The woman used to receive Rs 40,000 as pension after her husband died a few years ago. (Representational)

Five men in Varanasi allegedly preserved the body of their 70-year-old mother for months so that they could draw pension using her thumb impression. Their mother, Amravati Devi, died on January 13 this year and since then, the five men have been using various chemicals to preserve her body, police said.Police recovered the body from her residence in Kabirnagar colony of the Bhelupur area in Varanasi, after the neighbours complained of a foul smell. Ink marks were found on one of the woman's thumbs, police said. The sons have been identified as Ravi Prakash, Dev Prakash, Yogeshwar Prakash, Jyoti Prakash and Girish Prakash.

The 70-year-old woman used to receive Rs 40,000 as pension after her husband, Daya Prasad, died a few years ago. Her husband, worked as a superintendent in the customs department, police said. So far, no arrests have been made. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.In April this year, a similar incident was reported in Kolkata where a man kept the body of his mother inside a freezer in a locked room for three years so that he could cash in her pension, using her thumb impression. Read more about that here