Two men were arrested in the late hours of Tuesday (March 11, 2025) from Kalyani Expressway on the outskirts of Kolkata, allegedly trying to dispose of the body of a Rajasthani businessman packed inside a trolley bag.
Rahul Adhikari, the driver of the app-based cab service that the two accused had booked to reach Kalyani Expressway, stopped a passing police vehicle when he grew suspicious of the weight of the trolley bag and the dubious behaviour of his two passengers.
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The incident comes days after two women from West Bengal’s Madhyamgram were caught trying to dispose of a dead body by throwing a trolley bag in the Ganges in Kolkata’s North Port Police Station area.
“The booking came on an app. After I dropped them off here, I noticed their luggage was very heavy. I asked them what was inside the bag. They said the bag contained kurtis (items of clothing), but I did not believe them. I also asked them why they were deboarding at such a secluded place at this hour, and what they would do with the kurtis there. Finally, I asked them to open the bag and show me,” Mr. Adhikari told media persons late on Tuesday night.
He added that the “Madhyamgram incident” was on his mind.
The accused was picked up from Nagerbazar in North 24 Parganas and dropped off roughly 15 km away, near Muragacha More on the Kalyani Expressway under the Ghola Police Station area.
“By then, they had paid the fare that was showing on the app and were willing to pay a bribe for me to leave them be. Right then I saw a police car and signalled it to stop. The two tried to run away. I immediately caught one of them,” Mr. Adhikari said.
The police patrol of the Ghola Police Station opened the trolley bag and found the body of a deceased man, taped in parts. A bag, an ATM card, a knife, blood-stained plastic, and a nylon rope were recovered from Karan Singh, one of the passengers who was caught on the spot.
The other accused, Krishna Ram Singh, fled, and was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday in central Kolkata.
According to police, the deceased was identified as Bhagaram Singh, a garment trader who originally hailed from Rajasthan’s Pali.
The two accused were arrested, and the victim’s body sent for post-mortem.
A senior police official said, prima facie, it appeared that the victim had been strangled and his throat slit. Initial interrogation revealed that the victim owed a large amount of money to the accused, and was unable to pay it.
According to the initial findings of the police, the victim was brutally murdered at around 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday morning at a godown at Muktaram Street. CCTV footage from the area is also being examined.
Published – March 12, 2025 10:27 pm IST
