70-year-old living alone found dead in Ballygunge Place flat

KOLKATA: A 70-year-old man, who lived alone in his flat at posh Ballygunge Place, was found dead after police and neighbours broke open the apartment door lock late on Wednesday. The incident pointed to the vulnerability elderly people faced, living alone in changing neighbourhoods, where old houses have been fast giving way to isolated apartments and gated complexes, eroding the bond between neighbours.



Cops from the Gariahat police station suspect Subhrojit Roy (70) died several hours earlier, on Wednesday afternoon. His body has been sent for post-mortem but officers hinted he possibly had a cardiac arrest. They ruled out foul play.

An earlier resident of Entally, Roy bought the 900-sq-ft flat on the second floor of a five-storey building at Ballygunge Place nine years ago, and had been living there alone since then. Neighbours said he had a brother in Canada, and two sisters, one of whom lived in Bangalore. A resident said the sister in Bangalore called him up on Wednesday night and asked him to check on Roy, who had not been answering her calls. “I knocked on Roy’s door but found no response. The other neighbours said they hadn’t seen him since morning. I called the Gariahat police station. Cops got a carpenter and broke the door lock to find him lying on the floor,” said Subroto Halder, who lives on first floor.

Another neighbour said Roy mostly stayed at home as he had difficulty walking and also had cardiac problems. “A help came in the morning, cook food and do chores. Of late, he had been handling the accounts and maintenance fees for the eight flats in the building,” the neighbour said. His sisters claimed his body from the SSKM morgue on Thursday.

Local councillor Sudarshana Mukherjee said she ran a group that took care of elderly Ballygunge residents but Roy was not registered. “Even on Tuesday, he had called a doctor as he felt unwell,” she said.