KOLKATA: A man and his son lived with three skeletons – his daughter and two pet dogs at his upscale Robinson Street apartment in Shakespeare Sarani police station area of south Kolkata. Last evening, the 70-year-old man died in a fire and today during the post-fire probe police recovered skeletons from a closed room in the apartment. Preliminary investigation hinted that the man Aurobindo De used feed the skeletons regularly, a clear sign of his refusal to believe that her daughter and pets died at least six months ago.

The only survivor is Partha De (40), son of Aurobindo. The fire-fighters rescued him alive from the apartment. Even Partha De did not say anything on the skeletons in his house. After recovery of the skeletons, Partha’s statements were inconsistent. However, much of the success of the investigation now depends on his statement.

It now appears Aurobindo refusing to believe that his daughter had died had kept her body, feeding her daily. It now appears that Debjani De loved her dogs immensely. After the death of both, she gave up eating leading to her death. Aurobindo not only refused to accept it but kept feeding her, till police found it.

While senior police officers entered the rooms he came across various uncanny sounds, mostly recorded to create a haunted atmosphere. The music used to be played round the clock at the apartment. Police wonder how the stink of decomposed bodies didn’t reach the neighbouring apartments. Investigators found dry food along side the skeletons. Investigators are also taking help of psychiatrists to understand the problem. A group of anti-homicide squad officers of the detective department swung into action after local police reported the recovery of skeletons this morning.

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However, a lot of unanswered questions still haunt investigators. “The probe now hinges on the post-mortem report. After fighting the fire, fire brigade, retrieved a completely charred body of De. It is still not very clear whether De committed suicide or whether the fire was an accidental one. His neighbours said that they did not get any hint of the macabre episode.

Relatives of De, however, claimed that they had come to this home a month ago to celebrate Partha’s birthday. They however, did not find anything wrong with their behavior, nor did they trace any stench in the house. They claimed that Partha is an information technology expert.

Psychologists opined that this is a kind of delusion of mind which refused to accept the truth and reality. It happens with the collective psyche of a closed knit family. Three skeletons recovered from the flat were sent to state forensic science laboratory for tests. The dogs died in 2014 after which the lady died.