Chhattisgarh woman’s body found in car days after her murder

Pradeep Arya, a local police officer, said Ashish Sahu, the accused, befriended Priyanka Singh, who was from Bhilai and stayed at a hostel to prepare for the civil services examination, before allegedly asking her to invest money in the share market

The body of a 24-year-old civil services aspirant was recovered from the car of a man days after he allegedly strangled her following an argument over a monetary dispute in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur.

Ashish Sahu kept the body inside his shop before its stench forced him to shift it to his car on Saturday last. (AFP)

Pradeep Arya, a local police officer, said Ashish Sahu, the accused, befriended Priyanka Singh, who was from Bhilai and stayed at a hostel to prepare for the civil services examination, before allegedly asking her to invest money in the share market. “Singh initially got ₹4 lakh to 5 lakh as returns but soon lost ₹11 lakh,” said Arya.

He added the two got into a heated argument on November 15 when Singh went to Sahu’s medical store and demanded her money back. “...suddenly the accused strangled the victim with a scarf,” Arya said.

Sahu kept the body inside his shop before its stench forced him to shift it to his car on Saturday last. “The victim’s family lodged a missing complaint when they were unable to get in touch with her. Based on the technical analysis of Singh’s mobile number, police detained Sahu, who confessed to killing the woman,” said Arya.

Police recovered the body from the boot of the car on Sunday and booked Sahu for murder.