Amid earthquake panic in Kolkata, mother-daughter duo seen dumping body in Hooghly, arrested

The accused, who are residents of Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas, had lived in Kumartuli years ago, which might have influenced their choice of location for disposing of the body.

The Kolkata police arrested a mother-daughter duo on Tuesday morning after they were caught trying to dump a woman’s body, stuffed inside a trolley bag, into the Hooghly River at Kumartuli Ghat.

The accused, Falguni Ghosh (34), and her mother, Arati Ghosh (55), allegedly murdered Sumita Ghosh (50), a resident of Jorhat, Assam, over suspected personal enmity or property dispute.

The incident, according to the Times of India, happened around 7.10 am when locals at Kumartuli Ghat noticed the two women struggling to carry a large blue trolley bag. The area was unusually crowded at the time, as people had gathered after earthquake tremors were reported in the Bay of Bengal in the morning. The difficulty being faced by the two women in moving the bag raised suspicion among onlookers.

A local barber, Gautam Kumar Thakur (46), who later lodged the murder complaint, noticed the women arguing with their taxi driver upon arrival at the ghat, raising attention and prompting the people to demand what was inside the bag.

Initially, Falguni and Arati claimed that the bag contained the body of their pet dog. However, when the locals insisted on opening it, the women kept changing their story—first saying it was an aunt’s body and later a relative’s remains.

Getting suspicious, some people forcibly opened the bag and found a human body with severed legs inside. A foul odour had already started coming out of the bag, confirming that the body had been there for a while.

The shocked crowd immediately alerted the police, after which the cops from the North Port police station reached the scene.

By that time, the angry crowd had surrounded the women; some even tried to assault them, but police rescued them from the mob. The bag was taken into custody and sent to the police station for further examination.

According to a police officer, the bag, locked with a small padlock, appeared new and had bloodstains on it. The deceased, later identified as Sumita Ghosh, was wearing a red garment, and additional blood-stained clothes were found inside. Her elder sister, Shipra (62), confirmed her identity.

According to initial findings, Sumita Ghosh may have been murdered due to personal enmity or a property dispute. The accused, who are residents of Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas, had lived in Kumartuli years ago, which might have influenced their choice of location for disposing of the body.

Police are now probing the exact sequence of events leading up to the murder, including where and how Sumita was killed. The severing of her legs suggests an attempt to fit her inside the trolley bag for easier disposal. The postmortem report will provide more clarity on the cause and time of death.

A case has been registered, and further investigations are underway. The mother and daughter are in police custody and being questioned about their exact role and motive behind the gruesome murder.