GUWAHATI, Oct 27 : Police have arrested one person and detained four others so far in connection with the murder of an elderly couple at their residence in the Survey (Beltola) area of the city.
Police sources confirmed the involvement of the arrested accused, Akash Choudhury, the caretaker of the house where the deceased couple lived, in the incident.
“The assailants tried to show as if it was a house break-in. But after we checked each door, window and ventilator, there were no signs of a forced entry. All marks appeared to be made from inside the house and the entry was from the backdoor through a key. The grill of a window was broken from inside to mislead the investigation. Besides, all finger prints in the window and its frame are of the arrested accused, Akash Choudhury,” Guwahati police commissioner Harmeet Singh revealed to reporters here on Wednesday.
Singh further said that a scientific investigation was carried out by four teams – CID, forensic and crime departments and local police and that all angles were covered as the case “has ramifications affecting every member of the society”.
“The investigation therefore could ascertain these key facts and found Akash Choudhury to be involved in the incident. As of now, we are investigating the case to get more details,” Singh said.
The bodies of the elderly couple – Noni Gopal Baruah (86), a retired engineer in the state water resources department, and Mina Baruah (76), a retired teacher – were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their residence in the Survey (Beltola) area here on Tuesday morning.
Preliminary investigation suggested that they were attacked by sharp weapons while they were sleeping in their bedroom.
Four other suspects Satyendra Singh, Paresh Choudhury, Buddhadeb alias Babul and Joon Saikia were picked up from separate locations of the city for questioning by police in connection with the case since Tuesday. They are being interrogated at Dispur police station.
Meanwhile, the couple’s younger daughter arrived in the city from Mumbai on Tuesday evening and reportedly filed a case against the caretaker at Dispur police station.
Originally hailing from Bihar, Akash Choudhury (who is also an autorickshaw driver) and his wife, Putu Das, have been with the couple for about 20 years.
They were quizzed by the crime branch department of Assam Police at Dispur police station on Tuesday. Reportedly, till Wednesday afternoon, Choudhury has not made any confession about his involvement in the crime.