A woman who left home with her minor grandchild in a taxi she had hired from near her Narkeldanga house on Tuesday night was found dead in an isolated place near Nonadanga in Anandapur, around 11km from her home, on Wednesday morning.
The six-year-old grandchild could not be located till late on Wednesday.
The driver of the taxi, whom the victim knew for several years and would often engage for trips, has been arrested, police said.
The woman’s throat was found slit.
Clad in a white salwar-kameez, the body was found with blood stains on her dress and injuries on her face.
The police said the woman — identified as Rehana Parveen — was killed and her body dumped along the road.
“Rehana Parveen had hired a taxi from near her home and gone to another apartment that she owned in Tiljala on Tuesday evening. Her grandchild accompanied her. It was her practice to go to the Tiljala apartment and collect rent from the tenants,” said an officer in the homicide wing of the detective department of Kolkata Police.
However, when she failed to return home by 8.30pm on Tuesday, her family alerted the police.
An officer said the taxi in which Rehana had travelled to Tiljala was located at the driver’s home in central Calcutta’s Taltala on Tuesday night.
“The driver, whom the victim would often hire for trips, did not divulge anything on Tuesday night. On prolonged grilling, he admitted that he had killed the woman and thrown the body. Pursuing his statement, the body was found in Anandapur,” said an officer.
The police said the driver has been arrested. Another person has been detained whose details were not shared by the cops.
The motive behind the murder has yet to be ascertained, cops said.
“The taxi driver said he was angry with the woman as she was taking a long time in Tiljala and he was getting delayed. But his claims have to be verified,” said an officer.
The police said they were examining footage of CCTV cameras installed along the route the taxi took.
Officers said they were looking for the child. A water body near the spot where the woman’s body was found was searched by Disaster Management Group
personnel.
