Post News Network

Cuttack, Oct 10: The Crime Branch (CB) Friday claimed to have solved the mystery behind the murder of four members of a family at Dinadia under Astarang police limits in Puri district September 21 by arresting a couple from a slum near the India-Bangladesh border in Assam.

Himadri Sekhar Das alias Rahim Khan of Midnapore in West Bengal and his wife Aisha Begum of Raipur in Chhattisgarh were arrested on charge of killing the four people. CB officials brought the couple on a transit remand to the state after producing them in a court in Assam.

“The couple had killed the retired Puri district inspector (DI) of schools Dinabandhu Mallick, his wife Nirmala and their two minor daughters by slitting their throats with sharp-edged weapons. The primary motive was to loot the family’s valuables,” said ADGP (crime branch) Bijay Kumar Sharma at a press conference.

Rahim Khan and Aisha Begum had somehow succeeded in developing a close relation with the Mallick couple and had visited their Dinadia residence on a few occasions. “The accused couple had reached Mallick’s residence around 8 pm September 21 and requested for an overnight stay there.

They first killed Mallick while he was asleep. Nirmala lost her life while trying to save her husband. Rahim and Aisha then killed the two minor girls to eliminate all evidences against them,” said Sharma while elaborating on the sequence of events.The accused left for Raipur via Angul September 21 after looting the jewellery, motorcycle and a few mobile phones of the Mallick family. Then they reached Assam by train via Bhopal, Kharagpur and Silcher after selling the stolen jewellery for Rs 30,000, Sharma added.

“A team led by IGP Arun Bothra, in association with Assam police, nabbed the accused. However, we are yet to trace the stolen jewellery, the bike and the sharp-edged weapon used in the crime,” the ADGP said.

According to sources, CB officials came to know of the whereabouts of the accused by tracking the mobile phones stolen from Mallick’s residence. A 30-member team of CB visited several places in and outside the state, including Raipur, Bhopal and Silcher in connection with the crime.

CB is likely to seek remand of the accused couple to make further investigation into the incident. “We will further interrogate the couple and try to know about the involvement of any other person in the murder,” a CB official said.

Locals had spotted the bodies of the Mallick couple and their two daughters September 22. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered a CB probe into the incident the next day.