A 21-year-old youth was arrested on Thursday for brutally killing his live-in partner and dumping the headless body chopped in eight pieces near Inderlok Metro station in Sarai Rohilla area of north Delhi.

Two of his accomplices have also been held, police said.

The accused have been identified as Yogesh Sharma of Mangolpuri, Ajay, 25, and Vinay Kumar, 24.

The body was found dumped between Nala Road and Chapan Bigha Park in
a gunny bag on March 17.

Initial investigation had revealed that the body was of a woman aged about 20-25 years.

There was a tattoo “PJ” above her right wrist, while another tattoo “YS” was seen on the forehand.

“We have identified the deceased as Pooja, who hails from Garhwal in Uttarakhand, and was in a live-in relationship with Yogesh. The “PJ” tattoo was Pooja’s name, while “YS” is of Yogesh Sharma,” said I B Rani, deputy commissioner of police (north).

Police reconstructed the torn photographs of a woman recovered from the spot to identify missing women of similar age and description.

“Then, a police team visited all neighbouring police stations and it was found that Yogesh had approached Shanti Nagar police station to enquire about a woman named Pooja, who was stated to be missing,” Rani said.

Yogesh was, however, not very keen to lodge a missing report and did not try to make any effort to trace Pooja. “Hence, a strong suspicion was created,” Rani said.

A raid was later conducted at a factory run by Yogesh at Tri Nagar on Thursday and he was apprehended along with his two friends Ajay and Vinay.

Discord
During interrogation, Yogesh disclosed that he was in a live-in relationship with Pooja for the last two years.

“Pooja had conceived recently and was pressing hard for marriage, but Yogesh wanted to get rid off her. He had also managed to get the pregnancy terminated,” the police officer said.

Yogesh was also suspicious that Pooja was not loyal to him. Finally, he conspired with Ajay and Vinay and eliminated her.

Gory episode
He strangled Pooja on March 16 and to conceal the identity of the body, it was cut into several pieces and the head was removed and burnt.

“Thereafter, the trio put the body pieces and blood-stained clothes in a gunny bag and dumped it near Inderlok Metro station,” Rani added.

At their instance, the weapon of offence has been recovered, whereas efforts are on to recover the head of the deceased.

A case under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against Yogesh, Ajay and Vinay.