A 23-year-old woman IT professional from Bengal was murdered by an unidentified person after an argument between them barely a few metres from her office in Pune, police said as chilling details of the case emerged on Sunday.
As the killing sent shockwaves among the IT employees, police formed multiple teams to nab the assailant and launched probe from various angle amid suspicion that the attacker had been following the victim, Antara Das.
Das, hailing from Bengal and working with an IT major, was attacked by the man with a sharp-edged weapon near Kanbay Chowk in Talawade, on Friday night barely 500 metres from her workplace on the outskirts of the city, while she was walking down from the office.
“According to her parents, a youth, who was with Antara during training in Bengaluru, was following her. Since they have expressed their suspicion, we are investigating from that angle and also from other points,” said a police officer with local Crime Branch.
“We are focusing on whether the incident could be the fallout of an affair or one-side affair. Teams have been dispatched to Bengaluru for further investigations,” said Superintendent of Police Pune (rural) Jai Jadhav.
Another officer from local crime branch, said, “The angle of robbery has, however, been ruled as valuables with the woman were found to be intact.”
One of the eye-witnesses, Satyendra Sinha, who rushed Das to a nearby hospital with the help of some passerby, said, “While riding the bike near Kanbay chowk, I saw a couple having an argument and suddenly saw that the girl collapsed on the pavement.”
“As I stopped, the woman who was bleeding came near my bike, held my hand and pleaded for help saying “save me”. She felt unconscious near the bike. Meanwhile, the person, who was wearing a blue and black T-shirt, disappeared from the spot,” Sinha said.
“I then with a help of a car driver, rushed her to the nearby private hospital, where she was declared dead later,” Sinha, who works with a private firm, said.
He added that since it was dark and there were no street-lights on the road, the face of the person, with whom the woman was having an argument could not be seen.
According to police, IT firm Capegemini, where Das was working, stated in their statement that she had left the office around 8 pm on Friday.
As per the company policy, if any employee is not availing the transport facility of the company and going on his or her own, they have to mention it in one of the registers about the mode of travel they were taking, the official said.
“As per their statement, the woman, before leaving, mentioned in the register that she would go by auto rickshaw,” he said.
Meanwhile, parents of Das who came from Kolkata to Pune on Saturday night performed her last rites in the city.
An official statement by the spokesperson of Capegemini, said, “We are shocked and saddened to learn about the tragic death of our employee. We stand with the family in this hour of loss and are extending all possible support to the investigation authorities.”
