The offence came to light on Sunday, when neighbours, suspicious over the absence of the old woman for the last three days, questioned her son Madanmohan Nag (58), a head clerk at the irrigation department at Memari, and her daughter-in-law Moniprabha, Police Superintendent R Rajashekharan said.

Faced with a barrage of questions by neighbours, the two broke down and claimed that Shantilata had died on Wednesday after accidentally catching fire.

According to the police, “The couple claimed that after she died of burns they and their son Amar buried her body in their backyard fearing trouble by neighbours.”

The body was exhumed in the presence of magistrate on Sunday and sent for postmortem. Two jars of kerosene were recovered from the house.