She has been remanded in jail custody for 14 days. She bludgeoned 50-year-old De to death on Wednesday. De was alone in her home on the Dhakuria Station Road when Maity came to administer a weekly massage.

Police today interrogated Alok De, the deceased’s husband, who found his wife lying in a pool of blood when he returned home in the evening.

Police also recovered some gold ornaments and costly garments from Maity’s possession. The ornaments include a pair of earrings and a neck chain, said SP, South 24-Parganas, Praveen Kumar. Our investigation is on. We are almost sure that Maity killed her as she was caught stealing valuables from her house, he added.

“We are almost positive about her involvement in the brutal murder,” said a police officer of the Jadavpur police station after a preliminary investigation.

A source in the police station, however, said the police did not rule out the possibility of Maity’s affair with Alok De - which De possibly knew about -as the reason behind the murder. “We are probing the matter, but are yet to get any concrete clue to establish this,” said an officer.