Saurav Puri, 22, who was arrested from Punjab in connection with the murder of Garcha resident Urmila Devi, had allegedly kept stabbing the 65-year-old woman till her body had turned motionless, police officers said after interrogating the youth and the victim’s 18-year-old granddaughter Kanika.
While Saurav kept stabbing Urmila, the victim’s granddaughter pressed a pillow on her face to prevent her from shouting, police said.
However, when Urmila’s body kept moving despite 24 stab wounds, Saurav allegedly decided to behead her and rip open her intestines to ensure her death, he is said to have told the investigators after his arrest on Friday night.
Saurav, who has a diploma in pathology and is a distant relative of Kanika’s mother Dimple, was informally engaged to the 18-year-old.
He would often come to Calcutta to meet Kanika. Sources said, Saurav’s contact number was saved as “Heart Beat” in Dimple’s phone.
“He was promised the Ritchie Road flat, a business set up in Calcutta and Kanika for marriage if he helped Dimple eliminate the eldest member of the family, Urmila Devi. He was staying in Calcutta for the last 15 days,” said an officer.
A CCTV footage that the police found from a camera installed at the Hazra Road-Panditiya Road crossing showed a person resembling Saurav crossing the road with a dog following him early on Thursday. A few minutes later, Kanika was seen walking along the same route, the police said.
After recording the statement of all the three accused, police officers have been able to ascertain the possible sequence of the events on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Kanika had returned home after delivering dinner at her grandmother’s home at Garcha First Lane around 10pm. She had gone back to the house at 11.30pm and knocked the door.
“Urmila had opened the door and allowed Kanika in. After sometime, Saurav had reached the spot and was allowed entry by Kanika, who was carrying Dimple’s mobile phone at the time of the incident,” an investigator said.
Dimple and Kanika were produced before the Alipore court on Saturday and were remanded in police custody for 10 days. A Patiala court in Punjab gave a five-day transit remand to bring Saurav to Calcutta.