A 42-year-old trader, who had put up in a central Calcutta hotel with a cloth merchant from Orissa, was found lying injured on the terrace of an adjoining mosque early on Tuesday.

Pradeep Nawalkha was taken to Medical College and Hospital, where he died. Police said the Bally resident was injured in the head and also fractured his legs and arms. Police has started an unnatural death case.

“The preliminary post-mortem report suggests that the death was due to a ‘fall from height’. Alcohol was found in his stomach,” said a senior officer of the detective department’s homicide wing. “No suicide note was found.”

Investigations revealed that Nawalkha had checked into the Mahatma Gandhi Road hotel with 50-year-old Sankar Lal Chandak, a resident of Balasore, around 8.30pm on Monday.

Hotel employees told the police that the two were allotted a double-bed room on the third floor. The attendant was asked to get some food and water for the duo.

“There seemed nothing wrong between the traders when they checked in. They had put up in our hotel several times,” an officer quoted a hotel employee as saying.

Chandak told the sleuths that he and Nawalkha went to sleep after dinner. Around 2am, the imam of the adjoining mosque woke up hearing a loud thud on the terrace.

He saw a man lying with his face down and immediately informed the guards. A message was sent to Jorasanko police station, too.

“It seems Nawalkha had jumped from the window of his hotel room. The window in the air-conditioned room had no grille-cover as no one needed to open it,” said an officer. “We have found footprints on the dust on the window sill. We are sure someone had stood on the sill.”

Chandak, who learnt about his room-mate’s death from the cops, said he knew Nawalkha for the past eight years.

“Every time Chandak came to Calcutta to buy items in bulk from Burrabazar, Nawalkha would accompany him and help him select the right shop. For this, he would get anything from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000,” the officer said. “This time, Chandak came to shop for his daughter’s marriage.”

Youngest of two brothers, Nawalkha was a bachelor and a heavy drinker. “He drank till late on Monday night,” said a sleuth.