KOLKATA: Details emerging from various financial statements of the elderly couple, who were found murdered at their
Bansdroni
residence last Tuesday, have confirmed that they had more wealth at their disposal than initially thought of. The accused — who was “extremely close to the victims” — was well aware of their financial details.
Police have found another
account
of the victims — Dilip Mukherjee (78) and Swapna (71) —with
Allahabad Bank
. This is the fifth account that
cops
have stumbled on. “Interestingly, while Dilip had about Rs 3.5 lakh in his three accounts, the rest was found in the name of his wife,” said an officer.
According to investigators, call records of the couple are important for the probe. “The calls show that someone had received certain calls around the house. The fact that someone instructed the killers to move ahead with the specific instruction that Swapna was coming to open the door on the ground floor (they lived on the first floor) cannot be ruled out. We believe everything was planned well in advance by the main accused,” said an officer.
A statement from one of the neighbours, who stays behind Mukherjee’s house, will be crucial for the investigation. “As per his statement, it was raining between 10.30pm and 11pm. It was somewhere after 11pm that he saw light from inside the Mukherjee residence. He found it odd given that the Mukherjees usually went to sleep early. Since technical evidence shows the cellphones of the victims were switched off after 11.30pm, we have now zeroed in on the time within which we believe the murders took place,” claimed a source.
There is one more aspect of Dilip that needs further probe. “He ran a successful waterproofing business and hence knew a number of labourers. Since several of them trusted him, they left their hard earned-money with him,” explained an officer. At least 22 casual labourers had worked on plastering the ceiling and then painting the house over the last two months. All of them work for a couple of contractors who had easy access to the house. “We have been able to trace three of about seven casual labourers who worked in that house so far. They have been detained for questioning. We are looking for the rest,” said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
The cops, who spoke to Mukherjees’ family members residing at Lords Bakery and the lawyer who represented the family, have also ruled out the possibility of the murders being executed over a “missing will”.