Triple murders in Malda home - Businessman, wife & help killed

TT, Malda, July 22: A middle-aged businessman, his wife and their round-the-clock domestic help were found murdered, their throats slit, this morning in their two-storey house in a prosperous neighbourhood of Malda town.

The body of businessman Ramratan Agarwala, 58, was found on the ground floor, close to the entry gate of the house. Lying near his body was that of the domestic help's. Ganesh Uth, 60, had started working for the Agarwalas six months back. On the first floor, where the family's puja room is located, was the body of Ramratan's wife Anju, 55. All three had injuries on their heads and necks.

Police said the almirahs and lockers were broken into and emptied of valuables, but it was unclear if robbery was the motive behind the triple murders in Vivekanandapally, along NH34. The police are scrutinising CCTV footage obtained from a camera perched outside a printing press that stands opposite the pink two-storey house of the Agarwalas.

Ramratan owned a Maruti Swift, which was parked in the garage, and a motorbike that he had wheeled out to visit an ailing friend yesterday evening.

A police source said: "The CCTV footage shows Ramratan Agarwala arriving in front of his house around 11.25pm on his motorbike. He was also seen speaking on his mobile phone. He pressed the calling bell outside the gate and waited for around 10 minutes. The door was opened from inside and he entered the house."

Before Ramratan arrived at night, according to the police source, the footage showed that the gate was shut at 10pm but was opened around 10.30pm. A man was seen entering the premises around 10.30pm. The police are trying to identify this person. According to a police officer looking into the case, the person who had entered the house at 10.30pm was wearing a hoodie.

Ramratan was a railway contractor who also made land deals. He owned a brick kiln too. The police said he had recently won a contract for a railway overbridge and this too was being probed to find out the motive behind the murders.

The house of Ramratan Agarwala in Malda town where a crowd had gathered
after news of the triple murders spread; (above) an earlier picture of Ramratan
 Agarwala and his wife Anju. Picture by Surajit 

A police source said: "It could be that the wife and the servant were killed first and the murderers were waiting for Ramratan to return. We have been told by the victim's brothers that Ramratan had gone to the Pirozpur area of Malda town last night to visit a friend who had been ailing."
This morning, the milkman who came calling found the gate of the house open and entered. When he saw Ramratan's bloodied body on the ground floor, he ran out and informed the businessman's two brothers who stay in similar two-storey houses next door.

"Raghu Ghosh, the milkman who came to the house around 8am today, found the gate open. He entered the premises and found Agarwala lying in a pool of blood," the police source said. "He immediately informed Agarwala's two brothers, Ramkiran and Ramlakhan next door. Inside the house, the bodies of Anju Agarwala and Ganesh Uth were found, their throats slit and injuries inflicted by sharp weapons on their heads."

Additional director-general (law and order) Anuj Sharma said this evening: "The CID is taking over the Malda triple-murder case of this morning."

Ramkiran, one of the two younger brothers of the businessman, said: "I and my brother, who stays next door, rushed in and saw the bodies lying in pools of blood. Almirahs and lockers were broken into and emptied of ornaments and cash. We never heard anything last night and it seems that the murderers were known to my brother. It seems the murders were pre-planned. We demand a high-level inquiry into the case. My brother had no enemies and he was a philanthropist."