Dakshindari: The decomposed body of a 59-year-old teacher of Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 in Salt Lake was found at his rented room in Dakshindari after the landlord alerted the local councillor about a stench on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said Artatrana Mishra, originally from Bhubaneswar, had been teaching history in the senior section for a decade.

Teachers of the school in Labony, in Sector I, have told officers of the Bidhannagar commissionerate that Mishra was last seen on the campus on Monday.

Mishra used to stay alone in a room on the roof of the four-storeyed house in Dakshindari, near Lake Town. His wife, daughter and her family live in Odisha.

"The teacher's decomposed body was found on the bed. The hands and feet had puffed up. A bag was found on the bed. We cannot rule out foul play at this stage," an officer of the commissionerate said.

The landlord's daughter-in-law was alerted by the stench when she went to the roof to hang clothes out to dry. The landlord then called up Partha Verma, the councillor of Ward 35 of South Dum Dum Municipality.

"I rushed to the building and alerted the police. The stench was unbearable. It seems the teacher had died a few days ago," Verma said.

The landlord said the teacher would greet everyone he would come across but did not interact much with neighbours. Other residents of the area echoed the landlord.