A woman in her early 20s was found murdered in a lodge room near Mastan Masjid in Cottonpet on Wednesday evening. The victim Roopali Mishra was a native of Uttar Pradesh.

The incident came to light when lodge workers alerted the police of a foul smell emanating from the room. Cottonpet police who rushed to the spot, broke open the door and found the woman murdered.

She was working with a private firm in south Bangalore.

A man and a woman had checked into room 265, on the fourth floor of the UG Regal Lodge of UG Hotels in Cottonpet on Sunday around 9:45 am. The man gave his name as Santosh Kumar.

However, he did not submit any identification documents. The staff said Santosh had promised to provide them by evening, but he was not found till Wednesday evening. A foul smell started emanating from the room since Tuesday. A room boy, who helped the two check into the room, on Monday morning, said he assumed them to be a couple and they had a suitcase.

According to Cottonpet Police Roopali’s blood-soaked body was found lying on the cot with multiple stab wounds on the neck, stomach, abdomen and private parts.

The body was highly decomposed and the deceased was later identified from her workplace ID card. The woman, it is learnt, was staying at a PG accommodation in Kumaraswamy Layout and was working with a beauty parlour in Jayanagar.

The CCTV footage at the hotel show the two checking into the room on Sunday morning and the man leaving the hotel by 3:20 pm. There is no trace of him in the footage since then.

Meanwhile, a dagger and a knife were found in a lodge on Y Ramachandra Road in Upparpet Police limits. The lodge manager of Durgamba Lodge alerted the police about them. Upparpet Police confiscated them and are investigating.

Police suspect that Santosh Kumar who checked into UG Regal in Cottonpet left the hotel after murdering Roopali Mishra and stayed at Durgamba Lodge where he left the weapons before fleeing the City.