Three men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ashok and Rashmita Shah but the alleged mastermind is yet to be rounded up.
The Telegraph spoke to police officers, and relatives and family friends of the Shahs to find out more about the accused.
Ratnakar Nath, alias Baya, 39: Originally from Odisha, Nath lived at 34 Golabari Bhattanagar in Liluah, Howrah. The police said his native place was at Brindabanpur village in Jajpur district of Odisha. People who know Nath said he had claimed to be working for a news channel in Odisha and had of late shifted to Kolkata as a member of the “Democratic Cell” of the Kolkata chapter of the channel.
The police said they had found on him a “Press Card” for covering Gangasagar Mela in 2021 and 2022. “We are yet to verify his credentials with the news channel whose identity card has been found on him,” an officer said.
Subodh Kumar Singh, 45: A resident of 19 Rabindra Sarani in Liluah, Singh is originally from Bihar but has been living in Kolkata for many years now. The police said Singh was the one who had arranged the gun with which Rashmita Shah was shot. Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal said Singh had been arrested earlier. Sources said the identity card for a monthly railway ticket and Rs 30 were found on him at the time of arrest. “He had worked at a private firm but is now unemployed,” an officer said. Sources said Singh had admitted to have been the first to stab Shah.
Jatin Mehta, 44: The police said Mehta was a resident of an apartment at 21 Rabindra Sarani in Liluah and was unemployed. “According to his statement, his wife is now the only earning member in his house,” said an officer. Mehta was apparently known to the prime accused, a relative of the Shahs, from before.
“Earlier, he used to live in Howrah’s Shaktinagar. Later, he shifted to his present address,” a person known to Mehta said.
The source added Mehta did not have a permanent job and was often involved in odd jobs.
An officer said the accused trio had told the police that Mehta, too, had stabbed Shah.
Alleged mastermind: The police did not name the person but said he was a relative of the slain couple.
Police sources and relatives of the Shahs said this man, a resident of Liluah, lost his brother to Covid and was being pursued by Shah to repay the loan his brother had taken.
“He does not have a permanent job. Most of his life he has spent in Gujarat. He came to Kolkata only four years ago,” said a family friend who knows him and also knew his brother.
His brother’s widow lives in Chakraberia in south Kolkata, not far from the murdered couple’s apartment. Another resident of Bhowanipore who knew the alleged mastermind said he was “a little erratic and hot-headed”.
“He is prone to losing temper. He was a property broker and did other such odd jobs,” the family source said.
The police said he was planning to repay some of the loans he had taken from various persons with the gold and cash he had intended to rob from the Shahs’ house.