Woman’s body found stuffed inside blue drum in Punjab; heart-shaped tattoo helps identify victim

PATIALA: The body of a woman was found stuffed inside a blue plastic drum near the DMW Railway Colony in Punjab's Patiala, police said on Wednesday.The deceased was identified as Neha (25), a resident of Patiala’s Gopal Colony.The deceased’s family reached the Urban Estate police station on Wednesday afternoon and identified the body after seeing her photographs on social media.SHO Gurpreet Singh Samrao said the body was recovered on Tuesday from a 100-litre plastic drum, which was covered with a red cloth.The victim had a ‘Neha’ tattoo on one hand and a heart-shaped tattoo with the initials ‘N’ and ‘A’ on the other.Minor injury marks were also visible on her face. After the recovery, police reached the spot, took custody of the body, and shifted it to the mortuary at Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, officials said.Police have rounded up two local youths who were often seen with the victim and are reportedly drug users.Investigators are questioning them to determine whether they are linked to the murder or the disposal of the body.Police said the exact cause of death will be known only after the post-mortem examination.(With agency inputs)