Head-in-suitcase: Victim’s torso recovered from a drain in Nallasopara

After a four-day search, the Mandvi police on Tuesday recovered the torso of the woman whose head was found in a suitcase

MUMBAI: After a four-day search, the Mandvi police on Tuesday recovered the torso of the woman whose head was found in a suitcase dumped along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway last Thursday night. The police found the body in a drain after searching for four hours on Tuesday.

The skull of Utpala Hippargi, 51, a resident of Rehmat Nagar in Nalasopara, was found in a bush near Pirkunda Dargah in Virar Phata. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The incident came to light on Friday. The skull of Utpala Hippargi, 51, a resident of Rehmat Nagar in Nalasopara, was found in a bush near Pirkunda Dargah in Virar Phata. A team of Mandovi Police and Crime Branch 3 investigated the case. Her identity was confirmed from a bullion wallet found at the scene. After a technical investigation, the woman’s husband Harish Hippargi, 49, was arrested on Saturday.

On January 8, Harish strangled her and then took her near Deshmukh Farm in Virar where he beheaded her with a crowbar. Police said he confessed to throwing the body in a drain near railway tracks in Nallasopara and the head, in a suitcase, dumped near the Pirkunda Dargah.