NEW DELHI: A gruesome and meticulously planned murder has jolted the Chhattisgarh capital, Raipur, after police recovered the decomposed body of an unidentified man from a cement-filled suitcase locked inside a steel trunk, abandoned in the bushes near Indraprastha Colony Phase-2.
The shocking discovery, made on Monday (June 23) evening following complaints of a foul odour, has triggered panic among residents and prompted a high-level police investigation into what appears to be a premeditated crime, involving calculated efforts to conceal the body.
According to police sources, a foul stench had been emanating from the site since early afternoon.
By evening, curious locals traced the smell to the bushes and discovered a large trunk.
Upon opening it, police found a suitcase filled with a heavily decomposed body.
The suitcase had been tightly packed with cement plaster, a deliberate effort by the killers to suppress the odour and delay detection.
Forensic experts confirmed that the victim’s throat had been slit with a sharp-edged weapon.
The body was contorted, hands and legs bound, and stuffed into the suitcase, indicating a calculated and brutal murder.
Despite the cement coating, the body eventually bloated and tore through parts of the suitcase, causing the smell to spread.
CCTV footage from the locality has given investigators vital clues.
On Sunday around 9.30am, an old Alto car, bearing a tampered number plate, was seen near the scene.
The front plate read CG 04 B-7700, but police confirmed it actually belongs to a 2005 Hyundai Santro.
Two individuals were seen transporting and discarding the trunk from the vehicle, while a third person riding an electric vehicle was also spotted nearby and is under suspicion.
A significant breakthrough came when police traced the steel trunk to the Shabbir Steel Trunk Factory in Raipur’s Golbazar area.
Police sources said that shopkeeper Shabbir informed them that a young man and woman, both aged between 25 and 30, had visited the shop on Sunday between 11am and noon.
They specifically requested a heavy-duty trunk measuring approximately 3 feet by 2 feet and made an online payment under the name Shivani.
The trunk was subsequently delivered to Indraprastha Colony via auto rickshaw.
Despite the advanced state of decomposition, police are working to identify the victim by cross-checking missing persons records from Raipur and neighbouring districts.
The proximity of the crime scene, just 100 metres from a residential settlement, has left residents alarmed and uneasy.
The case has drawn parallels with a similar murder in Meerut earlier this year, where a woman and her partner killed her husband, stuffed the body into a blue drum, and filled it with cement to prevent detection.
Police are currently reviewing surveillance footage from surrounding areas and analysing forensic evidence collected from the trunk and suitcase.
While officials remain tight-lipped about ongoing leads, sources indicate that significant progress has been made and arrests are likely soon. - The Statesman/ANN
