A property dispute spanning hundreds of miles allegedly culminated in a spine-chilling murder of a female professor attached to the Delhi University (DU), whose accused, a husband-wife duo, were arrested from West Bengal on Sunday, the police said. According to police, the accused couple travelled 1,400 kilometres to execute the crime and they swooped down on them after four days.

On Thursday, the victim woman, Debosmita Paul (49), an assistant professor at Shivaji College under Delhi university, was found dead inside her flat in East Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave. The police said the murder was driven by a long-running disagreement over a property owned by Paul in Bardhaman, West Bengal.

Tenant couple arrested in West Bengal

Delhi Police on Sunday said the accused couple involved in Paul’s killing had been arrested from Bardhaman following an extensive probe involving multiple raids and surveillance operations.

The cops said that the couple had been living as tenants in Paul’s property and repeatedly sought to purchase the house from her. However, she remained unwilling to sell the property despite being persuaded by them.

Police said the accused travelled to Delhi from Bengal with a carefully planned strategy. Sources said they even brought their child along, so that they could avoid suspicion. They then visited Paul at her Delhi house on the pretext of paying rent and yet again raised the issue of purchasing the Bardhaman property, where they had been living as tenants. When she refused again, the husband-wife duo attacked and killed her inside the flat.

Paul’s sister discovers murder

The crime came to light on Thursday noon after Paul’s sister, Devarati, made numerous phone calls to her, only to receive no response. When she reached her apartment, she found it locked from outside. She somehow managed to break the door open and found her sister lying dead inside. She informed the police immediately, at around 2:35 pm.

Upon receipt of the information, the Delhi Crime branch sleuths, local police teams and forensic experts inspected the crime scene and collected crucial evidence. Later, Paul’s body was sent to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital’s morgue for autopsy.

CCTV footage aids cops in identifying accused

The investigating police personnel found no signs of forced entry or any disruption inside the flat, strengthening their suspicion that the accused were known to Paul. They also ruled out the possibility of a robbery.

The police presumed that the murder may have unfolded between 1 pm and 6 pm on Wednesday, as they learnt that Paul had spoken to her mother over the phone at 1 pm. However, later that day, when her domestic help showed up at her house, she received no response.

As part of the probe, the cops scanned the footage from CCTV cameras and tracked the movements of close to 200 people who had either entered or exited the campus premises during that period. Sources familiar with the probe said surveillance footage captured two masked people arriving in a cab, who did not take the lift and used the staircase to access the building. They carried a bag and remained inside for nearly 30 minutes, only to leave in the same vehicle afterwards.

The police have invoked Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the accused couple after laying hands on them. They are in police custody at present as investigators continue their probe into the brutal crime.