Man arrested for killing air hostess found dead in Mumbai police custody

The accused, Vikram Athwal, was found hanging using a pair of pants as a noose inside the toilet of Andheri police station, according to reports.

Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

Rupal, a trainee air hostess, was found dead at her apartment in Mumbai's suburban Andheri on Sunday night.

She moved to Mumbai from Chhattisgarh this April after landing a job with Air India and lived with her sister and her boyfriend, who had gone home a few days ago.

Her family reached out to her friends when she did not receive any calls on Sunday.

The friends went to the apartment, found it locked from the inside, and informed the police.

The police broke into the apartment and found Rupal lying in a pool of blood.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

A dozen police teams then traced and arrested the main accused in the case - Vikram Atwal, who worked as a sweeper in the housing society.

During the interrogation, the police recovered a knife allegedly used by him to kill Rupal along with the clothes he was wearing at the time of the crime.

According to police, Vikram Athwal was married and had two daughters.

Vikram and Rupal reportedly argued over petty issues and as per preliminary investigation, he entered the latter's flat under the pretext of picking up a garbage bag and cleaning the commode and then murdered her.