Overview

• Kanpur police detained Suraj Kumar Uttam and his friend Ashish Kumar after a two-month probe into the disappearance of 20-year-old Akansha.
• Investigators allege Uttam strangled Akansha on July 21 during a dispute and, with Ashish’s help, packed her body into a black suitcase.
• Police say the pair carried the suitcase by motorcycle about 100 km to Banda and dumped it near Chillaghat on the Yamuna.
• Officers recovered a riverbank image of the suitcase from Uttam’s phone, which they say he had posted as a WhatsApp status, along with corroborating call-location data.
• A coordinated search of the Yamuna is underway to locate the suitcase and body, as police pursue forensic recovery and proceed with a murder case.