22 September 2012, The Hindustan Times, Patna
After six years of the sensational murder of noted academician prof Papiya Ghosh and her maid Malti Devi, the Patna police team led by city SP has finally arrested Sanjog Rai, the seventh and last accused in the double murder case, from Ludhiana in Punjab.
On Friday, the police brought Rai to Patna and produced him before the court of the chief judicial magistrate.
Patna SSP Amrit Raj said, a police team picked up the accused from Janata Nagar locality under Simlapuri police station in Jalandhar, following a tip off. “Rai had changed his name to Sunny and was working in a small factory of nuts and bolts in Ludhiana for the last few years to escape the police dragnet,” said the SSP, during a media briefing.
Ghosh, a professor in Patna University and elder sister of IAS officer, Tuktuk Ghosh, was killed along with her maid in a brutal manner in the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 2006, sparking off wide condemnation from all quarters, especially academicians. It had raised a question mark on the safety of residents of the posh Patliputra Colony.
The arrest of the last accused is, indeed, a major breakthrough for the Patna police but it has taken six long years to book those involved in the heinous crime.
Even recently, a group of leading academicians had written to the DGP to arrest the remaining accused in the crime, following which, a special team led by zonal IG, R S Bhatti was formed to speed up the case.
In mid-August, police managed to arrest Mustakim Mian, one of the absconding accused in the case, from Seraikella (in West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand) where he was living under the fake name of Shamim and eking out a living as a roadside bicycle repairman. Police said, Mian was one of those who had stabbed Ghosh during the burglary leading to the death of the professor.
Incidentally, Rai, a resident of Digha locality, has also admitted his involvement in the crime and revealed, that he had fled to Punjab after the twin murders. He had broken contacts with his relatives and friends, the SSP claimed. “The accused has claimed, that he was approached by another accused, Shankar Sah, who had asked him to drive a Maruti car to the house of the deceased academician in Patliputra Colony on the fateful night of December 2, 2006,” said the SSP.
The Maruti car, as per the version of the accused, was used to ferry the stolen goods from the house of Papiya Ghosh and unloaded at Digha locality, where it was shared among all the seven accused in the crime.