The Bengaluru police have arrested a 33-year-old man for killing a woman whose body was found in a garbage truck early on Sunday. The man, Shamsuddin from Assam, was the woman’s live-in partner. Police arrested him within 20 hours of finding the body.

According to South Division DCP Lokesh B Jagalasar, residents found the body around 2 am in the ST Bed Layout area of Koramangala and informed the police. The police quickly filed a murder case. The woman has been identified as 40-year-old Asha, who was from Hulimavu in south Bengaluru. Asha was a widow and had been in a relationship with Shamsuddin for about one and a half years. They started living together four months ago and pretended to be a married couple.

Both Asha and Shamsuddin worked at the same housekeeping materials company near Hulimavu, where they first met. According to police sources, Asha and Shamsuddin’s relationship had recently become troubled because they often argued. Asha reportedly had problems with alcohol and would make late-night phone calls, which caused more fights.

On the night of the incident, Shamsuddin came home drunk. They started fighting, and in anger, he allegedly strangled Asha to death. Police said he then put her body in a bag, carried it on his bike for almost 20 km, and dumped it into a BBMP garbage truck near a popular skating arena before running away. The body was found in the back of the truck, with her legs tied to her neck. At first, it was thought the woman was between 25 and 30 years old and might have been sexually assaulted. She was wearing a private company T-shirt and pants but no undergarments.

Police used CCTV footage from the house and nearby roads to identify Shamsuddin. They tracked down the bike seen in the footage and arrested him. He is now being questioned. Shamsuddin is from Assam and is already married with children there. Police said the investigation is still going on.