Darjeeling cops crack murder case in 48 hrs, 1 held for killing woman

Darjeeling: The Darjeeling police have resolved a murder case within 48 hours of the crime in Relling, Bijanbari, Darjeeling with the arrest of a 23-year-old. The accused has been remanded to 7 days of police custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate court on Thursday.

On March 14, when his wife did not answer his repeated cell phone calls, Nabin Gurung, a teacher accompanied by a colleague, Jainidhi Sharma, rushed home from Vidyasagar High School, Bijanbari.

On reaching his residence at Relling Road around 2:15pm, he found the door locked from inside. He opened the front door with a duplicate key and entered.

In the kitchen, he found his wife Chitra Kala Gurung (45 years) lying in a pool of blood. On checking the other rooms, Gurung found that the Almirah was broken and valuables, including gold and cash, were missing. The pet dog had also been killed. An FIR was filed by him at the Pulbazar police station.

Police started an investigation. "The body was sent for post mortem to the Darjeeling Sadar Hospital. CCTV footage of all entry and exit routes to the house was examined. We then zeroed in on a suspect," stated Dr. Santosh Nimbalkar, Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling.

On March 16, based on source information, 23-year-old Pranesh Rai was arrested from Pulbazar area.

Rai, who is Nabin Gurung's nephew, was staying in Shanti Parbat in Darjeeling as a paying guest.

During interrogation, Rai confessed that on that day he had visited the house and demanded money from Chitra Kala, his aunt. When she refused to pay, there was a heated altercation. His aunt was alone in the house. The accused then assaulted her and repeatedly hit her with a blunt weapon. When she fell on the floor, he had stolen the money and gold ornaments from the almirah and left for Siliguri.

"The accused has been charged under Sections 302 (murder,) 379 (theft) and 429 (killing animals) of the IPC. The police had prayed for 14 days of remand," stated Pankaj Prasad, Assistant Public Prosecutor, Darjeeling.