The arrested, including two women, were produced at the Barrackpore SDJM court and remanded in police custody for four days. According to the police, Rakesh Gupta (40), a company secretary, was being allegedly blackmailed by a gang for his sexual preferences.

The gang lured Gupta into a compromising position and had plans to record it to blackmail him later. Gupta was killed when he refused to pay them and threatened to inform the police instead.

“We have arrested Chandan Bose, Laxmi Chakraborty, Phulamani Chakraborty and Mithun Ghosh from North 24 Parganas. Sibhu, purportedly Gupta’s boyfriend, is absconding. We will arrest him soon. It seems to be an unplanned murder,” said Supratim Sarkar, district police superintendent of North 24 Parganas.

While Chandan was arrested from his in-laws’ house in Gobordanga, Laksmi, Jeet and Phulmani were arrested from Lake Town, Khardah and Dakshindari respectively.

Gupta’s body was found near a pond in Ghola village in North 24 Parganas, 60 km from Kolkata, on February 11. A resident of Lake Town, Gupta went missing a day before from the Kolkata airport where he had gone to see off his mother. Villagers found his body packed in a gunny bag with his hands and legs tied.

According to the police, Gupta had developed an inclination for homosexual relationships in the last few years. He had several partners, many of whom he had met at shopping centres and markets.

Six months ago, he met Shibu, a criminal of Khardah, at Salt Lake City Centre and entered into a relationship with him. Shibu decided to corner and blackmail Gupta because of his sexual preferences.

He contacted his associates, which included Chandan Bose, Laksmi Chakraborty, Mithun Ghosh alias Jeet, all having criminal records. They met on February 3 and chalked out a plan to trap Gupta. Laksmi arranged for a house at Sanjherhaat in New Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas, which belonged to her brother. On February 10, Shibu invited Gupta to the house. “He also said that drinks and blue films have been arranged,” said a police officer.

After seeing off his mother at 2.30 pm at the airport, Gupta went to meet Shibu at Dum Dum, from where they went to the house at New Barrackpore, where he met Chandan and Jeet.

However, sometime later, when Gupta found out about their plans, he tried to escape, but was overpowered by Shibu, Jeet and Chandan. They strangled him with a large cloth. The gang members, however, had not started video recording by that time.