Four of family found dead in Manicktala apartment

KOLKATA: Four members of a family were found dead in a Manicktala apartment on Monday evening. Prima facie, it appeared that a 38-year-old man committed suicide after killing his wife and two children. Police found the decomposed bodies from the locked apartment, but the cops are yet to confirm the time and the cause of the deaths.
The victims have been identified as Prabin Das (38), his wife Sandhya (30), son Prasanta(14) and daughter Deepsikha(10).The family used to reside in a ground floor flat at BRS quarters at 17, Bagmari Lane. Neighbours claimed none of the victims were seen since Saturday night. Nirmal Mondal, a vegetable vendor who used to keep his belongings at Prabin's veranda, on Monday morning found the apartment locked.
"I kept knocking at their door since early morning. Though the door was closed from inside, no one responded," said Mondal. After repeated attempts, Mondal informed locals in the evening, who in turn called up cops at Manicktala police station. Police broke into the flat later in the day and found the entire family dead.
Deputy commissioner (Eastern suburban division) Satyajit Banerjee said, "It's a single-bedroom flat. Prabin was found hanging from the ceiling. His wife and two children were on the ground. All three have bleeding injuries on their heads, which possibly caused their death."
According to a detective department officer, the scene of crime suggests that Prabin killed three and then hanged self. Investigators, however, did not rule out a pre-planned murder. "It is difficult to kill three persons at a time. May be Prabin drugged their food and then killed them," said an investigator.
One of the neighbours - an elderly woman - said Prabin was staying in the flat for past 18 years. " Even Prabin got married here. They married at a mass marriage organized by then Congress leader Paresh Pal," said one of the neighbours.
She said she met Prabin's daughter Deepasikha on Saturday afternoon. "Deepsikha told me that she was promoted to Class VI. They had a plan to visit Digha on Sunday to celebrate Christmas," she added.
Rabin Kundu, the next-door neighbour of the family, also corroborated that till late on Saturday he had seen the family members. "I did hear some hot altercation in their room," said Rabin, who confirmed the family was facing financial crunch. A probe revealed Prabin, a driver by profession, was suffering from mental illness. He underwent treatment in a hospital for more than a month recently. His wife Sandhya used to work as a domestic help and son Prasanta was a Class-IX student. According to locals, Prabin was originally from Assam and his wife from east Midnapore. "We never noticed any of their relatives," said a neighbour.
Locals claimed Prabin was depressed as he lost his job following his mental sickness. "He used to drink and the relation between the couple became strained over the last few months," said Kundu.
Police found cash Rs 5000 in Prabin's pocket, which corroborates the statement of the locals that the family was planning to go Digha. " Meanwhile some trouble broke out between the couple and Prabin killed all three," said an investigator.
Officers confirmed that a blood-stained shovel was found inside the room, which possibly was the murder weapon.
"The family was possibly taking their meal at night. Cooked rice was found scattered inside the room. The boy has head injury and was frothing," said a detective department officer.
The investigators are yet to confirm the time of death but circumstantial evidences suggest that the incident took place late on Saturday. "The body did not decompose fully and neighbours did not get stench due to the chill," said Damayanti Sen, joint commissioner (crime). After visiting the spot, Sen upheld the initial finding that Prabin killed three and then killed self. "We have some leads. But we're still not sure about the cause of the murders and suicide," said Sen.
A 38 year old man committed suicide after killing his two children and wife at an east Kolkata apartment. Their decomposed bodies were recovered from their locked room on Monday evening.
The victims have been identified as Prabin Das (38), his wife Sandhya (30), son Prasanta(14) and daughter Deepsikha(10). The family was a resident of a ground floor flat at BRS quarters at 17, Bagmari Lane of Kankurgachhi.
The neighbours of the family claimed that since Saturday night they did not spot any one of the victims which raised a suspicion. On Monday morning Nirmal Mondal, a vegetable vendor who used to keep his belongings at Das's veranda found their room locked since morning. "Since early morning I have knocking their door. But none responded. Door was closed from inside" said Mondal. After repeated attempt in the evening Mondal informed locals who called up police at Maniktala police station who broke into the flat and found the entire family dead.
Deputy commissioner (Eastern suburban division) Satyajit Banerjee said, " It's a single bedroom flat. Prabin was found hanging from the ceiling. Wife and two childen were on the ground. All three have bleeding injuries on their head, which possibly caused their death."
The scene of crime suggest that Prabin killed three and then hanged self, said a detective department officer. Investigators however not ruled out a pre planned murder. " It is difficult to kill three persons at a time. May be Prabin mixed up some drug in their food and then killed," said an investigator.
One of the neighbours - an elderly woman claimed that for past 18 years Prabin was staying in the flat. " Even Prabin got married here. They married at a mass marriage organized by then Congress leader Paresh Pal," said one of the neighbours. She said that she met Prabin's daughter Deepasikha on Saturday afternoon. " Deepsikha told me that she was promoted to class VI. They had a plan to visit Digha on Sunday during Christmas," said one of the neighbours. Rabin Kundu, the next door neighbour of the family also corroborated that till late on Saturday he noticed the family. " I heard some hot altercation in their room," said Rabin, who confirmed that the family was running with financial crunch.
Probe revealed that Prabin, a driver by profession was suffering from mental illness and recently was also admitted in a hospital for more than a month. His wife Sandhya used to work as a domestic help and son Prasanta was a class IX student. Locals said Prabin was originally from Assam and his wife was from east Midnapore. " We never noticed any of their relatives," said a neighbour.
Locals claimed that following his mental sickness he lost his job and was depressed. " He used to drink and in past few months the relation between the couple was not going smooth," said Kundu.
Police found cash Rs 5000 in the pocket of Prabin which corroborate the statement of the locals that the family might be planning to go Digha. " Meanwhile some trouble broke out between the couple and Prabin killed all three," said an investigator. Officers confirmed that a shovel with blood stain was found inside the room, which possibly was the murder weapon. " The family was possibly taking their meal at night. As cooked rice and other food were found scattered inside the room. The boy has head injury and was frothing," said a detective department officer.
The investigators yet to confirm the time of death but circumstantial evidences suggest that late on Saturday the incident happen. " Due to winter the body decomposed late and neighbours did not get stench," said Damayanti Sen, Joint Commissioner Crime. After visiting the spot, Sen corroborated the initial finding that Prabin killed three and then killed self. " We have some leads. But still not sure about the cause of murder following suicide," said Sen.