Mangaluru police arrested a couple in connection with the gruesome murder of Shreemathi Shetty, whose body parts were found stuffed in gunny bags from different areas in the city.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the motive for the murder was financial. Mangaluru Commissioner Sandeep Patil confirmed that they have arrested Jonas Samson (36) and Victoria Mathias (46), a husband-wife duo who are residents of Attavar in the city.

As per the police, Jonas had borrowed around Rs 1 lakh from Shreemathi Shetty (36) and had repaid a part of the loan. Shreemathi had requested Jonas to pay her back the balance amount of Rs 60,000 at the earliest. "When we went to Jonas' residence to arrest him, he tried to kill himself. We immediately took him to Father Muller Hospital, the doctor has stated that the injuries are not serious. We interrogated his wife Victoria and found that they had borrowed money from Shreemathi," the Commissioner said.

Read: Mangaluru woman murdered, body parts found in two different places

On Saturday, Shreemathi went to the couple’s home to collect her money when she was murdered by them. "On Saturday morning, when Shreemathi came to their residence to collect the remaining money, Jonas and his wife murdered her. They cut up the body into pieces and placed them in three different spots in the night," added Commissioner Sandeep.

Police also stated that they had recovered the items used to dispose the body as well as jewellery worn by Shreemathi from the accused couple. Shreemathi's scooter was found near a garage at Naguri in the city on Monday.

Jewellery worn by Shreemathi recovered from the accused couple

Following the discovery of the body parts on Sunday, the Mangaluru police had formed three teams to investigate the death. The head and limbs were discovered on the roadside on the highway between KPT and Nanthoor in the city, and the torso was found in Nandigudda. On Wednesday morning, a part of her leg was found near Kadri Park. Police officials from Kadri and Pandeshwar stations were investigating the incident.

Shreemathi was a resident of Amar Alva Road in the city and owned an electrical equipment repair shop at Attavar. She is a native of Polali Mangalore and resided with her aunt.

She married a man named Sudeep from Madikeri in 2017 against the wishes of her family. But she had applied for a divorce owing to disagreements. Sudeep is currently in judicial custody for theft and was questioned by the police in connection with the murder.

The day before the body parts were discovered, Shreemathi's family had filed a missing complaint at Pandeshwar police station.