Missing woman's body found after 8 months, lover arrested

The police have arrested a youth for the murder of a 22-year-old woman in Bhubaneswar, who was missing since January 24 this year, a senior officer said here on Saturday.

The body of the woman was recovered from an abandoned stone quarry at Tapang in Khurda district on Friday, the police said.

The accused has been identified by police as Debasish Bisoi, 26, who worked as an electrician in Bhubaneswar.

The victim, Nirupama Parida, was employed as a caretaker at the residence of a businessman in Bharatpur area in Bhubaneswar. A missing person case was reported at the Bharatpur police station on January 27, they said.

Briefing about the missing person case, which later turned into a murder case, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said Debasish had an affair with the woman, but he was doubtful about her loyalty.

On January 24, Debasish took Nirupama to Tapang and killed her on the same day. He dumped the body in the abandoned stone quarry, which was turned into a water body, he said.

To mislead the police in the investigation, Debasish cleverly switched on Nirupama's mobile phone for a small time in the interval to show that she might have survived, Singh said.

"As the police neither recovered the body nor got any clue about her in the initial stage, it became very difficult to crack the case," he said.

After a thorough investigation and analysis of digital evidence, the suspect (Debasish) was nabbed, he added.

During interrogation, Debasish admitted that he strangled her to death at Tapang Nijigarh area on the evening of January 24, said Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena.

After his arrest, the skeleton of the woman was recovered from the spot. The deceased's ATM, mobile, her brother's mobile (which was with Nirupama for repairs), motorcycle used to travel to Tapang and some other materials were seized from Debasish, the DCP said.