Woman accused of killing hubby, mom-in-law gets bail

GUWAHATI: A lower court here granted bail to the prime accused of the sensational double murder case that took place in Guwahati last year on certain conditions.

Sources said she reportedly obtain bail on grounds of non-submission of forensic report within the stipulated time.

The accused, Bandana Kalita (31), a gym trainer, with the help of two of her close associates - Arup Deka (27) and Dhanti Deka (32) - had allegedly first killed her mother-in-law, 62-year-old Sankari Dey, in her Zoo Road Tiniali residence in July last year and then killed her husband, Amarjyoti Dey (32), in his Noonmati flat, which is around 5km from Zoo Road, in August last year.

Police had filed a 1,400-page long chargesheet against the accused in May. The court in June rejected the bail petitions of the accused stating that there is every possibility of the accused absconding and influencing the witnesses and thereby hampering the trial.

However, Arup and Dhanti were granted bail recently and Bandana was granted bail on Thursday on certain conditions such as she will have to appear before the police at the police station where the case was registered twice a week.

Bandana's advocate, however, refused to talk more on the bail order stating that it would not be right to disclose everything as the matter is sub-judice.

Bandana, with the help of her accomplices, allegedly chopped the body of Sankari into pieces, packed in plastic sheets and disposed them of in Alieangriat village in Meghalaya around 3 am on July 27 last year while the body parts of Amarjyoti in the jungles of Dawki in Meghalaya on August 19.

The case made headway after Sankari's nephew Nirmalya Dey lodged a kidnapping case with the police in October end alleging Bandana's involvement in the abduction.

Still, police remained clueless about the killers. The cops then reworked the case in February and detained Bandana first for interrogation, during which she confessed to the crime. Later, police arrested her and the other two accused based on her statement.