A 19-year-old woman, missing for the past 34 days, was discovered murdered in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar area. Preliminary investigations suggest that she fell victim to her jilted lover, who, in a distressing twist, took his own life by leaping in front of a local train, according to the police.
The perpetrator had left behind a cryptic “code” in a suicide note, which investigators successfully decoded after days of painstaking effort. The code led them to a specific tree marked by forest officials, ultimately helping law enforcement trace the woman’s lifeless body, revealed police sources on Wednesday.
Allegedly strangled to death in the Kharghar hills, the young woman had severed ties with her assailant, fueling his anger and leading to this tragic outcome, an official reported. The woman, who left for college in Sion on December 12 and never returned, prompted a missing person case at Kalamboli police station.
Simultaneously, a message reached the police about Vaibhav Burungale, a resident of Kalamboli, taking his own life by jumping in front of a running local train at Juinagar railway station on the same day. This prompted a case registration, with Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe establishing a special task force to delve into the matter.
The deceased perpetrator had saved a suicide note on his mobile phone, confessing to the murder and signaling his intent to end his own life. Coded phrases like ‘L01-501’ in the note were successfully deciphered by the police, leading them to a numbered tree marked by the Forest Department—where the perpetrator had disposed of the woman’s body.
The investigative efforts involved collaboration with voluntary rescuers from Lonavala, along with the Fire Brigade, Cidco, and the Forest Department. Drones were also employed in the search operation. The breakthrough occurred when the woman’s body was located in bushes within a dumping ground in the Owe camp area in Kharghar.
Identification of the body relied on the woman’s attire when she left for college, her wristwatch, and ID card. The police affirmed that further investigation is currently in progress.