78-year-old bizman found dead in his four-storey S Kol residence

Kolkata: The decomposed body of a 78-year-old businessman, Ashutosh Das, was discovered at his four-storey residence near Ganguly Bagan under Netaji Nagar police station on Monday morning. Cops reached the scene following reports of a foul smell emanating from the building. After initial investigation, police believe that Das, who lived alone, accidentally fell off the stairs at least a couple of days ago and died due to excessive bleeding. His wife passed away several years ago, and his children are settled in Delhi and Australia. A post-mortem is being conducted to rule out foul play.Das, a businessman dealing in printing cloths and saris, was found partially lying on the floor beside a staircase. "It was around 8.55 am that Netaji Nagar PS received information from an unknown caller that a foul smell was emitting from the building. Accordingly, police went to the spot and found that the grill entrance gate of the building was locked with a padlock. Upon repeated knocking and calls made to Das, none responded from inside. Subsequently, police broke open the padlock in the presence of other neighbours. On entering the premises, police also found a wooden entrance door which was locked from inside by a cleat. We forcefully broke open the wooden gate and found Das lying on his back partially on the floor beside the staircase," said Joint CP (Crime & Traffic) Rupesh Kumar.Das was taken to Baghajatin State General Hospital where he was declared dead. "Enquiry has revealed that the deceased used to reside in this building alone for the last ten years. He has one son who resides in Delhi and one daughter who resides in Australia. Both are married. His son has been informed," said Kumar."A local, Amit Banerjee said, "We had not seen Das for several days, which was unusual given he did all the chores himself. The smell became unbearable this morning and one conservancy worker came to conduct a check and asked us to accompany him to the house." "We are examining all angles, including the possibility of foul play, though initial evidence suggests an accidental fall," said Bidisha Kalita, DCP (SSD-Jadavpur).