In the murder case of a college student in West Bengal, the police late Sunday arrested prime accused, Deshraj Singh, near the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal border. The arrest follows the earlier apprehension of Deshraj’s maternal uncle, Kuldeep Singh, in Gujarat.

Deshraj was brought to the Kotwali police station in Krishnanagar on a transit remand. The deceased student Ishita Mallick was allegedly shot three times in the head at her home in Krishnanagar on August 25.

Sources said that Deshraj allegedly lived with his mother and sister in a rented house in Kanchrapara, North 24 Parganas. His father is a BSF jawan, The Indian Express has learnt.

The police gained a “significant lead” after arresting Kuldeep Singh, who is suspected of having helped Deshraj escape after the murder.

The investigation also allegedly revealed that Deshraj has relatives with criminal records, including his uncles Dangal Singh and Mangal Singh, who were “recently released from jail” and face over 40 charges, including murder.

It is alleged that Deshraj killed Ishita after she ended their relationship. He allegedly pressured her to continue the relationship and had allegedly sent her a video of himself attempting to die by suicide. Police suspect that when she was still unwilling to reconcile, he “planned her murder”. Investigators are currently interrogating Deshraj.

As per police sources, Deshraj’s grandfather, Saryu Prasad Singh, is allegedly a local ‘Mukhiya,’ and Deshraj’s younger cousin, Nitin Pratap Singh, lives in Gorakhpur. Deshraj had allegedly contacted Nitin before the murder, and investigators are probing whether they conspired in the murder.

Police believed that after the crime, Deshraj fled to his ancestral home in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh. Several teams from the Krishnanagar police district then began conducting extensive searches before they apprehended and arrested him.

According to police, an initial post-mortem report said Mallick died of three gunshot wounds to the head, two on the right side and third at the back, and a bullet was recovered from her skull during the examination. Her body was released to her family last Monday afternoon, officials added.

Singh and Mallick were allegedly former classmates in Kanchrapara, police had previously said.