The partially disrobed body of a woman, with injuries to the head caused by a blunt weapon, was found in an abandoned building inside Santiniketan’s Ballabhpur forest, a popular tourist destination close to the famous khoai area.

The police tracked the identity of Ajmeera Begum, 36, through a bag of a jewellery shop in Birbhum’s Kirnahar, 30km from the spot. The bag was found in the room where Ajmeera, the wife of a trader in Kirnahar, was found murdered.

The police have detained her husband, Alauddin Sheikh, and another man for interrogation.

Israil Mian, a fisherman working in a nearby farm of the state fisheries department, first spotted the body and informed the police.

Local people said many tourist groups visit the area regularly for picnics. Young couples, mostly students, also frequent the place.

Tourist spots such as Amar Kutir, a cooperative society for art and leather work, and the Ranga Bitan resort, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee stays during her Birbhum trips, are near the abandoned house where the body was found. The renowned weekend handicrafts market in Sonajhuri — Shonibarer Haat — and the khoai are part of the Ballabhpur forest.

“Tourists often organise picnics next to the abandoned house…. I saw the body from the road I take to the farm,” Israil said.

Forest officials said that although the area was under the state forest department’s jurisdiction, the building belonged to the fisheries department. It is an abandoned office of the fisheries department.