The body of a 72-year-old man with multiple injuries was found in a bathroom in his house with his hands and feet tied early on Sunday, police said.
A police team broke open the door to the second floor of the two-storey house in Baguiati’s Aswininagar and found a critically injured Jagadish Mallick, a rice wholesaler, lying in the bathroom, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
He was taken to a private hospital off Chinar Park, where he was declared dead.
“We have started a murder probe and are investigating the case from every angle,” said the officer.
The police have started a murder probe based on a complaint lodged by Mallick’s son Biswajit, who alleged that this father used to be harassed by a daughter of the businessman and her two sons.
“Biswajit Mallick mentioned in the complaint that the two grandsons and their mother used to pressure the businessman to hand all his property and business to them,” the officer said.
“Mallick, however, refused. The grandsons would often visit him and altercations would break out between them.”
The police said they were questioning the two grandsons mentioned in the complaint.
Mallick stayed on the second floor of the house, while a third grandson of the businessman, Shanu Dhara, shares the first floor with tenants. Mallick’s son Biswajit stays elsewhere in the city.
Dhara told this newspaper that he had heard a loud thud from the second floor around 1am on Sunday. He and one of the tenants rushed upstairs, along with a few neighbours, on hearing the sound.
“We then called other neighbours and alerted the police. Cops broke open the door (to the second floor) and found my grandfather lying in the bathroom, his hands and feet tied up,” Dhara said.
“There were multiple injury marks. Our men and family members took Jagadish Mallick to a private hospital near Chinar Park, where he was declared dead on arrival,” said an officer of the commissionerate.
The body has been sent for autopsy to know the cause of death.