Two uncles and an aunt of Vicky Halder had sold their ancestral land and earned a lot of cash, with which they bought flats near Subir Chaki’s Kankulia Road house, off Golpark, in south Kolkata, police said.
Vicky is the prime accused in the murder of Subir Chaki, 61, managing director of Kilburn Engineering Ltd, and his driver. He is on the run.
Vicky’s father, Subhas Halder, has so far refused to sell his portion of their ancestral property in South 24-Parganas.
The youth and his mother, Mithu, became desperate for some quick cash after seeing their relatives make a lot of money and buy flats in Kolkata, the police have learnt after interrogating the woman and speaking to relatives and neighbours.
Mithu was arrested on Wednesday, three days after Chaki and his driver were found dead in the Kankulia Road house.
“Vicky came to know that Subhas has several lakhs in the bank and also has a share in their ancestral property. That, and the fact that Khokhon and Srinibas, his two uncles, have bought apartments at a prime location off Kankulia Road had possibly spurred him and his mother to think of some desperate ways to make some quick money,” said an officer of Kolkata police’s detective department.
Vicky’s aunt, too, has sold her share of the ancestral land and settled in Diamond Harbour, the police have learnt.
Seeing all their relatives well-settled, Vicky and his mother tried to kill Subhas at their rented house in Diamond Harbour last December with the intention to usurp his savings.
This October, they conspired to kill Chaki and rob cash and valuables from the Kankulia Road house.
Officers of the detective department of Kolkata police have learnt that Subhas's two younger brothers, Khokhon and Srinibas, had bought apartments on Jagannath Ghosh Road, near Kankulia Road, a year ago.
“Part of the money to buy the flats came from the sale of their share of their ancestral property in South 24-Parganas,” an officer said.
“Khokhon, a tea-stall owner, supplemented his earnings from the property sale with his savings. Srinibas used a part of his earnings from the sale of the land and the amount he won from a lottery. The apartments they bought are barely 500 metres from Chaki’s ancestral house.”
Subhas was reluctant to sell his share, the officer said.
“Vicky visited my apartment last October and kept talking, in English, about the dampness on the walls. Over the next few months he would meet Dada (Subhas) and keep discussing his savings and the money he could earn by selling his share of the ancestral property. Vicky told my brother that they could use the money to buy a property in the Ballygunge area,” Khokhon told this newspaper on Friday.
“The father and the son visited the house of the Chakis and we could make out that Vicky was desperate to raise money.”
Investigators said Vicky had possibly started dreaming of a life in a new property in Kolkata and targeted Subir after learning that he owned several properties.
“Vicky had met Raju, who worked as a sweeper for the Chakis at the Kankulia Road house, trying to find out about the owner. He even discussed the amount fixed for the sale of the three-storey house — Rs 1.5 crore,” Khokhon said. “Raju had told me that my brother and elder nephew were planning to buy the property and that he would get one per cent of the amount as brokerage.”
Investigators said that after the failed attempt to murder Subhas last December, Vicky and Mithu possibly hatched a plan to make some quick money by robbing Subir.