Assam woman kills husband, mother-in-law, cuts bodies into pieces, dumps in Meghalaya

Police in Guwahati on Monday said a woman, whom they arrested recently, murdered her husband and mother-in-law separately in July-August last year, chopped their body parts before dumping them in the hills of neighbouring Meghalaya.

Guwahati police commissioner, Diganta Barah told reporters that the accused Bandana Kalita (32), a gym instructor had committed the crime with the help of her two male associates, Dhanti Deka, a taxi driver and Arup Deka, a vegetable seller.

Barah said investigation and interrogation of the three accused revealed that Bandana had first killed her mother-in-law, Shankari Dey (62) in her house at the city's Chandmari area on the evening of July 26 last year, with the help of Arup. "They first suffocated Shankari with a pillow and when she became unconscious, they severed her head with a machete and a rolling pin. They confessed that they cut the body into three pieces, put those into a polythene bag brought by Dhanti and covered them with a blanket. In the wee hours of the next day, they put the body parts into Dhanti's taxi (a Hyundai Accent) and drove to Meghalaya. They threw the body parts into the jungle between Shillong and Cherrapunjee," Barah said.

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Barah said they similarly killed Bandana's husband Amarjyoti Dey in his house in the Narengi area and cut his body into five pieces on the night of August 17 last year. "They similarly packed the body parts and dumped those in jungles in an area between Shillong-Dawki road," he said. Police recovered some body parts in the Shillong-Cherrapunjee area while efforts are on to trace the body parts of her husband.

Police said Bandana's relationship with her husband and mother-in-law was strained. "Investigation suggests Amarjyoti used to take drugs and this led to some conflict between them. But our investigation is on to reveal the real motive of the gruesome crimes," Barah said. Both Shankari and her son Arupjyoti owned several properties in Chandmari and Noonmati areas and earned a good amount as rent, police said.

Investigation into the case began after Bandana lodged a missing persons complaint with the Noonmati police station on August 29 last year stating that her husband and mother-in-law were missing. The police, however, could not trace the whereabouts of the duo. On November 21, Shankari's nephew Nirmalya Dey lodged a complaint alleging that money was being withdrawn from his aunt's bank accounts by using her ATM cards and suspected that the duo might have been abducted. In February this year, both Bandana and Nirmalya separately approached CID, Assam and Guwahati police commissionerate complaining that the investigation was not progressing in the cases.

Police got suspicious after versions of both Bandana and Nirmalaya did not match and subsequently they arrested the woman. Based on Bandana's confessions, police arrested Dhanti Deka from Tinsukia in Eastern Assam, about 400 kms away and Arup Deka from Guwahati's Khanapara area respectively, on Sunday. "Our investigation is on to find out the nature of Bandana's relationship with Dhanti and Arup," Barah said.