Police clueless over death of elderly woman

Kolkata: The death of a sixty-year-old woman in her flat at Dakshin Roypur in Patuli on Thursday evening sparked a controversy as the son of the deceased woman gave contradictory statements to the police and his relative on how the woman died. Debal, son of Shobha Chatterjee, failed to convince the police that his mother died due to illness.

Local residents and relatives of Debal alleged that he tortured the elderly woman for property. On Thursday evening, Debal reportedly informed his uncle over the phone that his mother had died. When his uncle asked how she died, he reportedly told him that she died due to illness. However, his uncle was not convinced with what Debal said so he informed the police and did not turn up in person at the flat.

Around 7:30 pm, police personnel from Patuli police station reached the flat and recovered Shobha's body. No injury marks were found during preliminary investigation. When the police asked Debal how he ensured that mother was dead, he said he had taken his mother to Baghajatin State General Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.

It is not known why the hospital authorities did not inform the police when Debal took Shobha's body to the doctors. Sources say the police are interacting with local residents to know more about the family. Local residents claim that Debal tortured his mother for property and they also suspect that he could have killed her. But, no police complaint has been lodged against Debal. The police have sent the body for autopsy and they are waiting for the report to get some leads on Shobha's death.