Kolkata: 5 day-old Ayah, partner in police net for killing 79-yr-old New Garia woman
Times of India | 24 August 2025
KOLKATA: Kolkata Police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the murder of a 79-year-old woman in her New Garia residence with the arrest of a newly appointed ayah and her male friend from South 24 Parganas. Bijaya Das was found murdered near the staircase of her two-storey house inside New Garia Cooperative Society early on Friday while her 83-year-old ailing husband, Prasanta, was found gagged and tied up in an adjacent room on the ground floor.
Ashalata Sardar, 36, a resident of Dholerhat in South 24 Parganas, was hired to take care of Prasanta just five days ago. She was picked up from her rented accommodation in Narendrapur. Her partner, Md Jalal Mir, 41, was arrested from Dholerhat.“The caregiver entered the house and executed the crime. We have recovered the looted items, including gold ornaments, from Mir,” said joint CP (crime & traffic) Rupesh Kumar. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataAshalata, a mother of three who is separated from her husband, claimed during interrogation that she was in urgent need of money to pay creditors and found the elderly couple defenceless and easy targets. She planned the crime along with Mir after finding out that Bijaya wore a lot of gold and that her children were settled outside, one of them in Germany.
Cops said although the crime was discovered on Friday morning by the elderly couple’s long-time maid Madhumita Haldar, it was executed on Thursday morning, shortly after Madhumita had left the house.
CCTV footage obtained from the neighbourhood shows Ashalata, clad in an orange sari walk towards the Das’s house a little after 7 am on Thursday along with a man in a white shirt and grey trousers. She entered the house while the man waited outside. An hour later, she emerged from the house in a different sari, said DC (East) Arish Bilal.
Sources said Ashalata had earlier worked as a caregiver in the area and was familiar with the security measures at the cooperative society. “She enrolled with SD Ayah & Nurse Centre located at Jolpole in New Garia recently and was placed with the couple. She worked for barely five days, of which she was absent for two,” an officer said.
Prashanta was bedridden since suffering a stroke that also affected his speech. On Thursday morning, Ashalata lowered the elderly man to the floor, tied up his his hands and feet and gagged him. She then targeted Bijaya, who was also recovering from burn injuries sustained earlier. But expecting her to resist, Ashalata covered her face and tied it and then struck her on the head with a three-foot wooden staff before strangling her. When the elderly woman became unconscious, she removed her jewellery.“Given his age, it is a miracle that Prasanta, who stayed gagged for close to 24 hours, survived the ordeal,” said an investigating officer. With Bijaya killed and Prasanta unable to communicate, cops said it was not immediately clear what else had been taken from the house.
The two accused were produced in court on Saturday and sent to police custody.
The couple’s Mumbai-based son, Saumyabrata, said he was not in a position to speak about the incident and would prefer not to comment due to the ongoing investigation. However, he mentioned that the security measures of the society needed improvement. Other residents of the society said there were guards and CCTV cameras in the complex, but the cooperative did not decide who worked in the households.