Two suspects were arrested from a Bengaluru hotel by police, over a month after the body of a woman was discovered on the Karjat-Lonavala railway track on April 16, stuffed inside a pink suitcase. V Vijaykumar Venkatesh (26), a B.Tech graduate, and his companion T Yashaswini Raja Tatikolu (24), a postgraduate, are the detained suspects. They are accused of killing their friend Dhanlaxmi Reddy (34), an MSc in biotechnology, after a furious disagreement descended into violence. On the evening of April 15, the suspects reportedly boarded a train from Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), according to a Times of India report that quoted the Karjat police. They are seen pulling a pink trolley bag in the station's CCTV footage, which was later recognised as the one where the victim's body was found. They had reserved a coach with air conditioning on the Mumbai-Coimbatore Express.
Just before arriving in Lonavala, police suspect that the bag containing body was thrown off the moving train close to Thakurwadi station. According to Karjat police senior inspector Surendra Garad, investigators believe the suspects waited for a remote area before disposing of the body.A great deal of technical surveillance and CCTV analysis helped with the investigation. To follow the activities of the suspects, officers viewed more than 250 CCTV camera images from several train stops. According to Neral police assistant inspector Shivaji Dhavale, the two were last seen getting on a train to Coimbatore, but their phone locations were traced in Bengaluru, which led the authorities to the hotel where they were hiding.
The two were arrested in Bengaluru, extradited to Maharashtra, and placed under police detention till May 16. During questioning, the accused allegedly admitted to the murder and said that Dhanlaxmi's death was caused by a personal argument that had gotten out of hand.Through meticulous forensic and surveillance operations, the case, which was initially cloaked in mystery with nothing to go on other than the luggage and the finding of the railway track, saw significant advancement. Investigators are currently looking into the nature of the three people's relationship and the underlying purpose for the murder.