Guduvanchery Suitcase Murder Case: Prime Suspect Arrested In Manipur After Headless Body Found On Train

Chennai, August 29, 2026: The Guduvanchery police on Saturday arrested Manikuddin Laskar of Assam from Jiribam district in connection with the recovery of human remains from a red trolley suitcase aboard the Tamil Nadu Express at Agra Cantonment railway station earlier this month. Laskar and his wife, Bhagabati Majhi of Odisha, had allegedly been on the run for more than 25 days. Majhi remains absconding.

The case had striking similarities with the murder of a Chennai businessman, Alavandar, seven decades ago. Both cases involved a headless body, a train and a couple allegedly linked to the crime.

In the 1952 Alavandar case, the victim’s severed head was eventually found floating in the sea off Royapuram. In the present case, the head of the suspected victim is yet to be recovered.

The latest case came to light on August 5 when passengers aboard the Chennai-New Delhi Tamil Nadu Express complained of a foul smell from an unreserved compartment. At Agra Cantonment, railway police found an unclaimed red trolley suitcase containing decomposed human remains wrapped in polythene covers.

CCTV Trail Leads To Chennai

A crucial clue was found on the plastic covers—the name of a prominent retail store in Chennai. Investigators from Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu then examined more than 350 CCTV recordings to trace the suitcase to Chennai.

The footage showed a young bespectacled woman and a bearded man taking the red suitcase to Chennai Central on August 3. They allegedly left it in an unreserved compartment of the Tamil Nadu Express and then went to a restaurant. They later took a suburban train from Park station towards Tambaram.

The CCTV trail eventually led police to Guduvanchery. A local woman who recognised the female suspect alerted investigators, who searched the rented premises where the couple had reportedly been staying.

Human Remains Found At House

Police recovered more human remains from the house. Shockingly, the body parts were packed inside a large vessel, which is used to prepare biryani. Investigators suspect the remains belong to Hayathun Nisha, a native of Jagatsinghpur in Odisha who worked for a private company in Chennai. Nisha had been staying with Laskar and Majhi before she went missing. Her son had earlier lodged a missing-person complaint.

Police are investigating the circumstances of Nisha's death and the motive. One line of inquiry is that Laskar may have been in a relationship with Nisha and that a dispute arose after she allegedly became pregnant and refused to undergo an abortion. The motive, however, has not been conclusively established.

Laskar is expected to be produced before a local magistrate in Manipur and brought to Chennai after police obtain a transit warrant.

Alavandar Murder Recalled

The present investigation has inevitably revived memories of the Alavandar murder of 1952, one of the most sensational criminal cases of early post-Independence India.

In August that year, an unclaimed steel trunk aboard the Indo-Ceylon Express, popularly known as the Boat Mail, was found to contain a headless male body.

The victim was identified as Alavandar, a businessman and former British Indian Army serviceman, after his severed head was found floating in the sea off Royapuram.

The investigation led to the arrest of Devaki Menon and her husband, Prabhakara Menon.

Also Watch:

Nisha’s Head Still Missing

More than seven decades later, another investigation has begun with a headless body and a train at its centre. But while the Alavandar case was eventually solved after the missing head was recovered, the present case still has one crucial question hanging over it. Where is Nisha’s head?

To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/