The alleged murders of two app-cab drivers in and around Kolkata within 24 hours have led to the arrest of three men and exposed a suspected car-theft racket, according to the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate. Police said the accused targeted drivers to take their vehicles and sell them in the black market.
The investigation began after police found 58-year-old Ramjesh Kori unconscious near Bhadua More on Delhi Road in the Dankuni police station area on the morning of October 5. Kori, a resident of Bankra in North Dum Dum, worked as an app-cab driver. He was taken to a hospital in Serampore, where doctors declared him dead. His legs were tied with a nylon rope, and a post-mortem examination found that he had been strangled.
According to police, Kori had been hired directly from the airport area on the night of October 4 by three men posing as passengers. The report said the men allegedly attacked him after the car reached a relatively deserted stretch of the highway. One accused allegedly grabbed Kori by the throat from behind, while another pulled the handbrake. Police said the men moved him to the passenger seat, tied his legs while the car was moving and later left him near Bhadua More.
The Chandannagar Police Detective Department, led by Detective Chief Rupantar Sengupta, used CCTV footage and other investigative leads to identify and detain the accused. They were identified as Mohammed Monirul Gazi, 30, and Sheikh Shahadat, 24, both residents of Madhyamgram, and Mohammed Aryan Molla, 24, a resident of Nimta.
Police said the accused told investigators that they intended to sell Kori’s car in the black market. The vehicle was taken to Beliaghata in Kolkata’s Beniapukur area, but the men allegedly failed to find a buyer willing to purchase it without documents. Police said they abandoned the car after it began running low on fuel and fled.
During the investigation, police linked the accused to the death of another app-cab driver, Bhagwan Prasad Gupta. Gupta was found dead inside a locked car in Entally on a Wednesday morning the previous week. His legs were also tied, and a post-mortem examination found that he had been strangled. Police said the similarities between the two cases raised suspicions during interrogation in the Dankuni investigation.
According to the police, the three accused confessed on Friday night to their alleged involvement in Gupta’s murder. The Chandannagar Police Commissionerate has informed the Kolkata Police, while investigators are examining whether other people were involved in the suspected vehicle-theft network.
The three men were produced before a court in Chandannagar on Friday and remanded in police custody for five days. The investigation remains ongoing, and the allegations against the accused will be tested through the legal process.
