india

Updated: Jul 31, 2019 07:08 IST

Two double murders of couples sent shockwaves across Kolkata after the bodies were discovered on Tuesday.

Police said the bodies of senior citizens Dilip Mukherjee (80) and Swapna Mukherjee (72) were found in their two-storey house in the middle-class neighbourhood of Netaji Nagar in south Kolkata, while those of Pradip Biswas (55) and Alpana Biswas (47) were found chopped and stuffed in two trolley bags inside the toilet of a farmhouse where they used to live as caretakers in Narendrapur in the southern fringes of the city.

“Prima facie, it appeared that Dilip Mukherjee was gagged and smothered. It also appeared that Swapna Mukherje was strangulated with a rope. We have sent the bodies for post mortem. Some cash and other things, too, are missing (from the house). We have to ascertain what exactly is missing,” said Murlidhar Sharma, joint commissioner of Kolkata Police, who visited the house of the Mukherjees.

The police said that the body of the woman was found on the staircase with a head injury and blood oozing from the nose, while that of the husband was found with a pillow on its face. Forensic experts and sniffer dogs were at the scene as investigations began. Police were also questioning a few locals and reviewing CCTV footage near the house.

The Mukherjees were a childless couple. Their domestic help, Kanan Sil, said that they would often receive telephone calls presumably from real estate agents with offers to sell their house.

In Narendrapur, about 7 km away, the scene was grislier. Police officers said that the bodies of Pradip and Alpana Biswas were chopped and stuffed into trolley bags and dumped in the toilet of the farmhouse. Investigators also suspect the couple had scuffled with the assailants.

“We are questioning the owner of the house. We are also trying to ascertain the motive behind the killing,” said Rashid Munir Khan, superintendent of Baruipur police district.

The owner of the house told the police that he had tried to call Pradip, but that the latter’s phone was switched off.

Pradip’s brother Joy Biswas arrived in Narendrapur on Tuesday morning after failing to contact him on the phone. Finding the front door locked from the inside, he entered through a side door of the kitchen and called locals who informed the police, when he spotted bloodstains on the bed.

Police officers said that the Biswas couple could have been murdered a few days earlier, as the bodies had started decomposing.

The couple had been working as caretakers on the premises since 1997.