The probe into the murder of Mousumi Shashmal, 26, took on a twist on Sunday, with a prime suspect — Manojit Bhuinya — dying in a “road accident” in Kalyani, Nadia, 45 km from Calcutta.

Manojit, nephew of Mousumi’s husband Subrata, had been missing since the murder in the couple’s Thakurpukur apartment was discovered on Saturday afternoon.

“It seems Manojit met with an accident late on Saturday, while trying to flee on a motorcycle. The body has been identified and sent for post-mortem,” said S.N. Gupta, superintendent of police (South 24-Parganas).

Manojit used to live with Subrata and Mousumi in the ground-floor apartment, taken on rent a fortnight ago.

According to a complaint lodged by Mousumi’s father Badan Parui, Subrata would often torture his wife, accusing her of having an affair with Manojit. Things turned worse after she conceived a month ago.

Subrata has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody till April 9.

Sleuths are still trying to figure out what could be Manojit’s motive in the murder or whether he was hired by someone else for the crime.

“Though it’s too early to comment and we don’t want to jump to any conclusion, our preliminary investigation points at Manojit’s involvement in the crime,” said Gupta.

“We are also searching for the murder weapon. We are talking to various people in search of leads,” the police superintendent added.

An officer of Thakurpukur police station said the murder was pre-planned. “It could be that someone known to Mousumi had committed the murder.”

The investigating team has recovered some diaries of Manojit, where he had scribbled “a few things about his life”.

Sleuths said the woman was murdered some time between 8.30 and 9 am on Saturday, after Subrata left for his shop. He rushed home in the afternoon, after having failed to connect with his wife and nephew over the phone.

Finding the doors locked from inside, he peeped in and saw his wife lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

“While the assassin didn’t face much opposition entering the room — which suggests the victim knew him — the housewife did try to put up a strong resistance when he attempted to overpower her,” said an investigating officer.

“He pinned the woman to the ground and then hit her on the back of her skull with a heavy weapon. She bled to death,” he added.