Pune: A 34-year-old woman, who was presumed to be studying in London by her family, was found dead inside a rented apartment in Pune.
Mugdha Avinash Deshmukh, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, had left for London to pursue an MBA but returned to India without informing her family.
Her family was not even aware that she had rented the apartment at the Lodha Belmondo residential complex in Gahunje.
Her father Avinash Deshmukh (60), a retired civic engineer, registered a complaint at the Osmanpura police station in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar after receiving information about Mugdha’s death, as reported by News18.
According to the FIR, Mugdha had gone to London to pursue an MBA in July 2025. Since then, she had maintained regular contact with her family over the phone.
She returned to India in August this year without informing her parents. She had been living in Pune since then, according to the police.
While investigators found no visible injury marks on her body, the post mortem report is awaited. Officials believe it may help them determine the cause of her death.
According to the family, Mugdha made a phone call to her mother on October 23, stating that she was getting late for a job interview. However, from October 24 onwards, they were unable to get through to her over the phone.
The family then reached out to her London-based friend Nikita, who said she had last spoken with Mugdha on October 22, an official told PTI.
Nikita then approached the London Police. On October 26, the London Police informed her that Mugdha had left the United Kingdom in August. Subsequently, Mugdha’s family filed a complaint with the High Commission of India in the UK.
It was when they checked her bank transactions that the facts about her whereabouts were revealed. It was learned that she had made payments to online food platforms, including Swiggy, Zomato, and Blinkit in India between October 8 and 25.
Concerned about her safety, Mugdha’s family lodged a missing persons complaint at the Osmanpura police station.
Based on this complaint, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police began a search and traced Mugdha’s location to the Lodha Belmondo complex in Gahunje, which comes under the jurisdiction of Pimpri Chinchwad police.
“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 of police said.
Neighbours said that she lived to herself and didn’t interact with others. Security guards of the complex said she had few visitors. A woman who worked as a domestic help at her apartment said that Mugdha had paid her full salary a few days ago and asked her not to return as she was leaving.
