The entrance to the Chatterjee home. Picture by Tamaghna Banerjee

A 62-year-old homemaker was murdered while she was alone in her Behala Parnasree home on Tuesday morning.

Banani Chatterjee was found dead on the floor of her kitchen with multiple injuries on her head and the back of her neck. The murder weapon, a bronze lamp stand, was lying beside her. A golden bangle and Rs 1,500 kept in a purse were allegedly stolen.

Police suspect an insider was behind the murder. Family members said the woman who had been working in the two-storeyed house as help for two months killed Banani.

“There were signs of scuffle in the kitchen. Injuries on the homemaker also suggest that she resisted the killer. The two pet dogs were out in the garden as usual. They did not bark when the murderer entered and left the house. It seems he or she is a regular at the house,” said a senior officer of South 24-Parganas police.

The body has been sent for post-mortem. Forensic experts are trying to gather fingerprints from the lamp stand.

According to the police, the murder was committed between 11am and 11.30am, about two hours before the gardener, Babu, found the body.

“The gardener claimed that the main door of the house was ajar. He repeatedly called Banani but there was no response. When he went to the back door, which is beside the kitchen, he saw her lying in a pool of blood,” said an investigator.

Banani had been living at 257 Milan Sarani with her husband Ranajit, a retired engineer of Coal India Limited, for 10 years.

Their son Joydip, a software engineer working for Cognizant Technology Solutions, was transferred to the US two years back and has been living there with his wife.

The couple’s daughter, Joyita Dey, stays at Behala Pathakpara, around 2km away from the Parnasree house, with her husband and son. She was the first among the relatives to reach the house after hearing the news.

“Ranajit had left home at 10.30am to attend a puja at his sister’s house. He came to know about the murder from neighbours,” said a relative unwilling to be quoted.

Ranajit did not want to speak about the murder. His son-in-law Arup Kumar Dey pointed a finger at the help.

“The help used to reach the house around 10.30am and leave around 1pm after dusting and cleaning. On Tuesday, she had come to the house around 10am and left along with my father-in-law. It is possible that she came back and committed the crime,” said Dey.

Neighbours echoed him. “Generally, the doors and windows of the Chatterjee house remain open throughout the day. On Tuesday somebody closed the door and windows around 11am. One of us saw a hand bearing a sankha and a pola (red and white bangles worn by married women) closing the windows. Banani never wore sankha-pola,” said Mithu Mohinta, a neighbour.

She was among those who rushed into the house after the gardener raised an alarm.

“Banani was probably cooking when she was attacked. The gas oven was on and the curry had got burnt in the wok and was on the verge of catching fire. There was blood everywhere,” said Sarbani Adhikari, another neighbour.

Banani was in a sleeping suit and had henna on her hair when she was killed. The homemaker used to work out regularly and attended yoga classes.

She was also the president of the local women’s body that organises a Durga Puja in the area.