The decomposed body of a woman was found inside a refrigerator in a house in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas city on Friday, following which a former tenant was taken into custody for questioning, police officials said.
The saree-clad woman, who was wearing jewellery and whose hands were tied along with a noose around her neck, may have been killed last year, an official said.
The house is located in Vrindavan Dham Colony under Bank Note Press police station limits, the official added.
"The woman is in her 30s. We suspect she was killed in June 2024. After a foul smell started emanating, neighbours called the landlord who opened a portion of the house. The woman's body was found in the refrigerator, the shelves of which had been removed. He then alerted police," Dewas Superintendent of Police Puneet Gehlot told reporters.
The house is owned by one Dhirendra Shrivastava, who lives in Indore, the SP said.
"Shrivastava had rented his house to one Sanjay Patidar of Ujjain in June 2023. A year later, Patidar vacated the house but continued to keep his belongings in a study room and the master bedroom. He told Shrivastava he would vacate this portion later," Gehlot said.
"Patidar used to visit the house once in a while. Recently, the current tenant asked the landlord to unlock this portion of the house. The landlord showed this portion of the house to the tenant but then locked it again, since Patidar's belongings were inside, and switched off power supply on Wednesday," said Bank Note Press police station inspector Amit Solanki.
The incident came to light since the refrigerator stopped working after electricity was switched off and a foul smell started emanating from that portion of the house, Solanki added.
"Patidar has been taken into custody and is being questioned," the inspector informed.
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