Police Identify Slaughtered Man Using Tattoo On Chopped Off Arm

A man whose body parts were found dumped in India's Maharashtra state last week has been identified by authorities thanks to a tattoo on his chopped arm, which led to his alleged killer's arrest, a senior official said Thursday.

The body parts of 30-year-old Ravindra Ramesh Mandotiya were found inside a plastic bag in the Vashi APMC area of Navi Mumbai Sunday, newspaper The Times of India reported, citing Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh.

Mandotiya was allegedly killed by 27-year-old Sumitkumar Harishkumar Chouhan over a monetary dispute on Sept. 9 and was chopped up before being placed in a plastic bag and dumped.

Police were initially unable to identify the remains, which lacked some parts such as the head, and could only work with the name "Ravindra" and a tattoo of the Hindu god Lord Hanuman on one of the chopped arms.

"It was a challenging case. Several police teams were formed to identify the victim, to trace the accused and [to] find the remaining body parts," the police commissioner said.

Teams were sent to the cities of Thane, Raigad, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to probe the case, and the details of around 100 missing people under the Navi Mumbai police commissionerate were analyzed.

"During the probe, the police came to know that one Ravindra Mandotiya, a sweeper, has gone missing from his house and a complaint had been registered in this regard at Koparkhairne police station," Singh said.

"His family members were called to identify the victim, and the chopped arm with the tattoo was shown to them. They confirmed that the body parts were that of Mandotiya," he explained.

Police arrested Chouhan Tuesday after they worked on several leads and reviewed CCTV footage, among other things, according to Singh.

"During his interrogation, Chouhan told the police there was a monetary dispute between him and the victim. As part of his plan to eliminate Mandotiya, Chouhan slit his throat on Sept. 9 and later cut his body into several pieces," the commissioner said. "He packed these parts in a plastic bag and dumped in the APMC area, while the head and some other parts were buried in Mahape area."

Police were able to recover the remaining body parts.

Chouhan appeared before a local court, which remanded him into police custody until Wednesday.

Authorities are still trying to determine if other persons were involved in the crime, Vashi division's Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinayak Vast told the media.