The Kolkata Police on Wednesday arrested Shashikant Behera and Santosh Behera from Sambalpur, Odisha, for their alleged involvement in the murder of a young man at a hotel in Kolkata.
Police stated that the deceased, Rahul Lal, was found strangled with a bedsheet in a storage compartment of a hotel room in the Park Street area last week. Preliminary investigation indicated that Lal had a criminal background, including prior arrests for theft and fraud, and was allegedly involved in selling stolen goods, including antique items, to interstate smuggling networks for profit.
Investigators linked the killing to Sambalpur using the deceased’s Aadhaar card and mobile phone details, leading to the arrest of the two accused. They are currently being questioned, and police plan to bring them to West Bengal on transit remand.
Police suspect the murder may be related to a valuable stolen artifact that Lal had recently acquired. The hotel room was reportedly booked for a meeting with members of an Odisha-based smuggling ring to negotiate its sale. Authorities are conducting searches to locate the artifact and identify other individuals involved in the crime.
