GUWAHATI: Two people, including a woman, have been arrested in a case related to the death of a Pune-based businessman at a five-star hotel in Guwahati. The woman is alleged to have been in a relationship with the deceased.
The deceased identified as Sandeep Suresh Kamble was said to have been dealing with cars and diamonds business.
The accused have been identified as Anjali Shaw (25) and her alleged boyfriend Vikash Kumar Shaw (23), who are from Kolkata in West Bengal.
It is said that all three persons had arrived in Guwahati separately on February 5.
While Anjali and the victim checked in room number 922 of Radisson Blu hotel, Vikash checked in another room in the same hotel.
Police said that Sandeep who travelled frequently for business purposes had met Anjali in a restaurant at the Netaji Subhash Basu International Airport, Kolkata, in September last year.
Anjali was working as the store manager there.
Exchanging phone numbers, the duo is said to have been in touch since then.
The victim was already married and the woman was said to be in another relationship with the second accused Vikash Shaw.
With time, their relationship turned into intimate and Sandeep was claimed to have sent expensive gifts to the woman.
“They also spent nights together in hotels in Kolkata and Pune. During such intimate encounters, the victim took some photographs of their intimate moments. The victim, although already married, wanted to marry Anjali and kept on forcing her to break off her relationship with her boyfriend Vikash Shaw,” the police said.
Gradually, their relationship fell apart and Anjali started avoiding Sandeep. But he became more possessive and began blackmailing her.
Sandeep became aggressive and started contacting her family members and Vikash to try to force her to marry him. He also shared his and Anjali’s intimate photographs with Vikash.
“When Anjali could not bear the torture any longer, she along with her boyfriend hatched a plan to meet Sandeep and snatch his phones so that they can halt the blackmailing sessions," the police said.
"They decided that Anjali would plan a meeting with Sandeep in Kolkata and then, Vikash would also join them and together they would overpower him and take away his phones,” the police added.
The duo planned on sedating Sandeep and accordingly, Anjali brought anti-depressant/sleeping pills and alcohol-infused laddoos to feed Sandeep.
The accused also got five pieces of ropes to tie the victim once he is sedated.
However, Sandeep declined to meet Anjali in Kolkata instead agreed to meet her in Guwahati.
“Anjali kept the door of their hotel room open so Vikash could enter. Around 2 pm, Vikash entered the room of Anjali and Sandeep as planned," said the police.
"A scuffle ensued between Vikash and the victim. Sandeep sustained severe injuries and started bleeding profusely from the nose. The two decided to leave him in the room when he became unconscious," the police added.
The police nabbed the two while trying to flee to Kolkata by flight.
The police said the accused duo themselves had informed the hotel through a call that the guest in room number 922 might be sick and someone should check on him.
The management upon reaching the room found Sandeep lying dead in a pool of blood and immediately informed the police.
The police said the duo confessed to their crime and several items were recovered by the police including clothes worn by the accused which were stained with the blood of the deceased, the mobile phone of the victim.
A strip of anti-depressant tablets/sleeping pills and phones of the accused containing chats where they had planned the entire incident were also seized.