Kolkata Police are investigating whether the same gang was involved in the murders of two app-cab drivers within a week, after investigators found similar methods in both cases, including robbery, strangulation, tied legs and the use of fake SIM cards.
Bhagwan Prasad Gupta was found dead on Wednesday inside his locked vehicle on D C Dey Road in Entally. Police said his legs had been tied and that he had been strangled. Cash, gold jewellery and his phone were reportedly missing from the vehicle.
The earlier murder involved cab driver Ramjas Kauri, whose body was found on Monday near Badua Mor on Delhi Road in Dankuni. He had also been strangled and his legs had been tied, police said. His vehicle was later found abandoned in the Park Street-Mallikbazar area.
Investigators have identified several similarities between the cases. Both drivers were from the Madhyamgram-airport area, both were robbed before they were killed, and the accused allegedly used fake SIM cards and destroyed the drivers’ phones to conceal their movements. CCTV footage showed three young men in both cases. A woman was also seen with the group in the Dankuni case.
Police suspect the accused may have posed as passengers and boarded the cabs near the airport or Madhyamgram. Investigators believe Gupta may have been taken towards Kalyani Expressway before being robbed and killed after resisting. His vehicle was subsequently driven to Entally and parked near a broken CCTV camera.
The placement of the vehicle has led investigators to examine whether at least one member of the group was familiar with the area. Police have not ruled out the possibility that the suspects came from outside Bengal. The motive remains unclear because the vehicles were not stolen, despite the alleged robbery of the drivers.
The cases have raised concerns about the safety risks faced by app-cab drivers, who often accept passengers across a wide metropolitan area and may operate during late hours. The police investigation is also examining how vehicles moved between airport-side neighbourhoods, the expressway corridor, Dankuni and central Kolkata after the drivers were allegedly attacked.
Police teams are checking CCTV footage, toll plaza records and mobile tower data to identify the suspects and reconstruct the movements of the vehicles and individuals seen in the footage. The investigation is continuing.
