A tailor’s tag on blood-stained clothes and a UPI payment slip helped Odisha Police solve a murder case within 30 hours. A 35-year-old woman was killed crest of her husband and two of his accomplices, officials said on Monday.

The body of the woman was discovered near the Kathajodi riverbed in Cuttack on December 13, but, she couldn’t be identified and neither was there a missing complaint filed for her.

A paper receipt from “New Star Tailors”, stitched into the clothing, offered the first big lead. Initially, police examined tailoring shops with similar names across Odisha, but none matched the design of the receipt.

“This clue was focused upon. Around 10 tailors with this name or similar name in Odisha were verified, and their tag design was compared with the tag of the shirt and pants found at the spot. However, there was no match found. A tailor in Ganjam district informed that such kinds of tags are being used in Gujarat,” Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena said.

Subsequently, the Gujarat Police were contacted and they found one such tailor in Surat. The tailor’s tag had a number ‘3833’ which was matched and upon search, it was seen that the shirt was stitched for one person named ‘Babu’. Upon further questioning, the tailor said that he had to return Rs 100 to the customer ‘Babu’ but he did not have the change and, therefore, he transferred the amount to the e-wallet of a mobile number.

The number belonged to a friend of ‘Babu’. Babu was found to be 27-year-old Jaganath Duhuri, the victim’s brother-in-law.

“It was found that he (Babu) was going back to Surat by train. The train was passing through Rayagada when he was nabbed,” Meena said.

Upon interrogation, Babu confessed to committing the crime along with his brother Balaram Duhuri (the victim’s husband) and cousin Hapi Duhuri. Later, all three were arrested.

Police said that the motive of the crime was a marital dispute between the woman and her husband. Balaram was doubting that the deceased was having an extra-marital affair with someone.