The investigation into the murder of a Delhi University professor has uncovered new chilling details, a day after police arrested a couple and their 13-year-old son in connection with the crime.
CCTV footage recovered from the residential complex shows the three suspects, wearing face masks, climbing the stairs of the apartment building where the victim, Debosmita Paul, lived.
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.
Police arrested the family from Burdwan in West Bengal, alleging that the murder was linked to a long-running property dispute involving Paul's ancestral home.
Investigators pieced together the suspects' movements using multiple CCTV recordings from the apartment complex. In one clip, the family is seen ascending the staircase together while wearing face masks, apparently in an attempt to conceal their identities.
The man, identified as Ramprashad Das (42), is also seen carrying a red bag. In another footage captured inside the residential complex, the trio is seen exiting a lift. This time, only Ramprashad is wearing a face mask, while the woman and the teenager appear without face coverings.
Investigators also noted that both Ramprashad Das and his wife, Banashree Das (36), appeared to have changed their clothes between the two recordings. In the staircase footage, Ramprashad is seen wearing a white shirt, but later appears in a red shirt. Banashree, initially dressed in a black-and-white salwar kameez, is later seen wearing a red salwar kameez in the lift footage.
According to police, the accused family had been living in Paul's ancestral property in Burdwan since 2023. The property had reportedly been allotted to the professor through a family settlement, and she had repeatedly asked the family to vacate the premises.
Investigators said Paul had recently issued a final warning to the family to leave the property, after which they allegedly conspired to kill her at her Delhi residence.
Police believe the family fled the scene immediately after the murder, travelling first by taxi and then by autorickshaw to Anand Vihar before reaching New Delhi Railway Station. From there, they allegedly boarded the Poorva Express to return to Burdwan.
Following an extensive investigation, Delhi Police tracked the suspects to Burdwan and arrested all three on June 7. Further investigation into the case is underway.
