Couple Arrested in Manipur for Tamil Nadu Express Suitcase Murder

A couple wanted for the murder and dismemberment of a 38-year-old woman, whose remains were found in a suitcase aboard the Tamil Nadu Express, was arrested in Manipur on Saturday after a 24-day manhunt. The arrest provides a crucial breakthrough in a case that began when passengers discovered a foul smell emanating from an abandoned red suitcase at Agra Cantt railway station on August 5.

The accused, Manik Uddin Laskar, 22, and his wife Bhagabati Majhi, 21, were apprehended by a joint team of Manipur and Tamil Nadu Police in the Kashimpur area of Jiribam district. They are accused of killing Hayathun Nisha, a 38-year-old native of Odisha who had been living in Guduvanchery, a suburb of Chennai, and working at a private firm. The couple will be produced before a local magistrate in Manipur before being transported to Tamil Nadu on a transit warrant for further interrogation.

The investigation began when Government Railway Police at Agra Cantt station opened the suitcase and found the headless, dismembered remains of a woman. Forensic analysis later identified the victim as Nisha. The case was initially registered as a missing-person report at Guduvanchery police station after...