Mumbai: In a late-night operation on Thursday, Jodhpur police, with the help of Mumbai police, arrested the main suspect in the brutal murder of a 50-year-old beauty parlor owner late last month. According to police officials, the suspect Ghulamuddin Farooqui was hiding in Mumbai for the last 10 days and was finally caught near the Maratha Mandir cinema hall in Central Mumbai.

Police will now send Farooqui back to Jodhpur, where he will be thoroughly interrogated to establish the motive behind the murder and clarify the roles of other potential suspects, officers said.

According to police, Anita Chaudhary, a 50-year-old beautician from Jodhpur, went missing on October 27. She was last seen boarding a rickshaw around 2:30 pm, leaving the beauty parlor before meeting Farooqui. CCTV footage confirmed their encounter and they were subsequently seen walking together. When Chaudhary did not return home, her husband Manmohan Choudhary reported her missing to Sardarpura police station.

On October 30, authorities found Anita’s dismembered body, cut into six pieces, buried near Farooqui’s house. During interrogation, Farooqui’s wife Abida revealed that her husband had drugged and killed Anita, then dismembered her body using a cutter and buried it near their house. Manmohan Chaudhary filed a murder case against both Farooqui and Abida, raising concerns of possible sexual assault.

“When Jodhpur police questioned Farooqui’s wife Abida, Abida told them that her husband Ghulamuddin had called Anita to his house and gave her a juice mixed with sedatives,” said a police officer. “He had killed her when he felt sleepy, cut her body into six pieces, and dumped the body after digging a hole near their home.” Abida was arrested for allegedly being involved in the incident because he was at home when the murder was committed.

A senior police officer said Farooqui escaped from Jodhpur on October 29 by traveling to Ahmedabad by bus. Police, who tracked his movements through CCTV footage, later discovered that he had boarded a train to Mumbai. As a result, a Jodhpur police team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner Nishant Bhardwaj coordinated with the Vice Road police to locate and take Farooqui into custody after an extensive search.

“He had grown a beard, cut his hair and was staying in a hostel in Mumbai Central. Later, the Rajasthan police came to us to trace him. They had been staying in the city for the last six days and could not find him. We started tracking him, tracked him down and handed him over to the Sardarpura police team,” said the police officer.

“Prima facie, police suspect that the murder was committed with the aim of stealing Chaudhary’s jewellery. “However, everything will become clear during the detailed interrogation of the suspect,” he said.

Preliminary investigation suggested that Ghulamuddin was addicted to gambling and had debts of over $200 million. ₹12 lakhs. He had known Anita for 25 years; They both had stores in Jodhpur’s Sardarpura market.

The gruesome nature of the murder sparked public outrage in Jodhpur, leading to protests by community members under the banner of Sarv Samaj Sangharsh Samiti. On Friday, community leaders and supporters gathered for a symbolic protest near the Rajiv Gandhi statue in Nai Sadak, demanding a CBI probe. Their demands include the arrest of everyone involved, a government job for one of Anita’s dependents, and compensation for her family. The committee’s convener, Hanuman Singh Khangta, claimed that Anita’s murder was a premeditated conspiracy, as evidenced by the brutal mutilation of her body.