TN suitcase murder: How cops caught couple in Manipur after 24-day manhunt
Police arrested two suspects in connection with the killing of 38-year-old Hayathun Nisha, whose remains were found on a train
A joint team of Tamil Nadu and Manipur police arrested Manik Uddin Laskar on August 28 in Jiribam district in connection with the Tamil Nadu red suitcase murder case. His alleged co-accused, Bhagabati Majhi, was arrested the following day in Kashimpur. They were flown to Chennai on Saturday (August 29) night and handed over to Tambaram police for further questioning.
What began as a case of an abandoned suitcase on a train turned into a nearly four-week-long investigation spanning Chennai, Uttar Pradesh and the Northeast, culminating in two arrests in Manipur.
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The incident came to light on the morning of August 5, when passengers aboard the Tamil Nadu Express at Agra Cantonment raised an alarm over a foul smell coming from a red suitcase in a general coach. Railway police opened the suitcase and found the dismembered, headless remains of a woman.
Victim identified
The deceased was identified as 38-year-old Hayathun Nisha from Jagatsinghpur in Odisha. She worked at a private company near Chennai. She lived in a rented house on Mosque Street in Guduvanchery with Manik Uddin Laskar, 22, from Assam’s Cachar district, and his wife, Bhagabati Majhi, 21, from Odisha’s Kendujhar district.
Around the same time, Nisha’s son approached Guduvanchery police to report her missing. The remains found in the suitcase had, by then, already set investigators on a trail leading back to Tamil Nadu.
The hint
A package from a Chennai cloth shop found in the suitcase prompted Agra police to contact Chennai railway police, suggesting that the crime had taken place in Tamil Nadu and the suitcase was later transported to Agra.
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CCTV footage from more than 350 cameras covering Chennai Central, Park station and the suburban line towards Tambaram helped investigators trace a man and a woman carrying the same red suitcase on the night of August 3. Around 10 pm, they allegedly boarded the Tamil Nadu Express, left the suitcase in an unreserved coach and got off before the train departed. They then walked to Park station and took a local train towards Tambaram.
Neighbours said two women and a man from Odisha had been staying on Mosque Street. The house was found locked when police arrived. A search of the premises led to the recovery of more body parts from a large cooking vessel. Laboratory tests later linked the remains to Nisha, turning the missing-person investigation into a murder case.
Initial investigation report
According to the initial investigation, Laskar and Nisha were allegedly in a relationship, and police suspect a dispute over the relationship may have led to her death. Some family members in Odisha also said she had reportedly withdrawn a large amount from her provident fund and had gold at home. They suspect money may have been another possible motive. Police are continuing to examine these and other angles.
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Police interrogation reports have alleged that Laskar and Majhi beat Nisha to death following a quarrel, dismembered her body, kept some parts in a vessel at the house and packed the remaining parts in the red suitcase before placing it on the train. These are police allegations and have not been proved in court.
After Laskar and Majhi fled, police tracked their movements using phone signals and other leads across Odisha and the Northeast, eventually locating and arresting them in Manipur.
The couple is now in the custody of Chennai police. Investigators are continuing to search for Nisha’s missing head and are piecing together the full sequence of events surrounding the killing.