March 7: Partho De left behind around Rs 2 crore in banks and a Rs 1-crore flat, both of which sources say are set to pass on to his uncle in the absence of any will.

Partho, who had lived with his sister's corpse for months at his ancestral house on Robinson Street, was found dead in the bathroom of his Kidderpore flat on February 21.

The Hindu Succession Act states that the legal heir has the first claim on the movable and immovable assets left by a deceased, unless there is a probated will naming an individual or organisation as the beneficiary.

Police are yet to trace any document or will that Partho left behind naming an heir. Nor has anyone approached them claiming Partho's properties.

"In the absence of a will, the legal heir could claim the property with a succession certificate," Calcutta High court lawyer Sanjoy Bose said.

Partho, who had lost his mother Arati to cancer in 2005, was the only one left in his family after the death of his father Arabindo in June 2015. His sister Debjani had died in December 2014, but people came to know about her death after the police stumbled upon her skeletons at 3 Robinson Street while probing Arabindo's suicide.

Arabindo's brother Arun De and his wife and son were the closest kin of Partho. "The uncle fulfils the condition of being Partho's legal heir," a source said.

The uncle refused to comment when asked whether he was his deceased nephew's legal heir.

After Partho's death, the police found around Rs 7,000 in the apartment and Rs 1,89, 50,000 in two bank accounts in his name. One of the accounts has a balance of Rs 40,50,000 and the other, Rs 1,49,00,000.

According to the succession rule, the money would go to the closest kin who will claim it with proper documents. The police said they were in the process of ascertaining whether De had nominated anyone for his bank accounts. "A nominee, however, is a only a 'trustee' and not the owner. The right to claim the money lies with the legal heir," an officer said.

Partho had bought the Kidderpore flat - valued at Rs 1 crore - with the money he had got from the sale of the Robinson Street property, a friend said. Civic records still show the property belongs to Partho's grandfather Gadadhar. His grandmother Santi, who died a couple of years ago, is still named the estate's trustee.

Sources, however, said De had signed an agreement related to the sale of the property. It's now the legal heir's responsibility to complete the sale process.