New Delhi, The family of three who allegedly killed a DU assistant professor here were found climbing the stairs of the apartment building covered in face masks, fresh CCTV footage with the police shows.
The footage shows the couple from Burdwan, West Bengal and their 13-year-old son going towards the flat of Shivaji College assistant professor, Debosmita Paul, shortly before she was killed, police said on Monday.
Another CCTV footage, alleged to be after the murder, shows that they had changed their clothes and the mother and son had removed their face masks.
Paul, an assistant professor at Shivaji College, was found dead in her sixth-floor flat at Satyam Apartments in east Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave on June 3.
Delhi Police has apprehended the couple and their son in connection with the murder, which investigators say stemmed from a long-running property dispute in West Bengal.
According to the new footage, the family can be seen climbing the staircase of the apartment building together. The man, identified as Ramprashad Das, is seen carrying a red bag while all three are wearing face masks in an apparent attempt to conceal their identities.
In another CCTV clip, the trio is seen exiting a lift inside the residential complex. However, this time only the father is seen wearing a mask, while the woman and the minor boy appear without face coverings.
The footage also shows the child removing his mask while moving through the premises, investigators said.
The two CCTV clips also show a change of clothing by the husband and wife.
In the first footage, Ramprashad Das is seen wearing a white shirt, while in the second, he appears in a red shirt. Similarly, Banashree Das is seen wearing a black-and-white salwar kameez in the staircase clip, but is later captured in a red salwar kameez in the lift footage.
Police are examining the footage as part of their effort to reconstruct the family’s movements before and after the killing.
Investigators said the accused family had been residing in Paul’s ancestral property in Burdwan, West Bengal, since 2023. The property had been allotted to the victim through a family settlement and she had repeatedly asked the family to vacate the premises.
According to police, Paul had recently issued a final warning to the family to vacate the property, following which they allegedly conspired to kill her, nearly 1,400 km away from home, in Delhi on June 3.
The accused, who were known to the victim, allegedly gained entry into the apartment without resistance and murdered her inside the flat. Police said they carried the murder weapon with them and later took several steps to evade detection.
After the murder, the family allegedly fled in a taxi and later an autorickshaw to Anand Vihar and then New Delhi Railway Station. They then boarded the Poorva Express back to Burdwan.
Following an extensive investigation involving scrutiny of footage of nearly 200 visitors and raids across four states, police tracked the suspects to Burdwan and apprehended the trio on June 7.
Police have recovered the deceased’s mobile phone, a razor allegedly used in the crime, clothes, a backpack, a cap and travel-related documents. Further investigation is underway.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
