In yet another shocking incident, the body of a 45-year old woman was found inside a locked house here on Saturday, police said.
The victim has been identified as Nagarathinamma (45), who was involved in lending money for interest to people in her locality.
The matter came to light after some residents, who grew suspicious as the house of Nagarathinamma remained closed from outside for the past few days and foul smell emanated from it, alerted the police.
A police team, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Gopi, broke open the door, found the body of Nagarathinamma under the cot. The body was partly in decomposed state.
Police suspect that the culprits might have strangulated her to death two days ago. The cupboard in the house was ransacked. Some liquor bottles and food packets were found at the house.
Nagarathinamma, who sold her property some time ago recently, was living alone in the rented house near the Sipcot industrial estate in Hosur, as her husband Munikrishnan and son died some time ago and her daughter was living in Karnataka after marriage.
During preliminary enquiries, it came to light that a few men used to visit her frequently. Neighbours also informed about a person who regularly used to visit her house in a car. The body has been sent to Hosur GH for postmortem. Other evidences have been sent to the forensic laboratory. Forensic experts have lifted fingerprints from the crime spot.
Murder incidents are on the rise in Hosur in recent times. In 2012 alone, Hosur sub-division registered 19 murder cases. The sub-division comprises police stations in Hosur town, Sipcot, Hudco, Bagalur, Berigai, Mathigiri and Soolagiri. However the police has resolved all the murder cases in 2012.