A 35-year-old moneylender residing in Buniadpur town of South Dinajpur district was murdered by unidentified criminals early on Monday.

Mithun Chakraborty, the victim, was alone at home Chakshadulla, a locality in ward 14 of Buniadpur, at that time.

On Sunday, his wife and child had gone to her parents’ place in Hili.

When police recovered the body, they found that his limbs were fastened and sticker tapes were put over his mouth.

The police suspect Chakraborty was strangled to death. A probe is underway.

During the investigation so far, the police have learnt that on Sunday night, Chakraborty returned home late after watching a Durga Puja immersion.

The criminals came in a car early in the morning and entered Chakraborty's house, according to neighbours and bystanders.

As Chakraborty didn’t come out of his home in the morning, his neighbours decided to check out if anything was wrong. They found his body was lying in a room and informed the police.

A team from Bansihari police station rushed to the spot. Later, senior police officers also reached the area.

Also, a sniffer dog was engaged to trace the culprits.

“We suspect that Chakraborty might have been murdered because of business-related issues. Our officers are gathering information to know the motive of the murder. We are also waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of his death,” said a senior police officer.