Subhas Halder, 52, husband of Mithu Halder, recounted that afternoon last December when his elder son Vicky offered him a glass of soft drink after lunch at the family’s rented house in Diamond Harbour.
He said he felt dizzy immediately after having the drink and Mithu, Vicky and younger son Bilash used the opportunity to try to kill him for money after tying up his hands and legs and covering his face with duct tapes.
“I’m relieved that Mithu has been arrested and I hope Vicky is arrested soon,” Subhas told Metro on Thursday.
“All these months I have been living in fear that my wife and elder son would kill me someday.”
Mithu and Vicky are key accused in the murder of Subir Chaki, managing director of Kilburn Engineering Ltd, and his driver. The two were found dead in Chaki’s ancestral house on Kankulia Road, off Golpark.
Subhas, who works as an electrician, said Vicky attacked him on December 12, 2020.
“The soft drink was comforting and I soon felt dizzy. When I woke up, I found myself completely covered with white duct tapes. I could barely breathe,” recounted Subhas.
Mithu and her two sons had been arrested but were released on bail.
Subhas alleged that Mithu, Vicky and his youngest son Bilash had tried to strangle him.
He said he married Mithu nearly three decades back and settled in a one-room rented apartment in Kumarpara Lane in Kasba, close to Kankulia Road. As an electrician he worked in a number of apartments and houses on Ballygunge Park Road.
“In 2012, Mithu had moved out with his two sons,” Subhas said.
Around the Puja last year, Vicky turned up at Kumarpara Lane riding a white Ambassador to meet his father. Subhas recalled Vicky telling him that he worked as a superintendent at Metro Railway in Mumbai and made a lot of money.
He apparently told his father that he wanted to buy an apartment.
Vicky also said to have told his father and uncle Khokhon, who lived in an adjoining house in the lane, that he had married and was the father of twin daughters.
“Early last year, I contacted Subir Chaki's mother with the help of a local youth, Raju, who worked as a sweeper for the Chakis at the Kankulia Road house. I wanted to buy a small part of the house, which Raju told me was for sale,” Subhas said.
“When I leant that the entire house was on sale, I gave up the effort. However, when Vicky told me he was looking for a house, I referred him to this one.”
Over the next three months Vicky and Subhas grew close with Vicky often visiting his father and uncle from Diamond Harbour.
The father and son even had long discussions about how much money they could raise to buy an apartment. During one such discussion, the 52-year-old told Vicky that he had several lakhs of rupees in the bank and also spoke about his share in their ancestral property in South 24-Parganas.
“I had told Vicky that Rs 1.2 crore that Chaki had been asking for the house was beyond me,” Subhas said.
After it became clear that Subhas had substantial savings in the bank, Vicky invited him to visit his wife in Diamond Harbour. That was when he allegedly tried to murder Subhas.
“My wife and Vicky are deadly. They should be behind bars. At least I would be able to breathe free then,” Subhas said.