Polba (hooghly), March 29: Less than 24 hours of a woman being raped by robbers in South 24-Parganas' Canning, a gang of four murdered a wealthy farmer in Hooghly's Polba around midnight on Tuesday, raped his wife before fleeing with valuables.
Patna village, where the incident took place, is around 60 km from Kolkata. The woman was sent for a medical examination after she broke down and narrated her ordeal before senior police officers.
Krishna Chandra Mal, 50, who owns around 25 bighas of fertile land, lived with his 40-year-old wife and teenaged son. Around midnight on Tuesday, he left his bedroom to go the toilet, which is located outside the main building. His wife followed him outside. As soon as Mal opened the courtyard door, four men allegedly pounced on him. Two of them pinned him down while the rest turned their attention to his wife. Before she could get over the shock, she was gagged and trussed up. The goons pushed her into a room.
The men then entered the room where Mal's son Kushal, 14, was asleep. They gagged and tied him up before starting to loot valuables from the house. By then, Mal had managed to break free from his captors and rushed towards the house. At this point, one of the miscreants pulled out a dagger and slit his throat. After Mal fell on the ground, he was stabbed repeatedly.
"Even as Mal bled to death in the courtyard, the criminals entered the room where his wife was confined. According to the woman, the men abused her sexually before leaving with the valuables they had looted. After some time, Kushal succeeded in freeing himself and went to his mother's help. Mal had died by then. The two then raised an alarm," a police officer said.
On Wednesday morning, a large number of villagers led by Trinamool Congress leaders gheraoed Polba police station, demanding arrest of the accused. Initially, a case of murder and robbery was registered at the police station. Later, when additional SP Ashis Biswas reached the village, the woman broke down and told him that she was raped. She said she decided to break her silence after receiving support from the villagers. She was sent to the Imambara Hospital in Chinsurah for a medical examination.
"Before leaving, she spoke to us but could not say why somebody would want to kill her husband or rape her. Mal had sold the potatoes he had grown some time ago and deposited the money in the bank. His wife told us that he had obtained a tractor on hire-purchase recently. Some EMIs are still pending and Mal had allegedly received some threat calls in this regard. We shall look into this angle," the officer added.
Barely a month ago, a widow from Polba was lured by a relative to a place where some miscreants were having alcohol and raped. Four persons have been arrested in that case.
"We have got some clues and are investigating the matter. We hope to make a breakthrough soon," Biswas said.
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