The decomposed body of a 38-year-old local woman BJP leader was found at her residence in Palghar in Maharashtra on Tuesday, a police official said.
Police suspect the victim, Rupali Chavan, a local leader of the BJP's Mahila Morcha who resided in Nallasopara area on outskirts of Mumbai, was killed two days ago.
Some neighbours of Chavan, on noticing a foul stench emanating from her house, alerted police officials who broke open the door and found her dead, the official said.
She had several injuries and burn wounds on her body, he said. "We suspect she was killed by an unidentified person two days back," he said, adding the exact cause of her death would be known after the postmortem.
"We have registered an offence of murder and further investigation is on," he added.
Inspector K G Kolhe of the Nallasopara police station told the media Chavan resided on the first floor of a multi- storey building and her body was found in the afternoon.
According to her neighbours, an attempt was made to dispose of the body by burning it.
One of her friends told the media that on October 5, Chavan went shopping with her. The next day the victim went alone for shopping and called her friend at night. That was the last time they spoke to each other, she said.
For the next two days the woman said she tried to reach Chavan on the phone, but in vain. Finally, she called her father who showed her a message purported to have been sent by the victim stating she was going to Surat for a couple of days, she said.
Doubting the authenticity of the message, the woman said she and her father decided to file a missing person complaint with the police.
But before that they went to Chavan's flat to enquire about her and found it to be locked from outside on Tuesday.
Decomposed Bodies Of Couple Found In Rajasthan, Police Suspects Suicide Woman's Decomposed Body Found Inside Locked Room In Delhi Decomposed Body Of 42-Year-Old Man Found At South Delhi Home: Cops BJP Plans UP Overhaul After Lok Sabha Poll Drubbing: Sources In Massive Row Over Karnataka 100% Quota Bill, Chief Minister Deletes Post "I Divorce You... Your Ex-Wife": Dubai Princess Dumps Husband In Insta Post Mercedes-Benz Wishbox Campaign Launched, Aimed To Reinforce Accessibility All You Need To Know About New UK Government's Key Policy Plans Watch: Land "Taken By Mafia", Farmer Rolls On Floor With Folded Hands Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.