Police in India have arrested a man who allegedly kept his mother’s body in a freezer for three years while collecting her pension payments.

Subhabrata Majumdar, 46, was detained after police found his mother’s frozen body during a raid on their home in the city of Kolkata.

He had hidden his mother’s corpse in a large commercial freezer after she died three years ago at the age of 81, police said.

After her death, he continued to withdraw her monthly retirement payments of 30,000 rupees (about £327), according to police spokesman Nilanjan Biswas.

Mr Majumdar told officers he kept the body because he believed she could be brought back to life.

He removed her internal organs and used chemicals such as formaldehyde to preserve them, an officer told the Hindustan Times.

Mr Majumdar was arrested after neighbours reportedly grew suspicious about powerful air-conditioning equipment installed in his home and kept running throughout the day.

Police also questioned Mr Majumdar’s 90-year-old father, who lived in the same house, but did not arrest him because of his poor health.