A 27-year-old man, who had entered the house of 72-year-old Kalyan Bhattacharya in Nagerbazar responding to an advertisement for a driver, has been arrested for his murder and the theft of his BMW 6-series.
Sourav Mondal, a resident of Basirhat in North 24-Parganas, had allegedly wanted the BMW to drive his friends to Digha but the owner had refused, police said.
Mondal went to meet Bhattacharya on September 15 when he killed the latter. Mondal was arrested on Saturday morning after prolonged interrogation through Friday night after he was detained. He allegedly took the BMW 6-series to Digha with friends after killing the elderly man.
Bhattacharya’s BMW 6-series has been recovered from Mondal, the police said.
Mondal was identified through CCTV footage and call details of the deceased person.
“Sourav Mondal has confessed to his crime. He said he contacted Bhattacharya earlier this month after seeing an advertisement for a driver. He drove the BMW a few times. He said he had asked for the BMW for a trip to Digha with his friends. But when Bhattacharya refused, he got angry and as a result of an altercation, he killed Bhattacharya,” said deputy commissioner (south), Barrackpore commissionerate, Ajoy Prasad.
Bhattacharya’s post-mortem report has yet to arrive. The police said the report would confirm the exact cause of death.
Mondal locked the door from outside and fled with the key to the BMW 6-series.
Bhattacharya was found dead inside the house five days later after his niece reported him missing.
“Initially, according to the statement of a neighbour, we had thought that the incident had happened on September 17. After scanning the CCTV cameras in the area it became clear that the car was stolen on September 15,” said an officer.
Scanning CCTV cameras, including those of the toll plaza on Vidyasagar Setu, the police located the car and the location of Mondal in Digha.
Bhattacharya, who lived alone in the two-storeyed house, had a pet dog that too was missing, initially making the cops suspect that either it had been killed or had been stolen like the car.
“We found the dog was hiding behind an old unused dressing table in one of seven rooms that lay uninhibited for several years. It looked sick and had not been fed at least since last Wednesday when its master was killed,” said an officer.
The police have seized the BMW 6-series. The vehicle would be made to undergo mechanical tests. “We would examine the event data recorder to check if anyone other than Mondal drove the car,” said the officer.
Mondal was produced before the Barrackpore court on Saturday and remanded in police custody.
