The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Sachdev murder accused performed puja before killing'

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‘Sachdev murder accused performed puja before killing'

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the R.T. Nagar triple murder case that sent shockwaves through Bangalore city on February 16, 2009.

With these arrests, the North Division police said that it had cracked the case where Purushotham Lal Sachdev (71), a retired Indian Institute of Science professor, his wife Rita, (62) and son Munna (35) were murdered in their upmarket house on 80-Foot Road in R.T. Nagar here. While the main accused, a couple who worked as domestic help in the household, were arrested on November 12, two more were arrested on November 25, taking the number of suspects to four, Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari told reporters here on Tuesday.

The four suspects

Mr. Bidari identified the arrested as Deepak Haldar Gorango (30) and his wife Suchitra Haldar (26) from Shyamnagar in 24 South Parganas district of West Bengal, Bidaan Shikari Chandan (26) from Krishnachandpur in the same district, and Mohammed S. alias Raja Khasim (33) of Kamalpur in Bihar.

The police arrested Deepak and Suchitra in Kalikapur in West Bengal on November 12. Based on their statements during interrogation, the police arrested two others in Bangalore, an officer said.

According to another officer, who wished to remain anonymous: “The police officials visited West Bengal 15 times from the time of the murders. The suspects remained untraced till November 12.” Several teams were formed to crack the case. The police followed leads in several placesl. The case took a significant turn with the arrest of the Gorango-Haldar couple.

The police have launched a search for another suspect, the officer told The Hindu.

According to the officer, “all the suspects conspired to murder the ‘wealthy professor' for monetary gain”. “They performed a puja before executing their plan and took an oath before the goddess not to reveal the crime to anyone,” he said.

The police officials, including some inspectors, disguised themselves as autorickshaw drivers, marriage brokers, auto consultants, vehicle mechanics, umbrella sellers and labourers to gather information about the suspects.

As the officer put it: “We had to visit many houses on the pretext of seeking marriage proposals.”

They visited 35 villages to track them down. The turning point came when a teacher provided vital information about the couple on November 11. The couple had been working in the Sachdev household for a decade while Mohammad was running a catering business in Bangalore. After the murders, the suspects ransacked the entire house and escaped with Rs. 30,000 in cash and jewellery and household articles which they sold in West Bengal.

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