Two persons were detained by the police in connection with the triple murder case at Jiagunj in Murshidabad. The CID officials today visited the spot and collected information from the officials probing the incident. With mystery still shrouding the murder of a child and his parents at Jiaganj, an investigating team of top police officials conducted on the spot investigation at the residence of the slain family. The triple murders took place on 8 October, the day of Vijaya Dashami celebration.

Sources said some CID sleuths led by the ADG and IGP (South Bengal), Mr Sanjoy Singh conducted the investigation. “Personal grudge” is suspected to be behind the murder, an officer who was part of the team said, while ruling out the possibility of ‘political connection’ being the reason behind the brutal murder. People close to the trio and the family are suspected to be behind the murder, a CID source claimed.

Though two persons, including a friend of the deceased teacher Bandhu Prakash Pal, had already been detained by the police, security officials are almost certain that “family rivalry” over a purported land deal was the reason behind the gruesome murder. A source close to the CID said that the investigation is on the right track and the two persons who had been detained, including a family friend of Bandhu Prakash Pal, were interrogated. On the basis of their statements, the investigators were trying to gather more details about the dealings of the deceased teacher.

An investigator said that the way the trio had been hacked to death left an imprint of ‘savagery” that indicated some deep grudge. “Investigations so far revealed that there was a family tiff over a financial transaction in connection with a land deal that Bandhu Prakash Pal was probably not inclined to part with. His financial dealings are under scanner. But what is crystal clear is that the assailants were close to the deceased,” a police source said.

According to initial investigation by the police, the slain teacher had some dubious financial transactions with a neighbour of his wife hailing from Rampurhat area of Birbhum. A police team led by Mr Barun Baidya, the SDPO, Lalbagh, yesterday raided the residence of Souvik Banik, the suspected business partner of Bondhu Prakash. The police detained several persons, including Souvik and one of his close acquaintances. A member of the Pal family, including the father of Bondhu Prakash, was also detained and questioned, sources said.

The CID officers, the local police and the probe team led by the ADG, Mr Sanjoy Singh inspected the murder spot and carried out a search in and around the residential building of the Pal family. The police tried to trace the weapons used by the killers. Forensic experts collected blood samples and finger prints, sources said.