A man and his mother were killed, cut into pieces, packed in polythene bags and dumped in gorges of neighbouring Meghalaya allegedly by his wife and her two 'close friends', police said on Monday.
The murders happened in July and August last year, and few parts of the mother's body were recovered on Sunday near Cherrapunji in Khasi Hills.
"The first murder of the mother-in-law happened on July 26, while the husband was killed on August 17. We have arrested all the three accused and they are being interrogated now," Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Barah told PTI.
He said the wife and one of her accomplices were arrested in Guwahati, while the third accused was nabbed in Tinsukia district.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Diganta Kumar Choudhury said the wife had lodged a missing complaint about her husband Amarjyoti Dey (32) and mother-in-law Shankari Dey (62) on August 29 and the police started an investigation.
"In November, Amarjyoti's cousin filed another missing complaint, which raised doubts about the wife as she allegedly withdrew money from her mother-in-law's account. Then we re-started our investigation and detected the murders," Choudhury told PTI.
Both the cases were registered at Noonmati police station, and the murders took place at different houses in Chandmari and Narengi areas in Guwahati, he said.
Addressing a press conference later, the Police Commissioner said the wife has been identified as Bandana Kalita (32), while her two male friends are Dhanti Deka (32) and Arup Deka (27).
"During interrogation, it was revealed that Bandana and Amarjyoti married around 12 years ago against the wishes of both families. The post-marital relationship between the two could not exactly be termed as cordial," he added.
While Amarjyoti's mother accepted the marriage later and started supporting them financially, he was not gainfully employed and this led to frequent quarrels between the couple, Barah said.
"Bandana took up a job as a fitness trainer at a gym and her mother-in-law initially supported her, but later she backed out. This turned their relationship sour. Bandana claimed her husband used to take addictive substances and had many woman friends, the police officer said.
To get rid of the mother-in-law and her husband, the woman allegedly killed them with the help of her friends, he said.
After strangulating Shankari Dey to death at her house at around 5 pm by a pillow on July 26 afternoon, the three cut her body into three pieces, went to Meghalaya in Dhanti's car and threw the body parts and the weapons used in the crime in different areas by 10 am the next day, he said.
"On August 17, Bandana along with her two partners in crime attacked Amarjyoti with a rod at his flat in Narengi, where the couple used to live. After he died, the body was chopped into five pieces, Barah said adding that the same process was repeated to dispose of the severed limbs.
A special team formed to look into the case took the three accused to the spots where the body parts of the two persons were thrown away.
"The team with the help of Meghalaya Police searched the gorges. Eventually, they managed to trace the mortal remains of Shankari Dey, which were brought to Guwahati. A forensic examination and DNA test will confirm the identity of the deceased," Barah said.
On the motive of the murders, he said it is not clear as of now as the prime accused Bandana is giving 'inconsistent statements'.
Barah said police have seized the mobile phones of Bandana and Dhanti, the car used to transport body parts, ATM cards of the two deceased, tattered clothes and blanket wrapping Shankari Dey.
Asked if Bandana had an extramarital affair with one of the two accomplices, he said: "The two male accused were her close friends. But I cannot say at the moment what type of closeness they had."
Barah also said that Bandana used to meet senior police officials, including him on February 14, to enquire about the progress of her missing complaint.
