Kolkata, Nov 14 (IANS) A dispute over money linked to online gaming led to the murder of a 26-year-old woman in North 24 Parganas district’s Baranagar earlier this week, police investigators revealed on Saturday after a local court remanded the prime accused to 10 days of police custody.
The accused, Dharamvir Kumar, who had fled West Bengal following the murder, was arrested from another state on Friday and brought back on transit remand.
He was produced before the Barrackpore court on Saturday, where investigators sought his custodial remand for further questioning and to reconstruct the crime scene.
According to the police, the victim, Anjali Sau of Dunlop, and Kumar met around three years ago while playing the online game PUBG in group sessions. The two gradually grew close and would occasionally meet at a flat in Shitalamata Lane under Ward No. 17 of Baranagar Municipality, which belonged to Anjali’s sister and brother-in-law, who currently reside in Serampore in Hooghly district.
Preliminary interrogation of Kumar indicates that a substantial sum of money was deposited in Anjali’s gaming account, and an argument over sharing those funds is suspected to have triggered the murder. Investigators stated that while the probe has made significant headway, further custodial questioning is required to determine the exact financial dispute and ascertain whether any other motive was involved.
Police had recovered Anjali’s body from the Baranagar flat last Tuesday. Suspicion immediately fell on Kumar after CCTV camera footage from the premises captured him entering the flat on Tuesday and leaving in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family has alleged in their complaint that gold ornaments and Anjali’s mobile phone were missing from the flat following the incident. Police are verifying whether the valuables were taken by the accused after the murder.
–IANS
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