KOLKATA: Two women - a mother and daughter - were caught at Kumartuli ghat, north Kolkata, early Tuesday while trying to throw a body into the Hooghly, stuffed inside a trolley bag.
Cops said Falguni Ghosh (34) and her mother Arati Ghosh (55) killed the victim, the younger woman's aunt-in-law, over personal enmity or a property dispute. A murder probe is on.
Falguni and Arati are residents of Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas, around 20km from where they were trying to dump the body. They had lived in Kumartuli years ago, cops said.
The two of them were caught red-handed around 7.10am.
Kumartuli ghat is usually buzzing with activity around that time of day. On Tuesday, the ghat was more crowded than usual, because people had huddled there since 6.10am, when Kolkata felt earthquake tremors.
It was these assembled locals, who sensed something amiss and called the cops, seeing the women struggling to carry the heavy bag.
The locals forced the women to open the bag to find the body of a woman, later identified as Sumita Ghosh (50), a resident of Assam's Jorhat. The legs had been chopped so that the body could fit inside. "The accused arrived in a taxi and were struggling with a very heavy trolley bag," said DC (Port) Hari Krishna Pai.
The women told the locals that the bag contained the body of their pet dog. But when someone forced the bag open, it soon became clear that the body was of a human.
Postmortem has been conducted.

Locals unearth murder as mother and daughter get trapped in post-quake huddle

With most people outdoors due to the earthquake scare on Tuesday morning, it became easier for the locals to suspect the movement of Aarati Ghosh (50) and Falguni Ghosh (34), the mother-daughter duo at the Kumartuli ghat. “The fact that this case could be tracked so easily is because the locals walked the talk,” said a joint CP at Lalbazar.
According to the prime witness, a barber named Gautam Kumar Thakur (46) — the man who lodged the murder plaint — it was around 7.10 am that the white taxi — a Swift Dzire — arrived near the Rajarghat (Kumartuli ghat) on Tuesday. “What attracted our attention was a major argument between the driver and the two women. But what appeared suspicious was when we saw them taking out a big blue trolley bag that both found difficult to even move,” said a morning walker.
Between 7.10 am and 7.30 am, copswere finally informed. The locals ran a quick whisper campaign and gathered around the two.
“Information was received from the constable of Sutanuti outpost of a trouble at the ghat. On arrival, we found a huge gathering there and they looked extremely agitated,” said a cop at the spot. “For us, at North Port PS, we are used to seeing bodies wash ashore the Hooghly. But to find a body inside a trolley bag, that too with feet severed, was shocking,” he added.
“We noticed some blood stains on the bag. This raised our suspicion. The bag, which was locked with the help of a small-sized padlock in its zipper, looked new. We immediately surrounded them, and they began to blabber. Initially, they claimed it was the body of their Labrador dog, next it became an aunt, and then they said it was that of another relative,” said Thakur.
In the meanwhile, several locals started to gather at the spot and began agitating and demanding that the duo open the bag in front of them. When the cops arrived, both women went back to their initial claim — that the bag had the body of their pet dog. A foul smell had already started emitting by then.
As an attempt was made to open it by breaking open the padlock, some blood leaked from it and later a human body along with some blood-stained clothes were noticed. “Seeing the blood and human body, locals started trying to assault the detainees and create a chaos. We pacified the situation, and the two women were rescued with the help of woman police personnel. We also took charge of the bag and everyone was brought to the police station, where the bag was opened and a videography was done. Body of a woman was found inside the bag. Her legs were severed from the ankle. She was wearing a reddish garment. Some other blood-stained apparel were also found ,” said an officer. Later, the deceased was identified as Sumita Ghosh (50) of Jorhat by her elder sister Shipra (62).

Cops: Duo found Babughat, Prinsep Ghat too crowded

CCTV footage from Madhyamgram’s Dakshin Biresh Pally, where the women stay, showed the two of them carrying the bag on a van rickshaw. Neighbours claimed that the murder was carried out to silence Sumita, who has been protesting against the duo’s “immoral activities”. They also reported multiple arguments between Sumita and the two women since Sumita arrived on Feb 11.
Local councillor Prakash Raha confirmed receiving complaints about the duo’s alleged activities. “The landlord assured me they would be evicted by March,” Raha said.
Joint CP (crime and traffic) Rupesh Kumar said Sumita had arrived in Madhyamgram on Feb 11. “There was an altercation at 4 pm on Monday between Falguni and Sumita. Falguni reportedly pushed Sumita to the wall, rendering her unconscious. However, when Sumita regained consciousness, they again started arguing. This time, Falguni reportedly hit her on the face and neck with a brick, following which she became senseless and, eventually, died. The accused had lived in Kumartuli years ago, and so decided to dump the body there,” he added. The two of them reportedly even did the rounds of Prinsep Ghat and Babughat, but changed plans when they found the areas too crowded.