An elderly city businessman, who lost his wife a month ago, was found dead in a pool of blood with a gunshot to his head and his licensed gun lying near him on the terrace of his CIT Road residence on Saturday night.

Police said Jayanta Saha, who ran a construction company, had been suffering from cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.

“We have learned from his family that he was suffering from severe depression since the death of his wife in March this year,” said an officer of Phoolbagan police station.

A resident of P- 317, CIT Road, Scheme VI, Saha was found in a pool of blood on the terrace of the five-storey building where he lived.

An officer said he was lying on his chest in a pool of blood.

“There was a gunshot wound on the left side of his head just above the left ear. A gun was found near his body. Later, we found that the gun was licensed,” the officer added.

The police said they found a video on Saha's mobile phone which appeared to have been shot by him. In the video, Saha is seen addressing his two sons, saying that he was going to end his life and that no one was to be blamed for his death.

“The deceased person, along with his two sons, was running a building construction business under the name Matri Construction,” said an investigator.

Saha was taken to a hospital on Saturday night, where he was declared dead.

An unnatural death case has been started.

The police said they were waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of his death and if anything else apart from the gunshot had resulted in his death.

“A lot of things, including the fact that if he were a left-hander, would decide if he had shot himself,” said the officer.

Officers of Phoolbagan police station said they were in the process of interrogating the other family members of the deceased.

“Apparently, there is no foul play. But we are probing all possible angles,” the officer added.