Guduvanchery Police Arrest Couple in Manipur Over Train Bag Dismemberment Case

Nearly four weeks after the dismembered body of a 38-year-old woman was found inside a trolley bag aboard the Tamil Nadu Express at Agra, Guduvanchery police on Saturday arrested a couple from Kashimpur in Manipur's Jiribam district. The suspects and the victim had worked together at a garment company near the Tambaram MEPZ.

The arrested individuals were identified as 22-year-old Manik Uddin Laskar and his wife Bhagabati Majhi. Police stated that the couple would be produced before a magistrate and brought to Chennai on a transit warrant.

Investigators suspect the murder stemmed from an alleged six-month relationship between the victim, Hayathun Nisha, and Manik. Quarrels reportedly began after Majhi discovered the affair. While there were claims that Nisha was pregnant, police have ruled out the pregnancy angle. Officials said the exact motive and sequence of events will be clarified after the couple is brought to Chennai.

Police suspect Nisha was killed and dismembered at or near the couple's rented house on Mosque Street in Guduvanchery. Some of her remains were allegedly packed into a red trolley bag and taken to Chennai Central, where the bag was placed inside the Tamil Nadu Express. Additional body parts were subsequently recovered from a large cooking vessel inside the Guduvanchery house.

The case emerged on August 5 after passengers noticed a foul smell emanating from the trolley bag in an unreserved coach once the train reached Agra. Railway police opened the luggage and found the headless, dismembered body of an unidentified woman.

CCTV footage examined by investigators showed a man and a woman carrying the trolley bag at Chennai Central. Police traced the pair back to the Guduvanchery residence, establishing the local connection and identifying the victim as Nisha, an Odisha native who had been living in Guduvanchery.

Her 19-year-old son, who was residing separately in Mudichur and working as a mechanic, had previously filed a missing-person complaint with the Guduvanchery police. Following the identification of the remains, the case was altered to murder.

Manik and Majhi had fled Tamil Nadu before the discovery, prompting the formation of special police teams to trace them to Manipur. Police said interrogation will focus on how and where Nisha was killed, the couple's respective roles, and the method used to dismember and transport the remains.