Double murder custody

TT, Jalpaiguri, Aug. 9: A Siliguri-based trader accused of murdering his wife and daughter was remanded in 14 days' police custody today.

Avinandan Saha, the trader from Panchkelguri, had some injury marks he is believed to have inflicted upon himself when the bodies of his wife and daughter were found in the house on August 2.

Police suspect that Saha had tried to mislead the cops by injuring himself and had claimed that miscreants had entered the house and murdered his wife and daughter. His son was found unhurt inside.

Saha was admitted to a private nursing home. Later, as he recovered, police officials found discrepancies in his statements and arrested him.

"His (Saha) name was initially not in the FIR. But during the investigation, police questioned him and found anomalies in his statements. After that, they made him the prime accused in the double murder case and arrested him," said Pradip Chatterjee, the government lawyer.

After taking the trader in custody, the police will try to find out if there was any other person involved in the murder, sources said.

They will also investigate as to what made Saha allegedly plan the murders.

Police sources said the court had also recorded the statement of Raghunath Roy, a trader from the neighbourhood, as a witness in the case. He is believed to have "some important information" about Saha.

Saha was today produced in the chief judicial magistrate's court.