A young woman who is believed to have worked for a private bank was found stabbed to death in a lodge on the busy OTC Road in Cottonpet on Wednesday.
Police said Roopali Mishra (25) had checked in at the UG Regal along with one Santosh Kumar Yadav from Kanpur, on Sunday. Though the couple booked the room for three days, Yadav left the same evening after clearing the bill.
The murder came to light on Wednesday afternoon, when the room service staff was overpowered by a foul odour emanating from the cupboard of Room 265. As Yadav had apparently taken the cupboard key with him, the staff opened it with the spare key to see a putrefying body stuffed inside, with multiple stab injuries on the neck, abdomen and genitals.
The police suspect Roopali to have been murdered on Sunday itself and are verifying CCTV images to identify Yadav.
Bank ID card
The Cottonpet police found an ID card from the room that established her identity as Roopali Mishra, a resident of Kumaraswamy Layout and an employee of a private bank in Bangalore. It is not clear whether she still worked for the bank as she is believed to have worked in a beauty parlour in Jayanagar also.
The police are trying to get in touch with her family and are verifying her mobile phone call details.
A room boy told The Hindu though he and his colleagues were choked by a foul odour near the fourth floor, it never occurred to them it could have come from one of the rooms.
Hotel manager Ravi said: “The couple checked in on February 3. We suspect the attack took place the same day. We have seen the CCTV footage and can only comment after the police have completed their investigation.”
Dagger in nearby lodge
Curiously, a dagger was found in the nearby Durgamba Lodge in Upparpet on Monday morning by the hotel staff who called the police. A police official said that a man named Santosh Kumar had checked into the lodge on Sunday evening.
Police said the staff heard water running continuously in the room and entered the room using the spare key.
The police also are considering the possibility that Santosh Kumar could have checked into the Durgamba Lodge as the check-in time was recorded shortly after he left the UG Regal (going by the time shown in the CCTV footage).
However, this too was yet to be ascertained as Durgamba does not have CCTV cameras. Cottonpet police are investigating.
