Pune woman found dead in flat rarely interacted with neighbours, told domestic help to stop coming for work: Cops

PUNE: A 34-year-old woman, who had secretly returned to India from the UK in August without informing her family, was found dead inside her Pune apartment on Thursday.Before her death, Mugdha Deshmukh had told her domestic help that she was “leaving the flat” and asked her to stop coming for work, a police officer said.A native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Deshmukh was found dead at a residential complex in the Gahunje area of Pimpri Chinchwad.Her family had been in touch with her through phone calls and messages. However, they were unable to reach her on October 24, after which her mobile phone was switched off, her father Avinash Deshmukh stated in a complaint lodged with Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police earlier this week.The family subsequently contacted one of her friends in London, who said she had last communicated with Mugdha through messages on October 22.The friend approached London police to report her missing but was told that she had left the UK around the end of August, the officer said.Concerned about her whereabouts, the family sought assistance from Indian authorities and the Indian High Commission.Her father also examined her bank statements and noticed several transactions on food delivery and online service platforms between October 8 and 25, police said.One of the transactions was suspected to have originated from the Osmanpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, leading the family to suspect that she might be in India.The family then approached the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar crime branch, expressing concern for her safety.Police traced her location to the Lodha Belmondo complex in Gahunje and alerted the Shirgaon police.“The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police traced Mugdha’s location to the Lodha Belmondo complex in Gahunje. We reached the flat she was residing in, gained entry with the help of a keymaker, and found her dead inside,” said Chavan.Police said there were no visible injury marks on her body. Her viscera has been preserved to ascertain the exact cause of death.During the investigation, police found that Mugdha had rented the apartment in April but started living there only after returning from the UK in August, Chavan said. Further investigation is underway.(With inputs from PTI)