The bodies of a retired couple were discovered inside their locked house in Sudama Nagar under Aishbag police station limits in Bhopal on Friday, after tenant students living in a portion of the same property alerted police to a strong smell coming from the sealed rooms. Police broke down the door to find both dead.

The deceased have been identified as Hemant Barik, 64, a retired clerk from the railway's postal parcel department, and his wife Shakuntala Barik, 62, a former nurse at Kasturba Hospital. The couple had no children and lived alone in the house. An earlier report suggested a son lives abroad, though this is being verified.

Both bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. Injury marks were found on the bodies, prompting police to treat the deaths as a possible homicide. Additional Commissioner of Police Shailendra Singh Chauhan confirmed that the scene has been sealed and that murder is among the angles being investigated. The actual cause of death, he said, will only be established after postmortem and Forensic Science Laboratory reports are received.

The last known contact with the couple was Wednesday. Shakuntala had spoken to her sister-in-law Shivani by phone that day, saying her husband was having trouble with his eyes and she was taking him to Kasturba Hospital for a checkup. She gave no indication of any other problem. Shivani told police the couple frequently had domestic disputes, though she said she was not aware of any old enmity with outside parties.

Students renting part of the house told police the couple had not stepped out for two days before the smell alerted them on Friday.

Postmortem has been conducted and the investigation is ongoing. Further details are awaited.

In a separate incident, a 42-year-old man named Ravi Mali was killed in Mandsaur's Abhinandan Colony on Saturday morning when four to six assailants attacked him with knives and an iron rod while he was picking flowers at his field. Police suspect the killing was in retaliation for a murder committed some months earlier, in which the victim's son is currently in jail. Two roads in the area were blocked by angry residents following the attack.