A charred body of a 72-year-old woman was found in an apartment — padlocked from the outside — near Ganguly Bagan when the neighbours spotted smoke coming out of the house on Wednesday afternoon.

Malobika Maitra, a retired schoolteacher, had been bedridden for the past few months, neighbours said.

Police said a pillow was found on her face when neighbours broke into the apartment. Her son, a contractual employee of a bank, is said to be missing since Wednesday morning.

Her son, Abhishek, was the family’s only contact to the outer world, said a resident of the three-storey building where the mother and son had rented an apartment on the ground floor.

“They started living here in 2022. The elderly woman used to keep to herself. Her son was social. We saw him yesterday,” said a neighbour.

But on Wednesday his phone was found to be switched off, the police said.

Neighbours spotted smoke coming out of the ground-floor apartment close toGanguly Bagan, near IrisHospital, around 12.30pm.

As they tried to get into the house, they found that the main door was locked from the outside.

“There were two locks on the door. We rushed out and broke a glass window to help the smoke come out. We saw through the broken window that a charred body was on the bed. Then we broke open the locks and entered the house,” said a neighbour.

By then, the police and the fire department had also been informed.

The police said they found the woman’s lifeless body lying on a bed, which was charred.

“Her lower portion had suffered maximum burn injuries. There was a pillow kept on her face. She was declared dead at a hospital,” said an officer of the south suburban division.

Officers of the homicide wing of the detective department went to the spot to investigate.

Senior officers said an unnatural death case has been registered with Patuli police station.

“The body will undergo post-mortem on Thursday. Only after the cause of death is ascertained can we start a case,” the officer said.

The police said theywere trying to find out more details about the family oftwo.

“As they were relatively new to this place, no one knew much about the family. We are trying to find out more details,” said an officer of Patuli police station on Wednesday.

A search has been launched for the missing son, the officer said.