Kolkata 'murders': Husbands of two deceased women likely to be arrested

PTI, KOLKATA, FEB 23, 2025 : The husbands of the two women whose bodies, along with that of a girl, were found in their Kolkata residence are likely to be arrested, a senior officer said. 

One of the two, Pranay Dey, was shifted to a state-run hospital on Saturday evening from a private healthcare facility where they had been undergoing treatment since the car they were traveling in rammed into a Metro railway pillar, an official said. 

The decision to apprehend the husbands, who are siblings, was taken after post-mortem reports suggested that the two women and the girl were murdered, dismissing speculations that the three died by suicide. 

The three members of the family were found dead inside their Tangra residence, while three others were injured after their car crashed into a Metro Rail pillar on Eastern Metropolitan bypass in the southern part of the city early Wednesday. 

Two brothers – Pranay and Prasun Dey – lived in that house in the eastern part of Kolkata with their wives Sudeshna and Romi, respectively. Pranay's son and Prasun's daughter were the other occupants of the house. The three injured have been undergoing treatment in a private hospital here. While Pranay was shifted to state-run NRS Hospital, his brother Prasun and the juvenile son of Pranay are still undergoing treatment at the private facility, the official said.

The post-mortem reports raised questions about who was behind the crime, and Kolkata Police sleuths have been trying to identify those involved and the motive behind the murders, he said. "We are trying to find out whether the husbands killed their wives and the girl or if others from outside the family were involved in the murders," the officer added.

The brothers had, earlier, claimed to police that there was a suicide pact among the family members, following which all consumed porridge laced with sleeping pills, he said. "The autopsy conducted on the bodies of the two women, with wrists slit and deep injury marks on their throats, suggested that they died due to the effect of the injuries, which were 'ante-mortem in nature.' The minor girl died due to poisoning," the officer said. "The health conditions of the two brothers and the boy, who were injured in the accident, were stated to have improved," the policeman said.

The forensic team of Kolkata Police has collected samples from the bathroom, the washbasin, and rooms from where the bodies of the two women and the girl were found, the officer had said. The sleuths have found that the family’s tannery business is facing financial difficulties.