2 heads in home of tomb killer - Skeletons dug up from garden of Udayan's parents' house, Akansha's family fears for life

Udayan outside a Bhopal court on Friday. (PTI)

Rasheed Kidwai, TT, Bhopal, Feb. 5: Skeletons and bones were dug out of a Raipur house that Udayan Das, accused of murdering his partner and Bankura girl Akansha Sharma and entombing her, had mentioned as his parents' residence.

Udayan, arrested in Bhopal on Friday over Akansha's murder, had yesterday confessed to eliminating his parents Indrani and V.K. Das sometime in 2010 and burying them inside their Raipur residence.

Police teams from Bhopal, Bankura and Raipur today exhumed two heads and some bones from the house, besides a gold chain, digging equipment, clothes and some other items. The skeletons have been sent for forensic tests.

"At present, we are unable to say much about the identities of the persons killed or buried. We will need DNA tests," Raipur police chief Sanjeev Shukla said.

A case of murder has been registered against Udayan. "The accused reportedly made a number of forged documents such as pension and death certificates, sold the property and withdrew money from the accounts of the deceased. All these matters are currently under investigation," Shukla said.

Udayan was present when the digging began in the garden of the house, located in Raipur's upscale Sundernagar neighbourhood, around 11am. His face was devoid of emotion, even when Harish Pandey, the current owner of the property, hurled abuses at the youth, eyewitnesses said.

Till about 1pm, by when only 2ft had been dug, there was no sign of anything unusual. Soon enough, cranes and other excavation equipment were pressed in and, a while later, the skeletons were spotted around eight feet below the ground.

Yesterday, Udayan had told investigators in Bhopal that he had been annoyed with his parents' attempts to discipline him and their refusal to give him money. The differences with his parents increased after he failed to clear his engineering test.

"I strangulated them one by one and later buried them in the garden," a Bhopal officer had quoted Udayan as telling them yesterday.

The police have approached two Raipur-based brothers, Harish and Suresh Dua, who reportedly helped Udayan sell the property.

According to Harish, Udayan had done a two-month computer course from his institute and he had helped the youth design Mehracorp.com and Udyanglobal.com, two websites that the 32-year-old reportedly used to project himself as a high-flier with a wide range of business interests.

Suresh admitted having assisted Udayan in transferring the Sundernagar property to his name in 2013 and later in selling it off for Rs 12 lakh.

Suresh, however, denied having any knowledge of the deaths of Udayan's parents. "He gave me the power of attorney and from that I learnt his mother was dead," Suresh said in Raipur today. The house had been registered in the name of the mother.

Udayan bragged on social media sites too, describing himself in one of his numerous Facebook accounts as "Udyan Von Richthofen". He claimed to be deeply influenced by Manfred Von Richthofen, a legendary World War-I fighter pilot. He had met Akansha on Facebook in 2015, the police have said.

Raipur police said Udayan was being taken to Calcutta on way to Bankura. He will be produced in a Bankura court where Bengal police will seek his remand for further investigations.