A man in his early 50s died on Thursday morning in a guest house at the College Street-Mahatma Gandhi Road intersection, apparently of food poisoning.

The guest house manager said Dipak Saha, of Sodepur, had a heavy dinner on Wednesday, washed down with a lot of whisky and beer.

Saha, a dealer in iron scrap, was sharing a room in the guest house with Gulfam Hussain, a ‘contact’ from Mumbai, since the last week of 2007. On Wednesday, they had a late dinner and then Saha started feeling uneasy.

“The manager sent for a local doctor. Saha was prescribed medicines and sent to bed. On Thursday morning, the uneasiness returned and killed him,” said city detective chief Jawed Shamim.

“He had thrown up several times before collapsing. But we don’t want to jump to any conclusion and sent the body for post-mortem. We think it is a case of food poisoning,” Shamim added.

Saha’s family said he was a heavy drinker. He had lived in Mumbai for several years, and moved to Sodepur, on the northern fringes of the city, only recently. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

In the city, Saha would work for Gulfam, trying to bag scrap iron contracts for him. At times, he would even double as a welder.

In the last week of 2007, Gulfam touched the city, and Saha decided to put up with him in room No. 4 of the guest house. They left the room occasionally, either to fetch things from the local market or catch up with other contacts.

“Saha’s family knew Gulfam and said they didn’t have anything to complain about. They admitted Saha was a heavy drinker,” said an officer of Amherst Street police station.

“The family didn’t see anything unnatural in his death. But even then, we will wait for the post-mortem report,” the officer added.