KOLKATA: The relative of the murdered Gujarati couple, Ashok and Rashmita Shah — who is the prime accused in the crime — had met Subodh Singh, one of the three arrested in the case on Thursday, in jail.
While the prime accused in the murder case was behind bars in connection with a cheating case, Subodh was nabbed for theft. With both hailing from Liluah, they had struck a rapport and later ganged up to rob the Shahs at their Harish Mukherjee Road residence.
Cops said Subodh had allegedly arranged the gun used to murder Rashmita. The other men who had accompanied the duo were also known to Subodh. Four persons had entered the couple’s house while two others had remained outside.
After Rashmita served them water, negotiations began between the accused and Ashok. Sometime later, Subodh stabbed Ashok. Subodh, along with two others — Jatin Mehta and Ratnakar Nath alias Baya — who were arrested in connection with the crime claimed that Rashmita had been shot by the prime accused.
After Rs 30,000 was looted, it was divided equally among all the accused. The accused then used a bus and taxi to return to Liluah before fleeing. However, they were unable to take much from the house due to the fear that the gunshots might have alerted the neighbours.
Sources said the prime accused, a property broker, had been planning to sell the apartment where Shahs lived.
“The prime accused was probably eyeing on a profit from brokering the sale of the apartment. Ever since the victims wanted to shift closer to their daughter’s residence on Heysham Road, he was trying to make a deal. However, with Ashok not agreeing to settle for less than Rs 60 lakh, it perhaps led to bitterness between the accused and the owner,” said an officer.
