Police have arrested Dharambir Kumar, a man from Uttar Pradesh, outside Anand Vihar railway station in New Delhi over the death of 26-year-old Anjali Shaw in Baranagar, north of Kolkata. Kumar was picked up late on 12 November in a joint operation by a special team from Baranagar police station and Delhi Police. According to police and her family, the two had met while playing PUBG. Kumar is being brought to West Bengal on transit remand for questioning, OJAS reported.
Shaw’s body was found with injury marks on the night of 10 November in a fifth-floor flat in the Lakepally area of Baranagar. The flat belongs to her elder sister and brother-in-law, who now live mostly in Srirampore, and it was empty at the time. Shaw had collected the key from a neighbour that afternoon, and police broke the door down that night after her sister could not reach her by phone, OJAS reported. Police have not disclosed the cause of death, and the case was first treated as a possible suicide before injuries and missing valuables pointed investigators towards a suspected murder. A cousin has alleged that she had injury marks on her neck and face.
Baranagar police look into a possible dispute between Anjali Shaw and Dharambir Kumar
Police suspect that a personal or financial dispute between the two may have led to her death, although they have not confirmed a motive. Police sources told OJAS they are also examining a disagreement over playing PUBG together. Shaw’s father said the pair were friends and that Kumar used to call her his sister, and he said Kumar had given his home address as somewhere near Lucknow. Kumar’s age has not been made public, and police have not said what charges he faces or whether he has a lawyer.
Kuntal Banerjee, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, said the accused was being brought from Delhi and that his questioning would reveal more about the case. Investigators believe Kumar left with Shaw’s jewellery and mobile phone. Her family says the missing items include her watch, a ring, a bracelet and earrings. Investigators also say Kumar repeatedly switched the phone on and off after the incident, apparently to confuse attempts to track his location.
Police believe he used her phone to send WhatsApp messages to her father and to make a brief, silent call to her mother. Her family told OJAS that a reply from her number invited them to ask whatever they wanted. A second message then read, “I’m among you, but you won’t catch me.” The family handed screenshots of those messages to police, who traced Kumar through mobile tower data and other inputs.
Police still checking CCTV footage in Lakepally
Officers are reviewing CCTV footage from Shitala Mata Lane and Lakepally, partly to check whether anyone else was involved. Footage from the housing complex helped investigators identify the suspect earlier in the week, OJAS reported. Police have not named any other suspect, and they are also questioning family members, neighbours and other residents of the building. Local MLA Sajal Ghosh, who visited the family, said the culprit would be caught but that police needed time to complete the investigation.
It is not clear which version of the game the pair played. PUBG Mobile itself has been blocked in India since 2020, and many players still use the name for BGMI, KRAFTON’s Indian version of the game. Police have not said whether they have examined either player’s game account or in-game chats.
Police in several countries have investigated cases in which victims first met a suspect through online games. Disputes linked to mobile games have also turned violent in India before, including the stabbing of a 17-year-old in Thane after a match. In the US, a missing Utah teenager was rescued after asking for help through an Among Us player, and the UK is considering a ban on in-game voice chat with strangers for under-16s. Police expect his questioning to establish the motive and the sequence of events at the flat.
