In Kolkata’s Kumartuli, during a morning yoga session, locals became suspicious of two women struggling to drag a purple suitcase towards the Ganga. After confronting them, the women claimed it contained their dog but later admitted it held the body of Sumita Ghosh, the aunt of one woman, Falguni Ghosh. Police apprehended Falguni and her mother, Aarati Ghosh, after discovering CCTV footage of them arriving with the suitcase. Preliminary investigations revealed they had lived in Madhyamgram for over two years. This incident follows a recent triple murder in Tangra, deepening the city’s fears of rising violence.
Kolkata:
A seemingly ordinary morning along the ghats of the Ganga in Kolkata, close to Kumartuli, turned nightmarish for a group of locals who had come for their daily yoga practice.
Kumartuli is known as the center for sculptors who create idols for Durga Puja, but it remains a tranquil neighborhood for most of the year.
This morning, around 7:30, the men noticed two women exiting a white and blue cab while struggling to pull a purple trolley suitcase towards the river.
Their inability to move the suitcase together raised suspicions among the yoga practitioners, prompting them to approach the women with questions.
However, the women appeared evasive and refused to allow anyone to touch the suitcase. Heightened suspicions led the locals to contact the neighborhood police, and what was discovered shocked everyone.
Inside the suitcase, wrapped in bloodstained clothing, lay the body of a woman.
“They insisted on not opening the case and claimed it contained the body of their dog, a labrador,” recounted Raja Sau, who oversees the yoga camp. “We were in disbelief. How heavy could a lab be? 30 or 40 kilos? How could they struggle to move the suitcase together, especially when it was a trolley?”
This exchange persisted for over half an hour, during which more than 50 bystanders gathered around.
“As everyone pressured them, one of the women finally revealed that it contained the body of the girl’s sister-in-law who had allegedly committed suicide. But if that was true, why would they dispose of it in such a manner? One would typically take such a person to the hospital or notify the police,” he continued.
When the woman ultimately confessed that the suitcase contained a dead body, the local officer summoned reinforcements.
The police apprehended the women on the scene, later identifying them as Falguni Ghosh and her mother Aarati Ghosh. The deceased woman was Sumita Ghosh, the aunt-in-law of Falguni.
Locals reported that a train ticket was discovered in possession of the two women, leading to initial speculation that they traveled from Kazipara to Kumartuli by train. However, police have obtained CCTV footage from Madhyamgram, a nearby area, showing them transporting the suitcase in a cart to a taxi stand. It turned out they had taken a cab directly to Kumartuli, according to police reports.
Sources indicated that the women resided in Madhyamgram. Initial investigations showed that the mother and daughter had rented an accommodation there for over two years.
Local sources noted that strangers were frequently observed visiting the house at night, though no one had substantive details as the family tended to keep to themselves.
A few nights ago, a woman was seen visiting the house late at night, according to sources. Investigations are ongoing.
This incident follows closely on the heels of a triple murder in Tangra that has sent shockwaves through the city. Last week, two women and a girl were discovered dead in a house after the men in the family crashed a car on the city’s Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the early hours.
The men — Pranay and Prasun Dey — claimed they attempted suicide and that the women had also taken their own lives. However, the police now state that the women — the wives of the two brothers and the daughter of one — were murdered, with the men as prime suspects. An arrest is expected once the men recover from their injuries.