A couple who were caretakers of a farmhouse in Narendrapur, on the southern fringe, were found murdered and their bodies stuffed inside two trolley bags in a room on Tuesday.

Family members failed to reach Pradip Biswas, 55, and his wife Alpana, 45, over the phone, prompting the man’s brother to visit the house at Kheadaha Turia, in the interiors of Narendrapur.

On reaching there, he found the main gate of the property locked from inside. One of the doors at the rear of the single-storey house was found broken.

Pradip’s brother told police that he entered the house through the broken door and found two big trolley bags in one of the bedrooms. There were blood stains on the floor of the room.

“The room had been ransacked and there were broken pieces of bangles all over the bed,” an officer of Narendrapur police station said.

“The man who entered the house said there was a strong stench in the room and blood was oozing out of one of the trolley bags.”

Pradip’s brother opened the bags and found the bodies of his brother and sister-in-law.

The couple from Picnic Garden had been staying in the Narendrapur farmhouse since 1997, said one of the owners of the property, which is spread across several bighas.

“They were distant relatives and they looked after the property,” the co-owner said.

Sources said a mud house once stood on the plot. The concrete structure came up later. The walled compound has a water body that has dried up.

Neighbours said the couple were “peace-loving” and would often encourage villagers to go out for morning walk and do exercise.

The superintendent of police of the Baruipur police district, Rasheed Muneer Khan, said after inspecting the site that the couple might have been killed in some other room.

Police said one LED TV set that was attached to a wall of the room where the bodies were found was missing.

“We are trying to find out whether anything else is missing. The motive of the twin murders is yet to be ascertained,” an officer of Narendrapur police station said.

“The couple had a pet dog that died a few months ago. Had it been alive today, it would have barked and alerted us,” a neighbour said.