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Nurse arrested for Kolkata top exec Subir Chaki murder, her family detained: Cop
Mithu Haldar, the nurse caught by the Kolkata Police in connection with Kilburn Engineering managing director Subir Chaki’s murder, was arrested last year also after her husband alleged she was trying to kill him, police said.
KOLKATA: The Kolkata Police probing the murder of Subir Chaki, 61, managing director of Kilburn Engineering, and his driver Rabin Mondal, 65, arrested a woman on Wednesday evening and detained three members of her family.
The woman was identified by the police as a nurse, Mithu Haldar. She was picked up from the Diamond Harbour area of South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. The officer said her elder son Vicky, who is suspected to have posed as a prospective buyer for Subir Chaki’s ancestral house, is missing.
There has, however, been no formal statement by the Kolkata police on the arrest.
Her husband Subhas Haldar, younger son Bilash and brother Tarun Haldar have been detained.
Subhas Haldar was first picked up for questioning from south Kolkata on Tuesday night.
South 24 Parganas district police officers said the nurse, Mithu Haldar, was arrested last year also on a complaint by her husband Subhas Haldar who alleged she tried to kill him. She was later released on bail.
Subir Chaki had been trying to sell the three-storey building for the last six years and many prospective buyers came to see the property in the past. Local residents told the police that the property was valued at around ₹2 crore, given its size and prime location. Chaki, who lived in New Town on the eastern outskirts of the city with his wife, mother and mother-in-law, also owned a posh south Kolkata condominium.
Interrogation of the suspects and security camera footage indicated that Vicky committed the crime with two associates, who are also missing.
“Vicky contacted Subir Chaki around 10 months ago after seeing an advertisement for the sale of the property. Vicky came posing as a buyer and hatched a plan to rob Chaki. He was waiting for an opportunity. He called up Chaki again a few days ago but posing as another buyer. It seems Chaki was killed because he recognised Vicky when he arrived on Sunday. Chaki’s purse and ring were missing when his body was found. We are trying to find out what else was robbed,” said an officer.
Pampa Gayen, who rented out her house to Mithu Haldar and her family in Diamond Harbour’s Kopathat area, told local media that Mithu was taken to Lalbazar police headquarters in Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon after being grilled for hours.
“After Mithu returned home on Sunday night, I found her washing some blood-stained clothes in the common courtyard. When I asked her about the blood, she said her son got drunk and fell on the road while taking part in the immersion of a Durga idol. I had no reason to be suspicious,” said Pampa Gayen.
Mithu Haldar’s brother and sons live in another rented house in Diamond Harbour.
“The police also seized some documents and a pendrive while searching the house. We do not know anything about the contents,” she added.
The twin murders took place on Sunday evening shortly after Subir Chaki went to his ancestral house located at Kankulia Road in Kolkata’s Gariahat area. Chaki’s body was found on the first floor the following morning; his driver’s body was on the second floor. Both bore multiple stab injuries.
Chaki, who studied at Kolkata’s St Xavier’s School, IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta, worked for well-known companies all his life. His son and daughter live in London and Bengaluru respectively.
Local residents told officers of the detective department of the city police that they heard several voices, including that of a woman, from the house on Sunday evening.
In the past, Chaki sent Mondal to open the premises when prospective buyers came to see the property. The police suspect that Chaki may have been led to believe that he was close to sealing a deal and hence came to the house on Sunday. Police found that on the way he bought sweets from a popular shop in Gariahat.
Subir Chaki’s family told the police that he called them on Sunday evening and spoke about some repair work required at the house. His phone was switched off around 7 pm, around the same time that his driver, Rabin Mondal’s phone was also turned off. Since both devices were missing, police examined their call records which helped them crack the case.
A police sniffer dog on Tuesday led the officers to the Ballygunge railway station less than a kilometre away. The dog went to a platform after crossing the over-bridge. This led the officers to suspect that someone who came to the house walked down to the station to board a train.
