Delhi shocker: Charred body of woman discovered in suitcase, cousin confesses to crime

In a shocking incident, a woman’s charred body was found in a suitcase in the Ghazipur area in the national capital early Sunday morning, leading to the arrest of two men, including her cousin.

The police identified the victim as 23-year-old Shilpa Pandey. The main accused, Amit Tiwari, 22, is her paternal cousin; his friend, Anuj Kumar, was also implicated in the case.

DCP East Abhishek Dhania told ANI: “We received a PCR call at around 4:10 am informing about a burnt body. On reaching the spot, we found the body completely burnt… Based on forensic evidence, it can be said that the deceased is between 20-35 years of age. Four teams are investigating.”

The body was charred beyond recognition, but investigators identified it as that of a woman due to intact long hair.

The DCP told the media, “We didn’t have any clue initially. Just a burnt suitcase and a burnt body. We started by scanning CCTV footage of the area where the suitcase was found.”

Police said, “Evidence suggested that the body had been burnt around 1.30 to 2 am. Our teams narrowed down cars passing by in that area during that time and did end-to-end verification of each car’s details.”

The officer said that the cops zeroed in on a Hyundai Verna that appeared suspicious and crossed the area hours before the body was found, reported NDTV. 

“One car led our team to a man living in Loni who said he’d sold his car to a man named Amit,” said Abhishek Dhania, according to a report by Indian Express.

The information led the police to Amit Tiwari and his friend Anuj Kumar, both 22 years old. Both are residents of Khora Colony in Ghaziabad.

During the police interrogation, Tiwari, a taxi driver, allegedly confessed to killing Pandey and burning her body with Kumar’s help, the Indian Express reported. 

“During his interrogation, he told us that Shilpa had run away from her home in Surat in November and had been living with him. The two were involved in an illicit affair, and Shilpa had reportedly pressured Tiwari to leave his family and live with her permanently. She also threatened to falsely implicate him and his family,” said Dhania.

On the day of the incident, Amit Tiwari was drunk, and he and Shilpa Pandey allegedly got into an argument. Tiwari allegedly struck her with his elbow and then strangulated her. He later put her body in a suitcase, dumped the suitcase in a deserted place and set it on fire.

The police have charged the suspects under sections 103(1), 238 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched a probe into the murder.