For pension, son stores mother's dead body in freezer for 3 years

Kolkata: In a sensational incident, a 45-year-old leather engineer who is a resident of Behala's James Long Sarani, preserved the body of his mother inside a commercial chest freezer at his house for nearly three years after dissecting her body.

The accused, Subhabrata Majumdar (45), has already been arrested. According to the preliminary investigation, police suspect that the accused used to withdraw his mother's pension of Rs 50,000 per month by obtaining the thumb impression of the deceased.

The deceased, Bina Majumdar, was a retired employee of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Her husband and the accused's father, Gopal Majumdar, who also worked with the FCI, was probably threatened with dire consequences if he revealed the incident.

Police said the accused worked in a leather company and had detailed knowledge about how chemicals could be applied for preservation of a dead body. What appears to be more shocking to the cops is that the accused dissected the deceased's body from throat to lower abdomen to remove various organs which could trigger a foul smell in the neighbourhood. The incident came to light after the police, on specific information, raided the house on Wednesday night. Police are also investigating the role of the victim's husband as to why he kept mum for almost three years despite knowing everything. It aroused the suspicion of the local residents who found that two air-conditioning machines were recently installed at the ground floor where the freezer was kept. Their suspicions rose as no one stayed on the ground floor and the machines used to run all the time. It was also learnt that the accused who did not mix with the neighbours for the past couple of years told some of them that he had kept his mother in the peace heaven.

The elderly woman died at Behala Balananda Brahmachari Hospital and Research Centre in April 2015 due to high blood pressure along with age-related ailments at the age of 84.

Instead of cremating the body it was kept in a chest freezer and the accused son used to administer various chemicals to preserve the body. Police are also interrogating the hospital officials in this connection. Preliminary investigation suggests that the accused used to blackmail his father by saying if he makes the incident public then the accused would leave the house.

The elderly father might not have revealed the incident due to his constant threats. He also concealed the death certificate inside the house. He used to withdraw the pension with the help of fudged documents. Police also found ink marks on the deceased's thumb. The investigators seized various chemicals from the house.

During interrogation, the accused has told the police that he could not bear the shock of his mother's death as he was very close to her.

He also told the police that he believes that human cells do not die. The accused further clarified that keeping the cells alive meant keeping the dead person alive. This was the reason behind preserving the body, he claimed.

Police are also investigating as to why the accused, who used to work as a senior official at a leather company, had preserved the body of his mother inside a freezer for three years. He might have committed the crime to get his mother's pension, police suspect.

The accused used various foreign languages during the course of interrogation. Cops are also probing if he had any mental ailment. However, cops are investigating all possible angles behind the incident, including interrogation of the victim's husband.