While the investigation in the sensational Shraddha murder case continues, an even more sensational case of one dual murder has emerged from Guwahati. In this case, a woman killed her husband and mother-in-law 7 months ago, cut the bodies into pieces and stored them in a refrigerator, and later dumped the body parts. The incident came to light on 19 February after police arrested the accused Bandana Kalita.
She has confessed to the police that she killed her husband Amarjyoti Dey and mother-in-law Shankari Dey with the assistance of her lover and a friend on 17 August last year. She also told the police that after killing and chopping her husband and his mother, she along with her two partners dumped the body parts in the mountains of Meghalaya. While the investigation is in the preliminary stage, the motive of the crime was an extramarital affair and greed for property, according to police.
According to the reports, Amarjyoti Dey married Bandana Kalita a few years ago, and they were living in Narengi in the eastern part of Guwahati city. While the marriage lasted peacefully for some years, it turned sour after Amrjyoti discovered that Bandana was having an affair with a youth named Dhanjit Deka. This resulted in frequent fights between the husband and wife.
On the other hand, Amarjyoti’s mother Shankari Dey owns five buildings in the Chandmari area in the middle of the city. She lived alone in one of the houses, while the other four are given on rent. The rents for these buildings are collected by Shankari Dey’s brother, as he manages her finances. Bandana was not satisfied with this arrangement also.
As the marital dispute grew over these issues, Amarjyoti and Bandana were preparing for a divorce. But seven months ago, Bandana lodged a complaint with the Noonmati Police station saying that her husband and mother-in-law have gone missing. The police started a probe based on the complaint, but could not find them or any clue about their whereabouts.
After some time, Bandana filed another complaint, alleging that Shankari Dey’s brother was misusing money kept in the five bank accounts of Shankari Dey. However, this proved to be a mistake for her. When police looked into the bank accounts, they found that Bandana Kalita herself had withdrawn Rs five lakh from her mother-in-law’s bank account by using ATM cards. This led to police suspecting her, and after receiving more evidence against her following further probe, they arrested her on 17 February.
During the police interrogation, Bandana finally confessed to the crime yesterday. She told police that on 17 August, she had killed Shankari Dey in her house in Chandmari with the help of a youth named Arup Das. After that, they chopped the body into pieces and kept the body parts in the fridge.
Then on 21 August, Bandana Kalita killed her husband with the help of her lover Dhanjit Deka by strangulating him. Then they cut his body also in pieces and stuffed the body parts in polythene bags. After that, the other partner Arup Das joined them, and they collected the body parts of Shankari Dey.
They drove towards Meghalaya and dumped the parts in deep gorges at the Dawki area near Cherapunji. After that, she returned to her house and cleaned the crime scene. Neighbours said that they saw her burning mattress and clothes on the terrace of the house on that day.
After the murders, Bandana Kalita was staying with her parents at their house in the Panikhaiti area in Guwahati, from where she was arrested. Following the confession of Bandana Kalita, Dhanjit Deka was arrested from Tinsukia and Arup Deka was caught at Khanapara in Guwahati.
A large police team moved to Meghalaya to locate the remains of the victims, and some body parts have been recovered from Dawki. According to reports, the headless body of Shankari Dey has been recovered, along with some blankets and clothes in a polythene bag. The hand and the head of the body are missing. The body of Amarjyoti Dey is yet to be located.