Meerut, 04 March (HS): Police

here stated Wednesday that a lady discovered deceased in the Mawana area of

district last month is a Turkmen national. The police had already identified

the lady as 'Archita Arora' of Delhi based on an Aadhaar card found during the

investigation. On February 25, they were contacted by two ladies, one from

Turkmenistan and the other from Uzbekistan, who disputed their allegation. The

two ladies said the dead was Muhabbat from Turkmenistan, who had lived in India

for over 15 years. They also claimed that her passport had been taken away by

intermediaries, and that the burns on her face and body were caused to cover

identifiable tattoos.

Superintendent of Police (Rural), Abhijeet Kumar,

admitted on Wednesday that the dead looked to be a Turkmen citizen. He stated

that the Ministry of External Affairs has been contacted to verify papers and

pursue further legal action. On February 21, at 6 a.m., police were notified of

a female dead lying in a field near Bhagwati Farm House on the Meerut-Bijnor

route. The woman's face had been damaged by burns, most likely caused by an

inflammable chemical. Police investigated and reported that the dead had a room

rent issue with Chanchal Kumar, the owner of Avika Hotel in the Partapur region,

and his friends.

The accused allegedly suffocated the victim with a blanket on the night of

February 20 and dumped her corpse in a field. On

February 26, the police detained Chanchal Kumar, Sandeep, Gurumukh, and Vivek. They

also claimed to have confiscated a stolen automobile, a blanket, and an empty

bottle containing an inflammable material. Meanwhile, the victim's call detail

record indicated that she had spoken with a lady stationed in Chandigarh. That

lady told authorities that the victim traveled to Meerut on February 12 and

that her phone had been turned off since February 16. A new timeframe perplexed

detectives and placed doubt on their findings.

Najumudinova

Gulnara Sunatovna, a Turkmen national, recognized the deceased lady as her

daughter, Najmudinova Muhabbat Sunatovna, who had moved to India some 15 years

ago. According to photographs given by the mother, she had tattoos on her hands

and waist that matched those on the deceased woman's corpse.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi