Meerut: Dead woman turns out to be foreign national; mistaken identity leads police to arrest 4

Meerut: Police here on Wednesday said that a woman who was found dead in the Mawana area last month is a citizen of Turkmenistan.

The police had earlier identified the woman as 'Archita Arora' of Delhi on the basis of an Aadhaar card recovered during the probe.

However, they were forced to reassess their claim after they were approached by two women, one each from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, on February 25 disputing the claim.

The two women asserted that the deceased was Muhabbat from Turkmenistan, who had been living in India for nearly 15 years.

They also alleged that her passport had been taken away by middlemen and that the burn injuries on her face and body could have been inflicted to conceal distinctive tattoos.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Abhijeet Kumar on Wednesday conceded that the deceased appeared to be a citizen of Turkmenistan.

He said that the Ministry of External Affairs has been approached for verification of documents and further legal action.

On February 21, around 6 am, the police were informed about a female body lying in a field near Bhagwati Farm House on the Meerut-Bijnor highway.

The woman's face had been disfigured with burns likely inflicted using an inflammable substance.

The police conducted an investigation and claimed that the deceased had a dispute over room rent with Chanchal Kumar, the operator of Avika Hotel in the Partapur area, and his associates.

It was claimed that on the night of February 20, the accused smothered the woman with a blanket and dumped the body in a field.

On February 26, the police arrested Chanchal Kumar, Sandeep, Gurumukh and Vivek.

They also claimed that they had seized the car used in the crime, a blanket, and an empty bottle of inflammable substance.

Meanwhile, the call detail record of the victim revealed that she had been in touch with a woman based in Chandigarh. That woman informed police that the victim had travelled to Meerut on February 12 and that her phone had been switched off since February 16.

The fresh timeline confounded the police and cast doubt on their investigation.

Subsequently, Najumudinova Gulnara Sunatovna, a Turkmenistan national, identified the deceased woman as her daughter, Najmudinova Muhabbat Sunatovna, who had come to India around 15 years ago for work.

Photographs shared by the mother reportedly showed tattoos on her hand and waist similar to what the deceased woman's body bore.