Police in Maharashtra’s Palghar district have arrested a 49-year-old man for allegedly killing his wife two months ago and disposing of the body, an official said on Saturday.

Harish Hippargi was arrested from Nalasopara East, on the outskirts of Mumbai, after police launched a probe following the discovery of a skull in a travel bag in Virar on Friday.

Police said Hippargi, who worked in the imitation jewellery industry, used to live with his wife Utpala (51) and their 22-year-old son. Utpala also had a son from her previous marriage which often led to disputes between the couple.

During one such fight on January 8, Hippargi strangled the woman. He took the body to Virar East, detached the head with a machete and dumped the torso in a drain. He put Utpala’s severed head in a travel bag and abandoned it in a secluded spot near Pirkunda Dargah, said police.

The accused told his son that Utpala had left her hometown in West Bengal, the official said.

After the discovery of a woman’s skull in a travel bag in Virar on Friday, police found a pouch with the name of a jewellery store in Bengal’s 24 Parganas district. Utpala figured in the shop’s list of customers but police found her number had been switched off for the past two months, the official said.

Meanwhile, Hippargi had also switched off his number and changed residence, he said. Working on several inputs, they took him into custody from a building in the Rahmat Nagar area of Nalasopara on Friday night, the official said.

Police are now searching for Utpala’s torso, the official added. 

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