Forensic report is still not ready, but initial police probe points to suicide
Kolkata : The Kolkata police on Friday ruled out homicide in the death of septuagenarian Arabindo De in the ‘horror’ house on Robinson Lane in the city after preliminary investigation. “The forensic department is yet to send its final report, but going by the initial probe it is a case of suicide by burning and not homicide”, Special Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh said,
He said that Arabindo had tuberculosis in his left lung and sarcoidosis of liver. On forensic tests on the skeleton, allegedly that of Arabindo’s daughter Debjani, Ghosh said, “Tests are being conducted. The DNA sample will be sent to ascertain the identity of the skeleton.”
Ghosh said that there was no injury mark on the skeleton leading to the death of the person. Asked about contents of several diaries and paper notes recovered from the apartment which suggested brother-sister incest, he merely said that the local police station was going through the papers, but no hint of that had been found.
The police has recovered eight laptops, desktop computers, paper notes and letters written by family members and diaries from the apartment. Ghosh said that during their primary investigation, doctors suggested that no chemicals were used to preserve the skeletons inside the apartment.
It was also baffling why none in the locality smelt the stench of the dead bodies although the doctors have ruled out use of chemicals to preserve the skeleton, he said. Regarding the skeletons of the pet dogs, Ghosh said that opinions of doctors at the SSKM was sought before sending them to veterinary surgeons to ascertain the cause of their deaths.
The letters were written just to communicate. In fact, some letters revealed that the writer was quite depressed while the person who replied tried to console the writer, Ghosh said. “We are unsure as to who wrote the letters and to whom. We are trying to find out. This can be a good clue in the case,” the police officer said.
The letters, he said, were not sent by somebody but were surprisingly exchanged by the occupants of the flat between themselves. Arabindo De, the owner of the building,
died in a fire inside a bathroom whose door was bolted from inside on Wednesday night.
The skeletons, purportedly of his 50-year-old daughter Debjani and their two pet dogs, were were found in the apartment the next day.
