Murder cuffs after tip-off from bus journey, accused held after months of lookout
Telegraph | 1 April 2025
A woman travelling by bus on Sunday night helped police identify a man they had been trying to trace for the past few months for allegedly murdering his wife in Haridevpur in January.
Kartik Das was arrested on Monday morning.
He admitted to murdering his wife Chhaya Sardar following prolonged interrogation, the police said.
Kolkata Police had declared a reward of ₹50,000 for providing information about Kartik after they failed to trace him in connection with the probe into the murder.
Officers had also released a picture of the murder accused to help identify him.
On January 23, Chhaya was found with her hands and legs tied and with a towel in her mouth on the ground floor of a two-storeyed house in Diamond Park, Haridevpur.
A deep gash on her neck suggested she was knifed to death. A stream of blood trickling beneath the main door had alerted the landlord, who informed the police.
“She was killed at least a few days before the murder came to light, since decay had set in. The body had turned blackish,” a senior police officer said.
A bloodstained blade was recovered from the floor where Chhaya’s body was found.
The woman had moved into the Haridevpur rented accommodation on January 17, six days before she was allegedly murdered.
Chhaya, in her 30s, had introduced herself as Malini Das, when she came looking for accommodation in the locality. She met a launderette owner who later introduced her to the house owner, the cops said.
The woman had also introduced a man as her husband when she met the landlord. But after she was murdered, the man could not be traced.
An Aadhaar card in the name of Kartik Das was found in the room, the police said.
In the early days of the probe, investigators were not sure if the Aadhaar card was the woman’s husband’s.
Further investigation established the woman’s identity as Chhaya Sardar, and not Malini Das.
The police said she married Kartik, who worked as a driver, a few years ago.
Later, Kartik gave up driving cars because of his failing eyesight and Chhaya started working as a maid.
“After some time, Chhaya began staying separately. In January, when she met the landlord, Kartik had accompanied her in the hope that the two would start living together,” a senior police officer said.
“When Chhaya refused and allegedly started meeting another man, Kartik said he decided to take revenge,” the officer said.
During interrogation, the police said Kartik told them he strangulated Chhaya in a fit of rage and later used the blade to slash her neck.
Kartik lived in a place adjacent to Howrah station, where homeless people sleep at night, the police said.
“On Sunday night, the woman who identified Kartik said she knew the couple,” the officer said.
“She informed us that Kartik was travelling on a bus she had boarded in Golf Green. We asked her to follow him. We detained him near Howrah station. Kartik was brought to Haridevpur police station where he was later arrested after he confessed to the murder,” the officer said.