Krishnagar, March 20: A mob of nearly 1,000 ransacked the house of a 70-year-old widow in Krishnagar after her maid was found dead at her doorstep this afternoon.

The body of 40-year-old Smriti Biswas — with injury marks on the neck — was discovered by her husband Mantu, a cycle van operator.

Mantu led the mob to Kalyani Biswas’s house, alleging that she had a hand in the “murder”.

Police, however, are waiting for the post-mortem report before lodging a murder case.

Kalyani lives with her daughter Supriya, also a widow, and granddaughter. The younger women were away in Santiniketan when the house was raided.

About 1,000 people — Mantu’s neighbours in nearby Sukulpara — armed with sticks, sickles and stones, marched to Kalyani’s house around 2pm. They dragged the widow out and began breaking everything in sight. The TV, refrigerator, washing machine, DVD player and furniture were smashed to pieces.

The mob also hurled stones and set fire to portions of the three-storey building.

Mantu said he had gone to Kalyani’s house meet his wife and found her dead at Kalyani’s doorstep. He alleged that Kalyani used to physically abuse Smriti.