Couple murdered in Upper Bagdogra.... Parent bodies found near kids

(From top) The building where the couple were found murdered; Ajay and Meena. Picture by Passang Yolmo

TT, Bagdogra, Jul 23, 2018: A couple were found bludgeoned to death with the wife's face disfigured at their three-storied building here early Sunday morning.

The assailant/s didn't hurt their children. While the four-year-old son was seen lying beside the father's body, the three-and-a-half-month-old girl was beside the mother's.

The bodies of the duo, who were into the business of providing employees to catering firms and hotels, were in separate rooms.

Ajay Kushwaha, 35, and his wife Meena, 34, stayed on the first floor of the three-storied building at Upper Bagdogra, around 15km from Siliguri.

Siliguri Metropolitan Police have started a probe and suspect the couple were murdered by those who were known to them. The building was sealed by the police who have already interrogated a number of people.

Ajay

"Ajay's head bore marks of serious injuries, while his wife's face was disfigured. It seems they were hit with blunt weapons," said a police source.

Sources said Ajay had sent a group of employees to serve food at an event at a hotel in Matigara. They returned around 1.40am and went to Ajay's house to report as usual and drop the female staff members who reside on the ground floor of the building.

"The main gate and the principal entrance to the building were open. I went inside and found their bodies lying in pools of blood. I immediately called up police who reached the spot," said Uday Pradhan, the group leader of the serving team.

For the male staff to stay, Ajay had hired an accommodation at Pradhannagar, a locality nearby.

Bagdogra police spoke to Ajay's in-laws, who stay nearby, and neighbours. Later, the police brought a sniffer dog which went around the house and moved to adjacent areas like Daragaon and a portion of a tea plantation beside NH31.

Meena

Tarun Haldar, the deputy commissioner of police (zone 2) of the SMP, said: "It seems the couple were murdered with heavy blunt weapons. We are looking at all possible angles. Some people have been interrogated."

Ajay's father was with the Indian Air Force at Bagdogra and his ancestors were from Kanpur.

Ajay and Meena had an affair since their school days and got married in 2006. "My son-in-law was into this business for several years and had a reputation in the locality. I had never heard of him having any problem with anyone," said Rajkumar Rai, Meena's father.

Subrata Singh, one of the neighbours, also sounded clueless. "I knew Ajay Bhaiya for 17 years. He was a nice person and had good relations with everybody. This is shocking for us. We hope police will be able to unearth the truth," he said.

Sources said the investigators were looking into several aspects. First of all, a female staff member was at the building when the crime took place. She was ill and didn't go to work. She said she had not heard any sound from the first floor.

Second, Ajay had altercations with a tenant of the building where he had taken rooms on rent for the male staff.

"Thirdly, both the children were sleeping even through their parents were dead. It is surprising none of them woke up when the parents were attacked. It might also be that the children had been shifted before the murder and then kept beside the bodies after the crime. It also leads to the suspicion that the attackers were known to the victims. However, the motive is not very clear till now," said a police source.