Kolkata businessman allegedly killed by associate over money; CM visits family

Kolkata: A businessman in West Bengal’s Ballygunge area in Kolkata was allegedly killed by his business associate, police commissioner Vineet Goyal said on Wednesday afternoon.
Bhavo Lakhani, 45, was killed on Monday at the accused person’s residence in the Nimta area of the city’s northern outskirts, said police, adding that they have arrested two people in connection with the murder.
Prime accused Anirban Gupta and his accomplice Suman Das were arrested in connection with the murder over the next two days, the police commissioner said.
According to Goyal, Gupta had allegedly taken Rs.50 lakh from Lakhani to buy medicines for the latter’s wholesale business and called him over to his home on Monday to return the money.
The incident came to light after the victim’s family lodged a missing complaint on Monday following which an investigation was launched.
The investigation revealed that Gupta had called Lakhani on Monday and asked him to cover over to his residence as he wanted to return the money.
However, when he reached there, he was hit with an object which led to his death. Detective department officials handling the case said Lakhani was clubbed to death with some cricket bats and wickets that were found inside Gupta’s home but Goyal said this was being investigated.
“After the murder, the victim’s body was hidden under a water tank on the roof of Gupta’s home and a brick chamber was built around it,” said Goyal.
“Das tried to mislead the investigators. When police tried to call Lakhani on his phone, Das took the call and said he found the phone lying abandoned in another part of the city,” the commissioner said.
Both were interrogated during which they broke down and confessed to the killing, said Goyal.
Meanwhile, chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the victim’s home and expressed grief to the family members.
“I cancelled a rally in Siliguri and came rushing. The deceased was a simple man. He ran a medicine business. The brutality is shocking. The police will take strong action,” Banerjee told reporters.