A woman in her 30s was found dead in a lane in a locality in Haridevpur on the city’s southern fringes early on Tuesday.
Some residents of the Nonar Math area noticed the woman, wearing salwar kameez, lying upside down around 8.30am. The body bore a ligature mark suggesting she was strangled to death, police said.
The cops identified the deceased as Dalia Chakrabarty and have put under the scanner a person whom she had called multiple times before she last left her home.
Dalia was married and a resident of Narendrapur, cops said. She taken to MR Bangur Superspeciality Hospital in Tollygunge, where she was declared dead.
“The woman left her house on Monday afternoon saying she was stepping out to collect some dues,” said a senior police officer.
“We did not find any of her belongings beside her. The body has been sent for post-mortem. The post-mortem report will help us ascertain the cause of death,” he said.
Officers from Haridevpur police station and the detective department of Kolkata police said the woman was possibly murdered and dumped in the Nonar Math area on Tuesday morning.
“The assassin seems to know well the lanes and bylanes of Haridevpur. The body was possibly dumped early on Tuesday when the area around Nonar Math remains deserted,” an officer said.
CCTV footage of vehicles leaving the area at night have been scanned and police have visited Dalia’s in-laws and spoke to family members to find out more about her possible destinations after she left home on Monday afternoon.
“The spot that was chosen to dump the body is not covered by any CCTV camera,” the officer said.
“The stretch is quite narrow and doesn’t allow a car to move through. The assassins either came on two-wheelers or rode an autorickshaw. But none of the residents of the area got to know about it.”
Dalia’s husband did not lodge a missing diary after she failed to return on Monday night, the police have learnt. Officers said they were trying to find out whether the deceased would often not return home at night.
“The husband evaded several questions, including what his source of income was, why he did not inform the police when his wife did not return home on Monday night and whether she occasionally did not return home at night,” the officer said.
The police said they learnt that the woman had made several calls before leaving home on Monday afternoon. She had made multiple calls to one person who the police said had been shifting location randomly.
“We last found his mobile tower location somewhere in Entally,” the officer said.