Protector was the predator

Calcutta, Aug. 1: The security supervisor of Bidhan Nivas had masterminded the crime in which 93-year-old Shanta Bhattacharya died a horrifying death, police said today.

Swadesh Mukherjee, the 38-year-old prime suspect now in custody, had continued to work as usual at the apartment complex near Ultadanga. Swadesh had gone to the extent of partaking of the feast associated with the last rites of the lady who had trusted him enough to invite him to lunch but died at the hands of robbers he had handpicked.

Swadesh had been a sentry at the complex off EM Bypass for over a year and a half and had earned the trust of its residents.

Plainclothes sleuths picked up Swadesh late on Sunday evening from outside a ticket counter at Garia station on the southern fringes of the city. He was with the trio whom he had recruited for the crime that he expected to fetch Rs 1 crore.

Eventually, the robbers could not lay their hands on more than Rs 11,000, a gold chain, a mobile phone and some imitation ornaments but they took the life of a lady who never wanted to leave Calcutta.

The police identified the other suspects as Rahmatullah Sardar, 28, Sanjay Sardar, 27, and Aizul Laskar, 26. They hail from Baruipur and Basanti in South 24-Parganas. Charged with murder and robbery, all four have been remanded in police custody for a fortnight.

“Swadesh had earlier approached several masons working at Bidhan Nivas to team up and burgle the flat where three women, two of them past 60, lived by themselves. All but one of the masons gave him the cold shoulder. This mason took him to a criminal den at Bedberia near Baruipur,” said Damayanti Sen, joint commissioner of police, crime.

“Over several meetings there, Swadesh found three youths who were ready to work on his project. We are trying to locate this person who took Swadesh to South 24-Parganas,” Sen added.

It was allegedly in keeping with Swadesh’s plans that the gang gagged Shanta with a plastic bag. As the asthma patient gasped, the plastic slipped into her trachea and she slumped, unable to breathe. The post-mortem report describes it as an “asphyxial death”.

Shanta’s daughter-in-law Subhalakshmi, the schoolteacher who was held at gunpoint and gagged during the heist, and their elderly help Beena Ganguly will be called to Lalbazar to identify the accused.

Police sources said they were looking for two others besides the mason.

A cloth trader from Payradanga in Nadia’s Ranaghat, Swadesh had allegedly told the gang that Rs 1 crore was stashed in an almirah in the Bhattacharyas’ bedroom.

“The deal was that he would ensure a smooth entry and exit and get half the booty — Rs 50 lakh, according to their estimate. The gang had turned up with a gamchha — not a towel but a crowbar in criminal parlance — and used it to break open the almirah,” a police officer said.

“After the operation, the five-member team met at a tea stall owned by Rahmatullah in Baruipur in the evening and each of them took away Rs 2,200,” said a senior investigating officer.

The Bhattacharyas apparently have some land in Nabadwip, Nadia, and Swadesh had used his Nadia link to get close to the Bhattacharyas. He even had lunch with Shanta at the flat because the lady was especially fond of the man who often bought grocery for her. “This makes the murder even more heinous,” an officer said.

Digging into criminal networks in South 24-Parganas, the police learnt that Swadesh had visited Baruipur even after the incident. But he never skipped duty.

The investigators waited for the gang members to meet and, when they met on Sunday, they were rounded up.

“He is a tough guy. There is a ruthless trait in him that prompted him to plan the murder of a 90-plus woman whom he was meant to protect,” said an officer. “Some 20-25 days before the incident, the gang had attempted the heist but did not carry it out after the robbers spotted some of the Bhattacharyas’ neighbours. Swadesh had then rebuked the gang members for their failure.”

Between 1pm and 2pm on Wednesday, during the usual lunch recess for masons and painters at the complex, four men gathered near Bidhan Shishu Udyan, about 100 metres from the complex, and called up Swadesh, then on duty at one of the gates.

Once Swadesh ensured their entry into the complex, one of the youths changed his shirt and slipped into the uniform of the masons so as not to arouse suspicion when he pressed the doorbell.

“When Shanta opened the door, all of them stormed in. One overpowered the lady. Two held her hand and another gagged her with the plastic bag. With no one around, the gang went about hunting for the Rs 1 crore. The other ladies were tied up and gagged as they stepped out of the washrooms,” said an officer. “Job done, one of the gang members called up Swadesh before they were let out of the complex.”

Swadesh had been working with Advance Security Agency for a monthly salary of Rs 3,200 since his village business flopped. Swadesh’s wife works for a mobile phone store on Park Street and earns Rs 3,000 a month.

Since taking up the jobs in the city, the family had moved into a rented accommodation in Rajarhat. They have two young daughters — the elder one is around 13 and studies in Class V.