Monika Ghurde was found murdered in her Goa home, police have said. (File)
Banking on a few leads, Goa Police has sent teams to neighbouring states to nab the absconding accused in the murder case of high-profile perfume specialist Monica Ghurde.
"We will be able to crack this case soon. We are working on different theories. Yesterday, we have sent teams to different locations including neighbouring states," Deputy Inspector General of Police Vimal Gupta told Press Trust of India today.
The 39-year-old photographer-turned perfumer was found dead in her rented flat in posh Sangolda village on October 6.
Police suspect that she was raped and murdered somewhere between October 5 afternoon and night, as she had not been in touch with anyone since that time.
The cops are ruling out robbery as nothing was missing from the flat raising suspicions that the killer might have been known to Ms Ghurde.
Mr Gupta said the woman originally from Nagpur and was married to a photographer Bharat Ramamrutam from Tamil Nadu and was living in Porvorim near Panaji before she separated from her husband and shifted to Sangolda this year.
"Police investigations have revealed that she had shifted to Sangolda in July this year and was staying alone," the DIG said.
He said the police are waiting the postmortem report, which would reveal the exact cause of death.
Mr Gupta said the murder came to light when the maid who came around 9 am on October 6 found that the door was locked.
When Ms Ghurde did not open it despite repeated knocks she raised an alarm.
"The maid later informed Monica's brother (Anand, based in Mumbai) who in turn called her husband (Bharat) and then her neighbour, an American woman who had spare keys following which the door was opened and the body was found," he said. A case has been registered under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The perfumer, who was a regular on Goa's social circuit is said to have met Mr Ramamrutham in Mumbai while she was a photographer. She had done her photography course from Mumbai's JJ Institute of Applied Arts.
Subsequently, she moved to Chennai in 2009 to pursue her interest in perfumes, and later shifted to Goa in 2011. Ms Ghurde had set up her perfume-making company Mo Lab, and was also researching perfumery. She collaborated with eminent designers such as Jean Francois Lesage, Christian Louboutin and Anand Kabra.