The mystery surrounding the murder of writer Sushmita Banerjee in Afghanistan has deepened. Her family and friends in Kolkata suspect that the Taliban had nothing to do with her murder: They believe that her killing was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy.
Her close friend Shalini Naskar revealed that on the day of her murder, Sushmita had told her through Facebook that her husband Jaanbaaz Khan was in an illicit relationship with his sister-in-law. Shalini also claimed that Sushmita was scheduled to return to India on September 6 but was killed a day before her departure.
Shalini said that Sushmita discussed with her about the marital discord with her husband. The social networking chat messages exchanged between them read as: “I am depressed for the past couple of days. Jaanbaz is now interacting with her (sister-in-law) openly. When she comes he goes into another room to talk to her as if I do not exist.”
According to Shalini, Jaanbaz developed an extra-marital affair with his sister-in-law Sultana Bibi, after his brother Musa’s death and was inclined to marry her.
Furthermore, Shalini also revealed that the slain author had deserted to snap all her ties with Jaanbaz and return to India for good.
She had fallen in love with an architect named Deepak Kumar from Delhi and was also planning to get married on September 22.
Sushmita’s sister-in-law Debolina Banerjee demanded a probe into her murder, which could unearth the whole truth.
“It is surprising that we were not contacted by the Jaanbaz even 48 hours after the incident. We learnt about her death from the media and got in touch with him. He buried her without even informing her family. I suspect a deep-rooted conspiracy was hatched to kill her,” Debolina Banergee claimed.
Rejecting the theory that Taliban was behind her killing, she pointed out that her sister-in-law went back to Afghanistan in January. “She travelled everyday in a car to the hospital where she worked as a paramedic. The Taliban could have easily killed her during the long journey. Why was she killed in such a mysterious manner only a day
before she was to return to India?” she asked.
Deepak Kumar admitted of being in love with Sushmita whom he came into contact through a social networking site.
“She told me that she was living in Afghanistan with an Indian maid and not with her husband. The night she was murdered we spoke till 10.30 pm. I suspect her husband’s hand in the murder.”