Parents thought she was in London, food delivery trail led to her body in Pune flat
MAHARASTRA, OCT 31 : A 34-year-old woman who had left for London to pursue an MBA was found dead in a rented apartment in Pune, months after secretly returning to India without informing her family.
Her parents, who believed she was still in the UK, discovered that she was in India after checking her bank statements and noticing transactions on food delivery and online service platforms.
Mugdha Avinash Deshmukh, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was found dead inside her flat at the Lodha Belmondo residential complex in Gahunje, Pimpri Chinchwad, on Thursday.
Police said there were no visible injury marks on her body and that the exact cause of death was yet to be established.
Deshmukh had moved to the UK in July 2025 to pursue an MBA. However, she returned to India in August this year and had been living in Pune since then without informing her parents, according to police.
HOW FOOD DELIVERY TRANSACTIONS LED FAMILY TO PUNE
Deshmukh’s family had remained in touch with her through phone calls and messages while believing that she was studying in London. However, they were unable to contact her on October 24, after which her mobile phone remained switched off.
Her father, Avinash Deshmukh, subsequently contacted one of her friends in London to find out about her whereabouts.
The friend told the family that she had last exchanged messages with Mugdha on October 22, an official told news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).
The friend approached the London police to report her missing but was informed that Deshmukh had left the UK around the end of August.
The family then contacted Indian authorities and the Indian High Commission for assistance.
Her father also examined her bank statements and found several transactions on food delivery and online service platforms between October 8 and 25.
One transaction was suspected to have originated in the Osmanpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, leading the family to believe that she might have returned to India.
Concerned about her safety, the family approached the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar crime branch, which began tracing her location.
POLICE FIND BODY INSIDE LODHA BELMONDO FLAT
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police traced Deshmukh’s location to the Lodha Belmondo complex in Gahunje and contacted the local police in Pimpri Chinchwad.
“The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police traced Mugdha’s location to the Lodha Belmondo complex in Gahunje. We reached the flat she was residing in, gained entry with the help of a locksmith, and found her dead inside,” Devendra Chavan, senior inspector at Shirgaon Police in Pimpri Chinchwad, told PTI.
Police said the body was found inside the apartment without any visible injury marks. Samples from her internal organs have been preserved to determine the exact cause of death.
According to Chavan, Deshmukh had rented the apartment in April but started living there only after returning from the UK in August.
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Deshmukh’s death and her return to India. The post-mortem examination has not established the cause of death, and further medical examination is expected to help determine what happened.
Investigators are also looking into her movements after she returned from London and the circumstances under which she had been living in Pune without informing her family.
-PTI
