'Love Triangle Murder' In Tripura, Body Of Missing Man Found In Ice-Cream Freezer

The mystery behind the disappearance of a youth from Agartala's Indranagar area was solved on Wednesday, with his body being discovered from inside a trolley bag hidden in an ice-cream freezer. The finding from Gandacherra market of Dhalai district, about 120 km from the Tripura capital, has sent shockwaves across Tripura, coming on the heels of the 'honeymoon murder" in neighbouring Meghalaya.

The man, 24-year-old Sariful Islam, is an electrician associated with the Agartala Smart City Mission project. 

The murder was the fallout of a complex love triangle involving Sariful Islam, a woman, and the prime accused -- Dibakar Saha, 28, a doctor, said a senior police officer.

"Initial investigations point to a love affair between the victim and the woman, who is also a cousin of Dibakar Saha. The love triangle appears to be the motive behind the murder," said Kiran Kumar K, a senior police officer of West Tripura.

Six people, including the doctor and his parents, have been arrested. Among the other three is a woman.

The police said Dibakar Saha had called Sariful to the house of one Joydeep Das, 20, at South Indranagar Kabarkhala area, on the evening of June 8, under the pretext of giving him a gift. 

When Sariful arrived, he was ambushed by Dibakar and his two accomplices - Animesh Yadav, 21 and Nabanita Das, 25. He was strangled and his body was packed into a trolley bag purchased two days earlier, the police said.

The next morning, Dibakar's parents - Dipak and Debika Saha - arrived in Agartala from Gandacherra and took away the trolley bag containing the body.  The corpse was subsequently hidden inside an ice-cream freezer at their shop in Gandacherra market.

The breakthrough came after days of intensive investigation by the police, who arrested all six accused on Tuesday night and recovered the body on Wednesday afternoon.

All those arrested will be produced before the court on Thursday. 

The police have recovered digital evidence, including mobile messages that confirm the motive was linked to a romantic entanglement involving all three key individuals.