Two people have been arrested in West Bengal over the murder of two women in Haldia. The charred remains of the deceased, Riya Dey and her 40-yer old mother Rama were discovered at Jhikhukhali on the banks of the Haldi river on February 18 after they were burnt alive by the murderers. The accused have been identified as Sheikh Saddam Hussain and his friend Manzur Alam Mullick.

There is some confusion regarding the age of the daughter as some reports claim she is 19 and others that she is 22. East Midnapore police superintendent Indira Mukherjee said that a preliminary probe had revealed that Saddam was in a relationship with the daughter. She also revealed that the women were alive when their bodies were set on fire. She also said that more people could have been involved in the murder.

“It was a pre-planned murder. The accused are now in custody. Once we interrogate them thoroughly, we will get to extract further details as to what exactly happened, how the victims were brought to Haldia, whether they were sedated or raped and how they were murdered,” Mukherjee said.

As per reports, Rama and Riya had met the accused through social media. It is being claimed that Saddam had promised to marry her despite the fact that she was already married. Allegedly, Saddam took Rama and Riya to a house in Durgachok where they were fed sedatives following which they lost consciousness. The murder was carried out afterwards.

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State BJP President Dilip Ghosh has claimed that Saddam is linked to a minister in the Trinamool Congress government. The Minister mentioned by Dilip Ghosh is Suvendu Adhikari. He is the Minister in Charge of Transport, Irrigation and Water resource in the government of West Bengal. Dilip Ghosh further said, “He was even arrested for rigging the polls on an earlier occasion. I don’t know whether the Trinamool considers him an asset”.