit such a crime. Considering the gravity of the crime, Kolkata Police's homicide section took over the investigation. Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal accompanied Mamata.

Sources say that Gupta has confessed his crime following an interrogation in the presence of his accomplice Suman. According to the police, they found the body during a raid on Gupta’s house. The raid was prompted by neighbours' suspicion after they noticed sudden construction activity around the water tank. Following forensic and a post-mortem examination, it was revealed that the deceased was subjected to physical assault, with visible injury marks on his body, and the head.

According to police commissioner, the probe revealed that the accused had borrowed a significant amount of money from the deceased but failed to return it.

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