A 27-year-old shopkeeper in suburban Nerkundram is suspected to have murdered a 57-year-old woman whose body was found in an ice cream freezer in his grocery shop. While the motive for the crime is yet to be established, the police said the victim’s gold jewellery appeared to have been removed.

The shopkeeper, V. Muthuselvan, had been arrested by the police on March 11 for allegedly trying to snatch a gold chain from another woman and is now in jail.

The incident came to light on Tuesday when neighbours reported a foul smell emanating from the shop. The police said the victim was Jayalakshmi, 57, a housewife from the same neighbourhood who went missing on February 22. Jayalakshmi’s son identified the body.

The police suspects that Muthuselvan murdered the woman the day she went missing and stashed the body in the freezer, hoping to dispose of it later.

“We believe that because he was caught for another crime on March 11, he could not get rid of Jayalakshmi’s body,” an investigating officer said. “On March 11, he asked a 56-year-old woman from the neighbourhood to come to his rented house, which is just behind his shop to help him move a refrigerator. While the woman was pushing the fridge he slashed her with a knife in an attempt to rob her valuables.”

She raised an alarm and neighbours caught him red-handed. He was later arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

The police is yet to question the suspect as he is currently lodged in Puzhal prison. “We have to take him out and question him,” the officer said.