(Representative image)

KOLKATA: A woman, living with her mother, daughter and pets at a posh New Alipore flat , was arrested for allegedly to poison the salesman of a multinational chimney manufacturer and setting her dogs on another one when they visited her home on Friday afternoon to receive the cash payment for two items she had bought from the company. One of the salesmen, Amit Chakraborty, is recuperating from poisoning at B P Poddar Hospital, while his colleague, Somenath Mondal, escaped with injuries.

The accused, identified as Madhumanti Saha, a resident of P-Block at New Alipore , admitted to the police that she had spiked the drinks with an anti-depressant. She claimed that she wanted to defer the payment and so, thought the adulterated drink would make the salesmen fall ill and they would leave without taking the cash.

Almost a month ago, on July 27, the accused, , bought two items from the company worth Rs 40,000. She even reportedly issued a cheque but when it was submitted to a bank, it was not honoured owing to technical problems. The company again contacted Saha, who after much persuasion, agreed to pay in cash on Friday.

“Around 12.30pm on Friday, Chakraborty, branch manager of the company, and his colleague, Mondal, went to Saha’s residence to collect the payment against their delivered articles as the cheques earlier received by them had bounced. After making the two wait for a long time, Saha offered them cold drinks. Chakraborty, the first among the two to have it, fell unconscious within minutes,” said a senior IPS officer. When Chakraborty was admitted to B P Poddar Hospital, doctor diagnosed that the illness was due to poisoning by some intoxicating substance.

Mondal claimed he tried to immediately call their office when he saw Chakraborty collapse. “Mondal said as he made to call up office when Chakraborty fell unconscious, Saha set her pet dogs on him, who apparently tried to pin him down. Meanwhile, Saha tried wrench his mobile out of his hands. Mondal told us he managed to free himself and run to the New Alipore police station, from where he could finally contact his colleagues who helped him lodge a complaint,” the police said.

The police visited Saha’s residence, rescued Chakraborty and took him to hospital. The woman was initially detained and later put under arrest. “Saha has been arrested under Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison with intent to commit an offence) of IPC. She confessed to have mixed Trika (an anti-depressant) in Chakraborty’s drink,” said DC (South) Meeraz Khalid.

Saha is separated from her husband. Her family members alleged the complaints were fictitious. “There was no attempt to poison anyone. One of the salesmen fell ill and his colleague stepped out to seek help. The dogs came out when he had stepped outside. No one incited the pets. This is an attempt to malign Saha’s image,” claimed a relative.

But local traders and shopkeepers alleged the family had once accepted money from creditors, promising to repay by selling old furniture but never did it. Even the help, Piu Mondal and Sumitra Haldar, alleged mistreatment. They claimed they were often locked from outside and had not been paid for a couple of months.

The family, however, refuted all the allegations and requested the police to conduct an independent probe.

