Kolkata, 13 November (H.S.) : In a major breakthrough in the murder of 26-year-old Anjali Shaw in Baranagar, North 24 Parganas, the police have arrested her lover from outside a railway station in Delhi. The arrest was made by a team led by a sub-inspector of the Baranagar police station. Barrackpore Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Kuntal Banerjee stated that the accused is being brought to Kolkata from Delhi, and the exact motive behind the murder will be revealed only after a detailed interrogation.

According to police sources, the murder was the fallout of a dispute over playing the online game PUBG. Following the altercation, the lover allegedly killed Anjali and fled the scene. The police had been conducting continuous search operations and successfully apprehended him on Thursday night. However, the exact nature of the dispute regarding the online game that escalated to murder remains unclear. Sources claim that the arrested youth was also addicted to PUBG.

It is noteworthy that Anjali's body was recovered on November 10 from a flat located in Sitalamata Lane in Ward Number 17 of Baranagar. Anjali was a resident of the Dunlop area. Investigations revealed that her lover was already aware of her visit to the Baranagar flat. Following the murder, the accused sent messages to the victim's family members using her mobile phone. The police managed to track the accused based on the tower location of this mobile phone.

The police claimed that the accused was repeatedly switching the mobile phone on and off and changing his location to mislead the investigators. Because of this tactic, the police failed to apprehend him on several occasions despite reaching close to his location. The Assistant Commissioner of Police (Belghoria) stated that the accused was constantly changing his location, but the police team took it as a challenge and finally managed to arrest him.

On Tuesday night, the Baranagar police recovered Anjali's body after breaking down the door of a fifth-floor flat. According to police sources, the body was found in a lying position and bore injury marks. Information suggests that the flat belongs to Anjali's sister and brother-in-law, who had been living there for the past four years. However, for business reasons, the brother-in-law currently resides in Serampore, Hooghly, and would visit the flat occasionally. Anjali also used to visit and stay at this flat periodically. On Monday, her brother-in-law had left the flat keys with a neighbour. Anjali collected the keys from the neighbour on Tuesday afternoon and entered the flat.

Anjali's sister made several calls to her on Tuesday but could not establish contact, following which the police were informed. The police reached the flat at night, broke the door, and recovered the body. The deceased's cousin stated that there were injury marks on her neck and a white scarf was used as a noose. There were also injury marks on her face. The family informed the police about their suspicion regarding a specific youth. When the police initiated the investigation, Anjali's missing mobile phone was found to be switched on for a brief period. The cousin revealed that when they sent a message to Anjali's phone, they received a reply stating that whatever they wanted to know or ask would be answered. A little later, another chilling message arrived, saying that he was among them but they would not be able to catch him. The phone was switched off immediately after this. The family claimed that the mobile phone was in the possession of the same youth they suspected.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh