How a tailor's tag, UPI payment helped Odisha police solve murder of a woman

Police found the body of a woman on the banks of Kathjodi river on December 13 but, she couldn't be identified and neither was there a complaint filed for her.

The tailor's tag on a blood-stained shirt found near the crime scene helped Odisha Police solve a mystekrious murder case of a 35-year-old woman and led to the arrest of three persons, officials said.

All three accused have been arrested, said Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena. (Representative Image)

On December 13, cops recovered the body of a woman on the banks of Kathjodi river under Cuttack's Kandarpur police station area, PTI reported.

Since the deceased couldn't be identified and no complaint at any police station in the state was filed for her, the cops had no option but to get a weapon of offence, a chopper.

It was a big challenge for the team to crack the case, said Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena.

The senior official said that though tattoos were found on both the hands of the deceased, they could not help in identifying her. But cops did find a blood-stained shirt and pant on the river near the spot.

Meena said that both the clothing pieces had a tag of 'New Star Tailors' stitched onto them.

Police decided to focus on the tailor tag, finding around 10 tailors with the same or similar name in Odisha. All these tailors were verified and their tag design was also compared with the one found on the shirt and pants cops recovered from the crime scene.

Unfortunately, no match was found in the state. A tailor in the Ganjam district then told the police that such tags are used in Gujarat, the senior police officer noted.

Officials from Cuttack contacted Gujarat police, who tracked down and found such a tailor in Surat city. The tailor's tag number '3833', which was matched and upon search, it was learnt that the recovered shirt was stitched for one 'Babu'.

"There was no other detail available. However, the tailor gave one important clue that he had to return ₹100 to the customer 'babu' but he did not have the change. So, he transferred ₹100 on the e-wallet of one mobile number. That number was contacted and it was found that he is a friend of 'babu'," Meena said.

Babu was found to be a 27-year-old Jaganath Duhuri, who went with two aliases, Babu and Bapi of Kendrapada. "It was found that he (Babu) was going back to Surat by train. The train was passing through Rayagada when he was nabbed," Meena said.

Upon interrogation, police found that Babu was the deceased woman's brother-in-law. He also confessed to committing the crime with the help of his brother Balaram Duhuri (deceased's husband) and cousin Hapi Duhuri.

All three of them have been arrested, police said.

"Balaram Duhuri was the husband of the deceased woman. The motive of the crime is chronic marital dispute between the deceased and her husband. Balaram was doubting that the deceased was having an extra-marital affair with someone," DCP Meena said.

(with PTI inputs)