Mangalhat police is investigating into the killing of a 45-year old woman, who was smothered to death on Friday at her residence at Old Medipally. Police said that the killer must have been known to the woman, identified as B. Swaroopa, as he or she had entered the second floor of the house and committed the crime in the storeroom by pressing a 50-kg rice bag on the victim’s face.

“We suspect that the murder was committed by someone known to the victim as it took place in the storeroom of the house. She must have gone to the storeroom only with someone she knew,” Mangalhat inspector G. Sridhar said. Swaroopa’s husband, Rajeshwar had died in 1989 and her two daughters, Jyostna and Archana are married. Archana, a software engineer, has been living with her mother since 2010. It was Archana who discovered the murder, after she returned from her job at around 8 pm.

Dog squad and CLUES team were pressed into service, but so far, the cops are still clueless. Mr Sridhar said, “We handed over the body to the family after autopsy. We will start quizzing the family members and neighbours from Sunday.”