The decomposed and headless torso of a 62-year-old man who had been missing from home for six days was found in a patch of forest located on the outskirts of Balurghat town in South Dinajpur district on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Jyotirmoy Mondal, a resident of Tank More in Raghunathpur area of the town.

Police have sent the body for post-mortem and have initiated a probe.

Sources said Mondal used to practise homoeopathy. “He was not a registered homoeopath but used to provide homoeopathy medicines to people of his surrounding areas,” said a police officer.

Last Friday, Mondal went missing. When the sexagenarian did not return home, his family members started a search for him but could not locate him. Eventually, they filed a missing diary with the police. Police initiated a search.

On Thursday, some residents of Madhuban, an adjoining area of Raghunathpur, sensed a foul smell emanating from the forest nearby. Some residents went to the forest area to discover the root of the odour and found the decomposed body.

Police were informed and soon a team of Balurghat police station reached the spot.

“We were surprised to learn that my brother’s headless body has been recovered from the forest. We have no inkling at all as to how he died. Police should find out what led to his death,” said Tapan, the victim’s brother.

Senior police officers suspect that Mondal died some days back and dogs or foxes in that patch of forest took away his head.

“We are waiting for his post-mortem report to know how this elderly man’s head got severed. Our officers are talking to his family members to obtain more information,” said a police officer.