Geeta Mahensaria, in a tantrik ritual, allegedly smashed the head of her eldest son, Arjun (25), with a grindstone and then roasted his body with spices and camphor in a big kadai before dumping the skeleton on the terrace of their Salt Lake home.
These are the grizzly details that stumbled out as cops launched an investigation into the missing person’s diary that businessman Anil Mahensaria—Geeta’s estranged husband—lodged when he could not contact Arjun for a while.
Cops from the Bidhannagar East police station on Thursday evening discovered the semi-charred skeletal remains of an adult male at the Mahensarias’ two-storey house at AJ Block. Sleuths probing the case suspected the skeleton to be that of Arjun. Geeta, and her younger son, Vidur (22), were arrested late on Thursday and produced in a Salt Lake court on Friday. While submitting a prayer for the mother and son’s police custody, state counsel Sabir Ali said police found a big kadai at AJ 226 and burn marks on the first-floor prayer room, where they suspected the victim was set on fire, before his skeletons were wrapped in a towel and dragged up to the terrace. An officer added they found a blood-stained grindstone, which they suspected was used to kill the victim after which he was roasted in the kadai.
“Geeta confessed that Arjun’s body was put in the kadai. Ghee, camphor and spices were added to camouflage the smell of burnt flesh,” said an officer. She, however, reportedly refuted she had a hand in the death and refused to divulge the motive behind the murder. A case has been registered under sections IPC 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention). “We have asked the daughter, Vaidehi, to appear before us. We have to question her,” he said.
Anil told TOI when he could not contact Arjun, he suspected he had died in a tantric sacrifice by Geeta. “She had started practising tantra, which soured our relationship. I left the house in 2019. My elder son suffered from multiple ailments related to heart, food pipe and neurological disorder. I suspect she must have practised some tantra and sacrificed him,” Anil said. Arjun, he added, used to look after their business and attended their Wood Street office two to three times a week before lockdown. But of late, he hadn’t been to the office, a peon told TOI. About any financial motive that could have led to the killing, Anil said, “Ours is a well-to-do family. There are two cars, a big house and loads of jewellery. My younger son studied in Ooty. My daughter has been getting the best of education. I don’t think there was any financial stress.”
The counsel appearing for the mother-son duo didn’t seek their bail but instead, sought a mental health check-up while in police custody. “Whatever submission the cops have made, it seems like the woman and the son are not in the right frame of mind, having killed someone and then fry him at home. They should undergo a medical check-up,” said lawyer Zakir Hussain. He added police should probe how Arjun died, whether the skeleton was indeed his and the legal battle between Anil and Geeta. “Geeta was allegedly pushed to attempt suicide in 2005,” he claimed.
Cops said they were sending skeleton samples for DNA test to confirm the identity. “We are also awaiting a forensic report for the age of the skeleton and how the person died,” an officer said. ( TOI )
