Hardoi (UP), Jan 15 (IANS): A tuft of hair and burnt pieces of clothing that blew in with the wind, led a police patrol team to solve a case of murder that had not even been reported.

Hardoi Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi, said, "Suspecting foul play, the strands of hair and pieces of burnt clothes were sent for a forensic examination. We were unsure because the evidence was found on the border of Hardoi-Sitapur and they could have been blown in from the neighbouring district."

In the absence of any missing person's report that could match the profile of the woman as determined by the forensic experts from the recovered items, police went back to traditional ways of probe.

The network of police informers, mentioned the mysterious disappearance of one Afreen, said the SP.

A team got on the case and first traced the family of the missing woman.

"We found her father Amjad, who told us that he had not heard from his daughter for almost five days," said the officer.

The remains were shown to him and he recognised it to be of his daughter's and lodged a case of murder against his son-in-law Sharafat Ali, said the police.

Haryawan SHO Kaushal Kishore Yadav said, "The team picked up Sharafat for questioning who initially tried to fob off the interrogators but soon gave in and spilled the beans."

Yadav said that Sharafat, an auto driver, suspected his wife of infidelity and planned to eliminate her.

"On January 6, he took her on an outing to the city and then strangled her with a stole. He took her body to the thickets on the outskirts, sprinkled fuel from his auto on it and set it afire," said Yadav.

To confuse the probe, Sharafat threw some part of her remains in both districts, some of which landed in the hands of the police patrol team the next day.

Police said that the couple had a two-year-old son and Sharafat was in a relationship with another woman for the last ten years.