An Indian youth named Asif Mohammed from West Bengal’s Malda district was arrested on the grounds of committing multiple homicides in February. The deceased family members comprised the accused’s father Jawad Ali, grandmother Alekjan Khatun, mother Ira Bhabi, and sister Arifa Khatun.
The gory crime came to light after Arif, 21,— identified as the accused’s older brother—filed a complaint on Friday. The complainant alleged that the 19-year-old intended to slay him as well, but he managed to escape from his deadly clutches.
In a brief conversation with cops, Arif revealed that he had always known as to what had led to the death of his parents, grandmother, and younger sister but was too scared to come out and report the crime. He detailed the nature of the crime allegedly committed by his brother—by drowning them on Feb. 28. Strangely, Arif too had a role to play— he buried the bodies in a godown, adjoining their house.
While the further probe is underway, a recent report by NDTV suggests that the news of multiple deaths in the house attracted neighbors to the area. A state minister is also said to have paid visit to the site of crime.
Given the gravity of crimes, the developments pertaining to serving justice is likely to be a long-drawn process as the police are reportedly awaiting the assistance of a magistrate before going ahead with digging out the corpses from the ground. A formal statement by the police is yet to come through, given how there happen to be multiple versions of the story.
In stark contrast to what Arif revealed, neighbors alleged that the family was missing in plain sight for the past couple of months. Speculations are rife that Asif was suffering from acute mental exhaustion, while distant familial relations believe the young man was involved in some “dark web” activities, as cited in News18.com.
When questioned about the same, Asif revealed that the family had made a brief journey to Kolkata to live “in a newly-purchased flat”. Not much has been disclosed pertaining to the transactions if any.
Law enforcement officials are far from convinced, as they are yet to gather incisive evidence into the crime that seems to have a dark angle to it.
