Abducted businessman Shanti Lal Baid, 63, was found murdered in a guesthouse early on Tuesday, around three hours after his family paid a ransom of Rs 25 lakh near the south gate of the Victoria Memorial.
Baid, who ran a jewellery store in Burrabazar in northwest Kolkata, was found dead and without any clothes in a guesthouse on Sambhunath Pandit Street, less than a kilometre from his house on Lee Road in south-central Kolkata.
Police said they were looking for a man named V. Sharma. “Tracking his phone number, which we got from Baid’s phone, we have come to know that his last tower location was in Howrah on Monday night,” said an officer.
Officers said the man who took the money from inside a moving taxi threw out a phone before fleeing.
The cops deployed at the spot, following an alert from the family, failed to intercept the vehicle because of lack of illumination and the presence of similar yellow cabs on the stretch.
The phone turned out to be Baid’s. It’s location history led the police to the guesthouse on Sambhunath Pandit Street, where the businessman’s body was found in room number 20 after 1am.
The police said a cable attached to the landline phone in the room was used to strangle him.
“It was apparent that Baid had been dead by the time the ransom was handed over,” said an officer.
Baid had last left home around 6.40pm on Monday, telling family members that he was going out to buy paan (betel leaf). Around 7.05pm, the family received the first ransom call.
The caller said Baid had been kidnapped and would be released only if the family paid Rs 25 lakh, a member of the family said.
The caller allegedly said Baid would be killed and photographs and videos showing him in objectionable conditions circulated if the ransom was not paid.
The kidnapper also apparently said Baid would reach the Victoria Memorial half-an-hour after the payment.
The family then contacted Lalbazar and a trap was laid to nab the kidnapper at the south gate of the Victoria Memorial, where the money was to change hands.
A source in the family said they were not aware in which car the kidnapper or his associate would come to collect the money.
A taxi slowed down in front of a relative of the businessman who was standing with the money. A man inside the taxi rolled down a window and asked the relative to throw the money inside.
After the bag containing the money was thrown into the taxi, the man hurled a phone. The taxi then sped off and turned left on Cathedral Road.
The police said they were suspecting a man named V. Sharma, 28, who is from Delhi and came to Kolkata at least thrice in the past one-and-a-half years to meet Baid.
The two would meet at the Sambhunath Pandit Street guesthouse where the businessman was found murdered.
Investigators said they had found evidence that Baid used to pay Sharma during his visits to Kolkata. A team of officers has left for Delhi.
“The body of S.L. Baid was found in a hotel in the Bhowanipore area last night. He had gone to the hotel with a person, who, according to the hotel authorities, introduced Baid as his uncle. Later, the person left the hotel without checking out. Further, Baid’s family members informed that they had received a ransom call that evening. We are investigating the matter,” said joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
Labourer found dead
A 35-year-old man was found dead near a water body in Sarsuna with injury marks on him early on Tuesday.
Joydeb Sil, a resident of Khudiram Pally, Talpukur Road, left home early on Monday, his family has told police. He was a labourer who did painting jobs. Sil was declared dead at Vidyasagar State General Hospital. The post-mortem report revealed the death was because of a disease in the pancreas.
Our Special Correspondent