Double murder in Siliguri: Forensic team to arrive at residence, mystery deepens

Siliguri: A forensic expert team is due to arrive at the Kushwa residence at Shukantanagar in Bagdogra by Tuesday to collect samples and start with the investigation.

On Sunday, Siliguri woke up to double murders. 40-year-old Ajay Kushwa and his 35-year-old wife Mina Kushwa were found brutally murdered at their residence, while their 4-year-old son and 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter were found unhurt.

Siliguri Metropolitan Police have started a probe and suspect that the couple was murdered by people known to them. They have got hold of definite leads by investigating details of Ajay's business transactions. The investigation started with the interrogation of around 40 people, including his employees.

Kushwa used to run a manpower agency providing both male and female workers to catering agencies.

On Saturday, Kushwa had a contract to provide workers in a hotel in Siliguri. At around 1:40 am on Sunday after his job was over, Uday Pradhan, a staff had gone to Kushwa's residence to hand over the keys and drop the female workers

back home.

"The principal entrance of the building was wide open. On entering their apartment, I found the bodies lying in pool of blood in two separate rooms and I immediately reported the matter to the police," said Pradhan.

Sources say that the investigators are looking into several angles. Firstly, there was a female staff present on the third floor of the building but she seemed to have no clue about the crime on the first floor.

Secondly, Ajay had altercations with a tenant of the building, which he had taken on rent for the male staff in Pradhananagar.

The three-storied Kushwa residence had a floor allotted to the female staff and for the male employees, Ajay had hired an accommodation in Pradhan Nagar, a nearby locality.

Though the murder weapon has not been recovered yet, police suspect that the couple was bludgeoned to death with bore marks on Ajay's head and Meena's face being disfigured.

As the children were spared, it is suspected that the assailants are known to the couple.

Later on Sunday, sniffer dogs were brought in by the policemen, which took rounds of the entire house and also to the adjacent areas outside the house.

"Though we have proceeded a lot in the investigation into the murder case, we cannot disclose details as it may alert the criminals involved," stated Tarun Halder, DCP (zone 2), SMP.

Ajay and Meena were together since their early school days and got married in 2006.

"He was a reputed businessman of the area and did not have any kind of problems with anyone as per my knowledge," said one of the neighbours.

"The motive behind the murder is not very clear but we hope to come to a conclusion soon," added Halder.

The forensic investigation will throw significant light

on the case.