Last call to slain techie haunts family

HOWRAH: Dipan Banerjee, the 25-year-old engineer found murdered in a Navi Mumbai flat on Wednesday, may have last spoken to his family members even as his would-be killers were swigging alcohol in his apartment.
Dipan's sister Somali had called him up around 7 pm on Tuesday. The techie told her that he was busy and would call back soon. Somali called again at 7.30 pm but her brother's cellphone was switched off.The family got worried when they found the phone switched off even at 10.30 pm.
Those who entered Dipan's flat after being alerted by his family in Howrah found two empty 180ml whisky bottles and a glass there. The engineer was a teetotaller and the preliminary autopsy report revealed no trace of alcohol in his stomach. This leads investigators to believe that the murderers were known to him and may have been in his flat when Somali called.
Dipan's father Asit Banerjee suspects that his son fell victim to parochialism. "In his phone conversations with us, Dipan often said how he was discriminated against in Mumbai. That is one of the prime reasons why three months ago, he moved out of a flat he was sharing with some others. He was also pursuing MBA and felt he would be able to study better if he lived alone," Asit told TOI on Friday.
Dipan's body with stab wounds was discovered at the Airoli apartment in Navi Mumbai late on Wednesday by his colleagues and acquaintances. They had been alerted by the Howrah-based family after they were unable to reach him on telephone on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The family also believes the killers were with Dipan when he last took the phone call from Somali.
"When Dipan said he was busy, we assumed he was at work. When he did not call back by 7.30pm, she tried the number but it was switched off. We called again after dinner at 10.30pm but it was still switched off. That is when we became worried. The next day we got alarmed and alerted the office," Asit said.
When the engineer failed to report to work on Wednesday, some of his colleagues in L&T went to his flat and found the door shut but unlocked. On entering, they found him splayed on the bathroom floor with stab wounds. "I am told that the veins of his hand and leg had been cut. His trouser, with the belt in place, lay nearby. Though some valuables like his laptop, cellphone and wallet are missing, robbery is not the only motive behind the gruesome killing," his father said.
The family believes there was more than one person in the room on the night of the murder. Somali and her husband Debjit Banerjee have already left for Mumbai to claim the body and cremate it there.