West Bengal couple travelled 1,400km to kill Delhi professor. Here’s why

Dubai: It began as a baffling murder inside a locked apartment in East Delhi. Three days later, police say they have unravelled a plot that stretched nearly 1,400 kilometres across India — a journey allegedly undertaken by a couple determined to kill a university professor over a property dispute worth crores.

Delhi Police on Sunday arrested a husband and wife from Bardhaman in West Bengal in connection with the killing of Debosmita Paul, an assistant professor at Shivaji College of the University of Delhi, NDTV reported.

Paul was found dead inside her sixth-floor apartment in Vasundhara Enclave on Wednesday, with a deep head injury and severed wrist veins. There were no signs of forced entry. Jewellery and cash lay untouched, ruling out robbery and deepening the mystery surrounding the killing.

According to investigators, the accused — identified as Ramprasad Das and Banshree Das — allegedly travelled from West Bengal to Delhi under the guise of visiting the professor. Police said they even brought along their minor son to avoid attracting suspicion.

CCTV footage showed the couple arriving at the housing complex wearing masks and carrying bags. Instead of using the lift, they climbed the stairs to the sixth floor. Because they were known to the victim, they were able to enter the apartment without resistance, police said.

What happened next turned a routine visit into a murder investigation.

Investigators believe the couple killed Paul using a weapon they had brought with them. After the attack, they allegedly changed clothes, returned to the waiting taxi and disappeared, leaving behind few immediate clues.

The breakthrough came from painstaking detective work.

Police reviewed footage of nearly 200 visitors who entered the residential complex that day. From that list, investigators narrowed the field to 13 potential suspects. Seven police teams were then deployed across four states, questioning hundreds of people and following leads that eventually pointed to Bardhaman.

A crucial clue came from the taxi driver who had transported the suspects. Investigators traced the ride details and used them to identify the passengers, helping crack the case.

The alleged motive lay hundreds of kilometres away in West Bengal.

According to police, Paul had inherited a valuable property after the death of her maternal grandfather. The accused were tenants living there and had allegedly been resisting efforts to vacate the premises. Investigators believe tensions over the property escalated into a murder plot aimed at gaining control of the asset.

The crime came to light only after the victim’s sister, Devarati, became concerned when repeated calls went unanswered. She went to the apartment and found it locked from the outside. After forcing her way in, she discovered her sister’s body and alerted police.

The arrested couple are expected to be produced before a local court in West Bengal, where Delhi Police will seek transit remand to bring them to the capital for further questioning. Police sources said the couple’s minor son has also been detained as part of the investigation.

For three days, the killing baffled investigators. Now police say a dispute over a property worth crores may have been the deadly motive behind a carefully planned journey that ended in murder.