Severed body parts found in garbage in Tollygunge area: Man arrested for murder of woman

Kolkata: A man was arrested on Saturday in connection with the murder of Khatija Bibi, a resident of Magrahat in South 24-Parganas.

Her severed head was found in a roadside garbage dump on Graham Road in the Tollygunge area of South Kolkata, under the jurisdiction of Regent Park Police Station. Other body parts of the victim were recovered by the police on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Atiur Laskar, a resident of Diamond Harbour, was the brother-in-law of the victim.

He worked as a labourer involved in painting. He was apprehended on Friday night and confessed to the heinous crime during interrogation.

Police identified the victim on Friday night. Khatija, who was married but lived separately from her husband, worked as a domestic help in various houses in Golf Green’s Regent Park area. She regularly commuted to Kolkata from South 24-Parganas by train with the accused.

Police investigations suggest that Laskar’s motive for the murder was revenge for Khatija rejecting his romantic advances. “Atiur Laskar had a romantic interest in Khatija and used to pursue her. But the victim did not reciprocate. Call detail record analysis revealed that the victim had blocked Laskar’s phone number some days ago, which angered him. So far, this is the motive we have found,” said Bidisha Kalita, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Police (South Suburban Division).

Police investigations revealed that on December 12, the victim had come as usual to work and Laskar lured her to a place after she finished work. There, he brutally murdered her by strangulation. Then, with tools from his work as a painter, he dismembered her body and disposed of the parts. Police recovered the victim’s other body parts from an under-construction building in the Regent Colony area. Further investigations are ongoing.