Father of the slain techie Antara Das, who was murdered in December 2016, writes letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis and Pune Police Commissioner, asking for a thorough probe into spurned ex-classmate
Pune techie murder: As cops crack Rasila's case, Antara's father hopes for justice
Antara Das, a Capgemini employee murdered in Pune on December 23, 2016. (Left) Debanand Das, her father, has now written to the CM
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Pune: The prompt police action in Infosys employee Rasila Raju OP’s murder by a guard has raised Debananda Das’ hope for justice. His daughter, Antara, was stabbed to death by an unidentified man just 500 m from her office, multinational company Capgemini, on Pune’s Dehu Road on the night of December 23 last year. Although the police arrested Antara’s former classmate, whose advances she had allegedly spurned, their investigation has made little headway.
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Das, a retired West Bengal government employee who resides in Kolkata, has now written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Pune City Police Commissioner Reshmi Shukla, seeking a quick resolution. He also met newly-appointed Superintendent of Police Suvez Haque on February 3.
“After finding out that the Infosys employee’s killer was caught so quickly, I, too, want justice. I want my daughter to rest in peace,” said the father.
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Following Antara’s killing, a case under sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) was registered. Based on text messages exchanged between Antara and her twin, Sanchari, the police arrested the victim’s former classmate, Santoshkumar Akhilesh Gupta. But Gupta had a strong alibi: He was in Bengaluru on the day of the murder. Since then, the probe trail has allegedly gone cold.
Couldn’t stay just friends
According to sources, Gupta and Antara studied together at a computer software training centre in Bengaluru in December 2015. During the course of study, the two became good friends. Gupta allegedly helped her during a job search and was so besotted with her that he went to the extent of cancelling his wedding. Refusing to stay just friends, he relentlessly pursued her, alleged Das.
He alleged that Gupta had begun to harass Antara in the months prior to her murder. “On August 30, 2016, my wife, Sanchari and I visited Antara. During the trip, Gupta kept calling her. She ignored his calls. When we raised concerns, she said she would handle it. The next day, he again kept calling and my wife overheard Antara scolding Gupta over the phone at one point. Later, a friend warned Antara to keep away from Gupta.”
Texted him to back off
Das said around 40 days prior to the murder, Antara texted Sanchari that she was planning on sending Gupta an SMS, telling him that she was to get married to her former boyfriend, in an attempt to get him to back off. “He responded, saying, ‘All the best’. But I strongly feel that he planned to murder her thereafter.”
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On Gupta’s alibi that he was in his office in Bengaluru on the day of the murder, Das suspected foul play. “He is a techie. He could have rigged the system to show that he was in office on that day.”
Ram Jadhav, senior inspector of local crime branch, which is investigating the case, said although Gupta was arrested, there is no concrete evidence of his involvement in the murder. “We are working on a few clues.”
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