An elderly couple was found bludgeoned to death at their Brahmanpara house in Birbhum’s Labhpur on Friday morning.

Sources in the police said the bodies of Purnendu Chatterjee, 76, a retired teacher from West Burdwan’s Asansol, and his wife Swapna, 68, a retired railway employee, were recovered from their bedroom after the couple did not respond to repeated phone calls from their neighbour.

The police recovered a weight and a hammer from the bedside.

Hearing the news, the couple’s only son, Kallol Chatterjee, a travel agent in Asansol, reached the Birbhum village with his family.

Police sources said the domestic help of the couple, Fuli Bagdi, knocked on the door for about 30 minutes to no response. She informed the couple’s neighbour Swadesh Ghosh who called on the mobile phone of the Chatterjees but drew a blank. Then people informed the cops who discovered the bodies.

A sniffer dog at the house of the couple Amarnath Dutta

“All doors were closed from inside and we suspect the killers entered from the terrace,” a police officer said.

Shyam Singh, Birbhum police chief, said one person had been detained for interrogation. A sniffer dog was assisting the probe. He said it was too early to reach a conclusion on the motive.

Police ruled out robbery.

Kallol said his parents started living in the remote Birbhum village, around 30km from Bolpur, four years ago.

Family sources said the couple recently had a fight with a neighbour over giving a contract for fishing in a pond owned by the deceased couple, and the matter had been reported to the police.