In a horrifying incident, a 22-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Nagpur was raped, killed and her body packed in a suitcase and dumped across the border in Karnataka.
The Karnataka police recovered Ankita's body from near a bridge in Belagavi on Wednesday. Ankita is reportedly an engineer and the daughter of a cop, who allegedly went missing from Mumbai on Monday.
The Kataki police have arrested two persons- Niklesh Patil and Akshay Valode- in connection with the crime, and they have reportedly confessed to raping and subsequently killing Ankita. While the murder happened in Ambernath in Maharashtra, the accused dumped her body in the neighbouring state of Karnataka.
According to reports, Ankita who works in Mumbai had gone to Pune at the behest of a friend to attend a party on Sunday. Although it is unclear how Ankita got in touch with the accused, she was returning to Mumbai in a car along with them. They were all traveling in Nilesh Khobragade's car, who is a close friend of the accused.
The Times of India reports that on their way back to Mumbai, they stopped the car at Akshay's residence in Square Heights building of Palegaon area in Ambernath (East). Niklesh and Akshay reportedly raped Ankita and proceed to choke her to death when she threatened to go to the police.
Following the murder, Niklesh and Akshay packed Ankita's body in a suitcase and hid it in the car. The duo, along with Nilesh, then drove to Goa. On their way when they reached Belagavi, Niklesh and Akshay threw the suitcase out of the car. This triggered suspicion in Nilesh, who reportedly informed the police.
The Karnataka and the Maharashtra police are jointly investigating the case.
Sunil Patil, assistant police commissioner of Ambernath division, told TOI: "The accused have been booked under section 376 (2)(g) (gang rape), 302 (murder), 201 (destroying evidence), and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code. We are also looking into the role of the accused's friend Nilesh Khobragade (38) in whose car the victim's body was transported. Four different teams have been formed to probe the case."