A 60-year-old woman who lived in a rented apartment in south Kolkata was found beheaded and stabbed multiple times on Thursday morning, police said.
The victim, Urmila Kumari (60), originally from Punjab, used to live with her two sons who were out of town to attend a marriage, police said.
“For two days the woman was alone. We are trying to contact her sons. This could be a murder for gain or an act of vengeance. We are not ruling out any possibility,” said joint commissioner of police (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
Sharma said that he killers did not touch the gold jewellery the victim was wearing or the cash but ransacked the wardrobes in the two rooms.
They not only severed the woman’s head but also slashed open her abdomen, he said.
“We cannot say for certain if anything valuable is missing from the house,” said the joint commissioner of police.
Local residents alleged that ever since a liquor shop opened next to the house where the victim lived they regularly witnessed unruly scenes on the streets and lodged complaints at the Gariahat police station.