Police have arrested two persons suspected to be the prime suspects in the murder of a 38-year-old woman whose dismembered body was found inside a suitcase on board the Tamil Nadu Express in Agra earlier this month.
The accused have been identified as Manik Uddin Laskar, 22, a native of Assam’s Cachar district, and his wife Bhagabati Majhi, 21, from Odisha’s Kendujhar district. The couple was apprehended from Kashimpur in Manipur’s Jiribam district following a multi-state search operation, police sources in Chennai said on Sunday. The arrests were made by a joint team of Manipur and Tamil Nadu Police, officials in Imphal said.
Dismembered body found in red suitcase
The case came to light on August 5 when passengers onboard the Tamil Nadu Express noticed a strong smell coming from an abandoned red suitcase in an unreserved compartment after the train arrived at Agra station. Government Railway Police officials inspected the suitcase and found the headless, dismembered remains of an unidentified woman inside.
Subsequent investigation and forensic analysis identified the victim as Hayathun Nisha, 38. She was a native of Odisha, lived in Guduvanchery and worked at a private firm.
CCTV footage helped police trace suspects
During the investigation, police analysed hours of CCTV footage from Chennai Central railway station. Investigators eventually spotted a man and a woman carrying the heavy red suitcase through the station premises. Police then traced their movements towards the suburbs of Chennai and located a rented house on Mosque Street in Guduvanchery.
A search of the premises allegedly led to the recovery of additional dismembered body parts, which were found stored inside a large cooking vessel. The case had initially been registered as a missing woman's report at the Guduvanchery police station. Following the recovery of the body parts and other findings, police changed the charges to murder.
Couple went into hiding after disposing of body
Police identified Laskar and Majhi as suspects during the investigation. The couple allegedly went into hiding shortly after disposing of the body. Special police teams subsequently launched a pan-India search operation to locate them. On August 29, investigators tracked the couple to Kashimpur in Manipur’s Jiribam district, where they were apprehended by the joint police team.
A Manipur Police official said the arrested persons were being handed over to the Station House Officer of Guduvanchery Police Station.
Accused to be brought to Tamil Nadu
The arrested couple will be produced before a local magistrate in Manipur, following which Guduvanchery police will bring them to Tambaram on a transit warrant, according to police sources. The motive behind the murder has not yet been established.
Police said the reason for the alleged killing would become clear only after the accused are interrogated. The investigation remains underway as authorities work to establish the circumstances surrounding Hayathun Nisha’s death and the alleged role of the arrested couple.
(With inputs from PTI)
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