Nearly two weeks after the severed limbs of a woman were found in a dumpyard in Pallikaranai, the police finally identified the woman and arrested her husband for murdering her.

Police identified the victim as Sandhya, 35, a resident of Jafferkhanpet. A native of Thoothukudi, she was a small-time actor and had married Balakrishnan, 51, an assistant director in Kollywood. He had murdered her as he suspected her fidelity, the police said.

According to the police, Balakrishnan hit her with a blunt object after an argument broke out between them on January 19. After she died, he cut her body into five pieces, put them into four gunny bags and disposed them in different places, including the dumpyard in Pallikaranai.

The body parts were found by the staff of Chennai Corporation when they were levelling waste at the dumpyard with an earthmover. The assistant engineer immediately alerted the police. A right hand severed from the shoulder and the lower portion of the two legs, were found in the bag.

A dragon and Siva-Parvati tatoo were found on the hand. The police formed three special teams to crack the case and notices with pictures of the limbs and police contact number were widely circulated.

“Besides, we checked the City, State and National Crime Records Bureaus and also in Bengaluru and Andhra Pradesh for missing persons. We also checked with tattoo artists to know if they knew someone with Siva-Parvati tatoo,” said a senior police officer.

Meanwhile, the police also received a few calls about missing persons. “A call from a woman in Thoothukudi, who claimed that her daughter was missing, matched with this case. Further investigations confirmed that the limbs were that of Sandhya,” the officer said.

Unhappy couple

Police said that Sandhya worked as a junior artiste in Tamil films. She had married Balakrishnan and the couple had two children. “He suspected her fidelity and there were frequent quarrels between the two. They started living separately,” said a police officer.

Balakrishnan had called her to his house in Gandhi Street at Jafferkhanpet to sort out issues, and the police suspect she could have been murdered on January 19. On Wednesday, the police arrested Balakrishnan and based on the information provided by him, they are trying to collect body parts disposed by him after the murder.