Debashis Bagchi (39), a sub-contractor with the Public Works Department, strangulated his wife Swarnali with a towel around 1.30 am in his Hari Ghosh Street residence.

He then targetted his son Diwakar, but the latter fought back and raised an alarm. The boy has been admitted at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.

Swarnali's mother Kalyani Sanyal, who came from Durgapur yesterday for a visit, was sleeping in the next room. The commotion woke her up and calling the maid, she somehow managed to enter the Bagchi's bedroom. She rescued the boy and bolted the door from outside and finding her daughter's body on the bed, called in the neighbours.

The Burtolla police was called in and Swarnali and Diwakar were taken to the hospital. The woman was declared dead and Diwakar was admitted. He is undergoing treatment. Police arrested Debashis who confessed to his crime.

"Bagchi said he killed his wife because he had a huge debt in the market and no way to get some cash," said Deputy Commissioner Pallab Kanti Ghosh.

Kalyani has alleged that her daughter had been killed for money. "My son-in-law's business was not going well and he had incurred huge debts. He asked us to bring money. I brought a draft of Rs 50,000 but he told me that he needed more. He killed my daughter for money," she said.