A woman, whose body was found in a gunny bag floating in a canal in Regent Park, was alive when she was stuffed into the sack, police said based on preliminary findings of the post-mortem report.

The cops found a woman’s body stuffed in a gunny bag in a canal at Shantinagar in Regent Park on Tuesday. The identity of the woman could not be ascertained till late on Wednesday.

The woman appeared to have died a few days ago, the police said. The body was sent to MR Bangur Superspeciality Hospital for post-mortem, which was conducted on Wednesday.

“The preliminary post- mortem suggests that the woman was alive when she was being stuffed into the bag and thrown into the water,” said an officer at Lalbazar, the headquarters of Kolkata Police.

What the post-mortem suggests is extremely rare, said police sources.

The police said the woman had injury marks on the back of her head.

The cops also said she had track marks — scars that form as a result of continued intravenous drug use — on her hands. “She had needle marks on her hands,” said the officer.

Such marks are usually found on people who inject drugs into the veins. “She had an eagle tattoo on one hand and the word “mubarak” (congratulations) inscribed on another,” said the officer.

These are, however, preliminary findings and a detailed report is expected to project a clearer picture, the police said.