Agartala: Tripura witnessed one of the most shocking cases of cold-blooded murder in recent times after police on Wednesday. While investigating a missing person’s case, locals unearthed mortal remains of a youth stuffed inside a freezer generally used for storing ice creams.
The twists and turns that police investigation stumbled upon during the investigation of the case are not less than a dark crime thriller.
Jealousy, one-sided love, and a communal angle. All the elements a perfect crime thriller promises to deliver are found to be present in the case.
The story starts with Reshmi Saha, a young girl based out of the Chandrapur area of Agartala, and her boyfriend Shariful Islam (Miah), an electrician employed with Agartala Smart City Mission.
The lovebirds broke all social and religious obligations to uphold their relationship. Reshmi Saha’s mother was, however, not against their relationship initially, but there enters Dr. Dibakara Saha in the story with a twist.
The girl and the doctor come from the same village in Dhalai district–Gandatwisa (formerly known as Gandacherra). According to police, Dr. Saha is a cousin of Reshmi, but the former secretly wanted to marry Reshmi from the beginning. Parents of Dr. Dibakar Saha were also well aware of the feelings of their son.
It was Reshmi Saha who introduced her boyfriend to Dr. Saha in good faith, as she always regarded her cousin as an elder brother. What unfolded later was beyond her imagination.
Shariful Islam went missing from Indranagar (Agartala) on the night of June 8. For the next two days, his family members had no clue about his whereabouts. On June 11, his mortal remains stuffed in a large-size trolley bag were recovered from a freezer kept inside a shop owned by none other than Dr. Dibakar Saha’s father at Gandtwisa, around 112 kilometres away from his house.
According to police, Shariful Islam and the girl recently had a fight with each other. For a couple of days, they were not on talking terms. Taking advantage of the situation, Dr. Dibakar Saha on June 8 night called Shariful to meet. Dr. Saha invited the latter to the house of one of his accomplices to receive an Eid gift. One of the eyewitnesses saw Shariful with Dr. Saha on that night.
As he went missing, locals of the area caught Dr. Dibakar Saha from his rented apartment at Agartala and handed him over to police.
Detention of Dr. Saha was the first breakthrough in the horrific case.
Speaking on the issue, Superintendent of Police West Tripura said, “Driven by jealousy and a desire to eliminate potential interference in his personal life, Dr. Saha allegedly lured Shariful to the residence of Jaydip Das in South Indranagar under the pretense of giving him a gift. Upon his arrival, Shariful was strangled in the presence of two accomplices—Animesh Yadav and Nabanta Das.”
The victim’s body was then stuffed into a large trolley bag. The next morning, on June 9, the accused, with the help of his parents, shifted the bag carrying the body to his ancestral home in Gandatwisa.
“The parents of the accused came with a four-wheeler all the way from Gandtwisa and carried the body back. For the June 08 night, the body was kept in another house belonging to a friend of Dr. Dibakar Saha,” the police officer revealed.
To delay decomposition, the body was concealed in a commercial freezer at his father Dipak Saha’s shop.
Those arrested in the case include Dr. Dibakar Saha (28), Jaydip Das (20), Nabanita Das (25), Animesh Yadav (21), along with Dibakar’s parents—Dipak Saha (52) and Debika Saha (48). Police continue their investigation into the chilling crime that has shocked the state.
In a telephonic interview with local media channels, Reshmi Saha said that she was not aware of anything. Sources said that Reshmi Saha’s mother had suddenly started to oppose the relationship between her and the deceased after the entry of Dr. Dibakar Saha in the love triangle.
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