16 years later, Hyderabad’s Mehdipatnam suitcase murder remains unsolved

The Mehdipatnam suitcase murder, one of Hyderabad’s most perplexing cold cases, remains unsolved 16 years after a woman’s body was found inside an abandoned suitcase. Despite extensive investigations, forensic analysis and interstate searches, neither the victim nor the perpetrators have been identified

Hyderabad: What began as a routine police response soon evolved into one of Hyderabad’s most baffling unsolved murder mysteries. And 16 years later, the Mehdipatnam suitcase murder remains one of Hyderabad’s most mysterious and haunting unsolved cases.

On the morning of August 3, 2010, Humayun Nagar police received information about an abandoned suitcase lying at the busy Mehdipatnam bus stand, one of the city’s bustling commercial centres.

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With Hyderabad still on high alert following a series of terror attacks, police initially feared the suitcase might contain explosives. The area was immediately cordoned off, and the bomb disposal squad was pressed into service.

Bomb detection experts conducted a thorough examination and, after ruling out the presence of explosives, opened the suitcase only to be confronted with a gruesome discovery.

Inside was the body of a woman, believed to be around 30 years old. Her hands and legs were tied, and her face had been smeared with ink in an apparent attempt to conceal her identity.

A crucial lead came from an auto-rickshaw driver, Ismail Bin Sayeed, who told investigators that he had seen three individuals — two burqa-clad women and a man — arrive in a car and alight near the bus stand.

According to him, the man removed a fern-green Legacy-brand suitcase from the vehicle and left it in front of the bus shelter. Ismail then left the area with a passenger and returned about 30 minutes later, only to find the suitcase still lying there while the trio had vanished.

Forensic experts revealed the woman was murdered nearly three days earlier and that her body had been stored in cold storage for two days.

Multiple special investigation teams were formed to crack the case and officers visited police stations across the State, conducted DNA tests, released sketches of two women suspects, and even travelled to neighbouring Maharashtra in pursuit of leads.

An officer associated with the investigation of the case then, speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, recalled that the victim’s face had been smeared with indelible ink to prevent identification, and her body had been folded into a fetal position to fit inside the suitcase.

With hope of getting some leads, the police also examined footage from surveillance cameras installed near the PVNR Expressway but were unable to identify the white car allegedly used to transport the suitcase.

Despite intensive investigation, neither the identity of the victim nor the perpetrators could be established even 16 years later.