The Tamil Nadu police have recovered the burnt body of a woman from Chengalpattu highway in Kancheepuram district. The body was found on May 28 on the highway, Kancheepuram police told TNM.
Two days after the body of the woman was recovered, the police suspect that the body could be of Jesna, the 20-year-old woman who went missing from Kerala in March.
The BCom student had gone missing on March 22, while she was on her way from her home in Pathanamthitta to her aunt's house in the neighbouring Kottayam district.
Speaking to TNM, Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police (SP) said that the body's face was not entirely recognisable and that it has been shifted to Changalpattu Medical College Hospital.
The SP added that a team of Kerala police investigating the missing case of student Jesna were on their way to Kancheepuram.
"The body has been burnt to such an extent that the face is not recognisable. But there are braces on the woman's teeth and this is one of the reasons why we suspect the body could be Jesna's. Nothing has been confirmed so far, but we decided to inform the Kerala police since the body had braces of the teeth and the general physique was similar to Jesna's," the SP said.
As for the Kerala police, Pathanamthitta SP said that investigation teams were already deployed to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and that a team is on their way to Kancheepuram to verify if the body could be that of Jesna.
Thiruvalla DySP, who is the chief investigating officer of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe Jesna's disappearance said, "We cannot say anything before verifying the information. Tamil Nadu police passed on this information to us because when a missing case is being investigated, we generally send out requests to DGPs of other states to inform us if any unidentified body is found."
Jesna's mysterious disappearance led to protests by many groups in the state, demanding a detailed probe into the case.
Earlier in May, the investigating team had visited Bengaluru after receiving information that a woman, who resembled Jesna was spotted near Madiwala in the city. However, upon verification, the police team could not find any leads.