Ex-school principal, mother found dead in Salt Lake home

The women, who were found lying in a bed, were declared dead on arrival at a local hospital, said police.

A 56-year-old former school principal and her 79-year-old mother died under mysterious circumstances at their home in Salt Lake in the eastern outskirts of Kolkata apparently between Saturday and Sunday morning.

56-year-old former school principal Sharmistha Dey and her mother, Papiya Dey were murdered in their Salt Lake home in Kolkata

The bodies of Sharmistha Dey and her mother, Papiya Dey, were sent for post mortem examination and police said as of now foul play is being suspected.

Police broke into the house after locals informed the Bidhannagar North police station on Sunday that nobody in the house at BE Block was responding to their calls.

Officers from the police station said the women were found lying in a bed and were declared dead on arrival at a local hospital. Since residents told the police that both women were ailing, their swab samples were collected for Covid-19 test.

Papiya Dey was admitted at a local nursing home recently, police came to know.

Sharmistha Dey was earlier married to Surajit Kar Purakayastha, the former director general of West Bengal Police. The couple got divorced a few years ago.

Dey had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 but its leaders said on Sunday that she did not keep any contact in the last four years.