Cops hunt for friend who ‘proposed’ to victim

The Pune police have formed three teams to nab the killer of a software engineer who was stabbed to death on Friday night and turned their focus on a “friend” of the victim after her parents expressed suspicion about him. 

Antara Das, a 23-year-old techie from Behala, Kolkata, working with Capgemini in Talawade near Pune, was stabbed to death at KNB square at Talawade when she was returning from office on Friday evening. A motorcyclist Satyendra Sinha and another motorist took her to nearby hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

Panchanan Das, the victim’s uncle, said: “Antara told her twin sister Sanchari over phone a month ago about a youth who had been constantly disturbing her as she had turned down his proposal. He had been following her from Bangalore and we suspect that the same youth stabbed her to death”. He added that Antara had passed Higher Secondary examination with flying colours with science subjects from Bidya Bharati Vidyalaya at Mominpore and got an opportunity to pursue higher studies with software engineering. “After completing her studies, she had left her home a year ago for Bangalore to undertake a training. She later managed to get a job with an IT firm for a post in Pune. She could not visit Kolkata as she had to join work immediately. This was around 6 months back,” he said. The youth also went to Pune but lied about his interview with another IT company. He had no such appointment in Pune.

“We do not know much about the youth. Antara told her sister that he used to disturb her by giving indecent proposals. The victim was an introvert and did not mingle much. Moreover, her father kept ill and mother was all alone at home. Hence, she shared very little about her family with others,” he said.  She was scheduled to come to Kolkata in mid-January to attend her cousin’s marriage. Debananda Das, the victim’s father; Sipra Das, mother and her twin sister went to Pune on Saturday. Her last rites were performed in Pune on Sunday.