A 72-year-old woman was killed and dumped in bushes in south-east Delhi’s Sarita Vihar on November 10, the police said on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as a retired Textile Ministry employee, the police also said.

A senior police officer privy to the case said that the police control room received a call on November 10 regarding a woman’s body, which was lying in the bushes near Sarita Vihar underpass.

“The police reached the spot and found the woman’s body. It appeared that she had been strangulated. There was nothing beside the body that could reveal her identity,” the officer said.

The body was shifted to AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

The officer said that the deceased was identified as Lata on Sunday after her brother who had been looking for her, identified the body.

“The woman was going to meet her brother in Vasant Kunj on November 10. After she did not reach, he started looking for her. He later met a few people and called up some to enquire about his sister’s whereabouts. The police were alerted by human intelligence that a man was searching for his sister. He was then shown the picture of the deceased woman, whom he identified as his sister,” the officer also said.

The police officer also said that the woman was unmarried and lived alone in DDA flats at Taimoor Nagar.

As part of the investigation, the police are scanning CCTV footage of the route taken by Lata from her house to the place where she was found dead.

“It is suspected that she was killed in a robbery attempt. Her brother said she used to wear a gold chain which was found missing,” the officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Chinmoy Biswal confirmed the incident and said that a case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and further investigation in into the matter is under way.