The accused then carried the head to the police station on Monday morning and confessed to the crime. The incident took place on Sunday night in Etmadudaula area under Hari Parbat police station in Agra.
Naresh, who works as a TV repair mechanic, was married to Shanti 17 years ago, and the couple have three daughters and a son.
Naresh is an alcoholic and this was a cause of friction between him and his wife.
According to reports, Naresh was drinking at his house on Sunday night when his wife tried to stop him.
An angry Naresh picked up a chopper and cut off his wife's head. He put the severed head in a canister late in the night. He locked up the room in which his wife's body lay.
When the children woke up in the morning, they did not find their mother. The eldest daughter peeped into her parents' room and saw the mother's body. She informed her relatives who in turn informed the police.
Even as the police started hunting for Naresh, he reached the police station with the canister in which he had kept his wife's head.
He has been arrested and is being interrogated. He has denied that he was drink when he committed the crime but has accused his wife of having extra-marital relations.
Police said that forensic teams had reached the site of the crime because Naresh had tried to clean the blood stains on the chopper and the floor.
( With inputs from IANS )