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Close to two weeks after the body of a pregnant woman was found chopped up near Hyderabad's Botanical Gardens in Kondapur, the Cyberabad police said that they had achieved a major breakthrough.
Days ago, the police released a portrait of the victim and asked the public to come forward with any information.
The police, who analysed the CCTV footage, said that they found a duo riding on a bike who appeared to be carrying a heavy bag. A woman was also said to be involved as she sat behind and held the bag, while a man was riding the vehicle.
The duo were caught on camera near Masjid Banda, on the road which leads to Gachibowli.
"We gathered clues showing that the murder took place in Siddique Nagar or Anjaiah Nagar, and from there, the body was dumped near Botanical Garden...At 3:42 am, they dumped the bags near Botanical garden. At 3.48 am, the bike was spotted on Masjid Banda Road before the suspects rode on to Gachibowli flyover. We suspect that they turned right at Khajaguda junction and disappeared from camera view,” an investigating official told The Hindu.
However, the police is yet to establish the identity of the accused, as the body was found dumped in several pieces.
“It’s not even possible for the relatives to identify her. The DNA of the woman and the foetus has been preserved as it could help in establishing the identity,” a police officer was quoted as saying.
A week after the chopped up body of the pregnant woman was found dumped in Hyderabad, the Cyberabad police had released a portrait of the victim and asked the public to come forward with any information.
This came days after the police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for any information on the killers, who are yet to be identified.
The woman’s portrait was prepared by experts from the Crime Investigation Department (CID), based on eyewitnesses who saw a woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy in the area.
The police had also found out that the victim visited Udupi hotel in Gachibowli on 28 January, two days before her body was found.
The body was found at Sri Ram Nagar, next to Botanical Gardens, which is situated close to the city's IT hub.
The police had also said that the woman was killed at some unknown place two to three days before she was found, and her decomposed body was dumped on the road later.
The police suspect the accused may either work at a hotel, restaurant, supermarket or departmental store that uses spices from an Indore-based company, flour from a mill in Maharashtra’s Lathur and chilli from an outlet in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur.
The police said that these were the brands displayed on the sacks in which the woman's body parts were found.
A post-mortem examination revealed that the woman may have also been beaten before she was killed, as she had a fractured pelvis and a ruptured uterus, besides broken ribs.
In an earlier press release, the police had said, "The lady is about 5 feet 4 inches tall, medium build, about 30 years old, round-faced and has a fair complexion. She was eight months pregnant. She wore a maroon colour kurta, red colour pyjama, silver toe rings, maroon colour bangles and a copper finger ring."
“The Cyberabad police requests all doctors, mainly obstetricians and gynaecologists, to inform us if any lady with such a description came for consultations. Flat owners or neighbours can also provide clues if they have seen a similar dress or came to know about a missing pregnant woman,” the police added.
Citizens with any details and clues can contact the Circle Inspector at 9499617127, the Sub-Inspector at 9491030375 or the ACP at 9491039175, the police said in a press release.
(This article was originally published in The News Minute, and has been republished here with permission.)
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