The severed head of a woman wrapped in a transparent polythene packet was found on a deserted stretch of Graham Road, near Tollygunge, littered with garbage on Friday morning.

Blood oozing out of the part from where the head had been severed and fresh blood in the packet suggested the body was “not very old”, one of the investigators said.

Police said the preliminary post-mortem report suggested that the injuries were
homicidal.

The woman’s face was smeared with blood. She had a black bindi from the forehead to under the right eyebrow, the police said.

The police identified the victim late on Friday. “But her identity cannot be shared now for the sake of investigation,” an officer said.

Sources in the police said footage from CCTV cameras closest to the spot was being examined to check for any suspicious movement.

The stretch of Graham Road — behind a highrise apartment — does not have operational street lights or CCTV cameras, residents of the neighbourhood said.

A resident of the locality said the area remains dark and deserted after sunset
and anyone could have dumped the body part in the garbage.

A sniffer dog from Kolkata Police was brought to the spot. The cops were led to an apartment around 400m from the spot where the head was found but that did not lead to any immediate finding.

Deputy commissioner (south suburban division) Bidisha Kalita visited the spot and said the police were probing all possible angles.

Residents of the area could not identify the woman.

Officers in the homicide squad of the detective department of Kolkata Police visited the spot. The area where the head was found was cordoned off to preserve the crime scene.

In April this year, body parts packed separately were found in an abandoned CISF barracks in Watgunge. The body parts were later identified to be that of a homemaker who was allegedly murdered by her brother-in-law, the police had said.