The deceased, identified by police as Thangamani, from Balaji Colony in Thathanur in Mettupatti, had gone missing on August 22. She was working as a maid at a house in Hasthampatti.

The brutal murder came to light on Monday, when Ramesh (62), a temple priest from Gunabalaramasamy Street in Arisipalayam, noticed an unbearable smell in the water coming through the tap of his house. He had returned home on Sunday night from a spiritual tour to Kumbakonam along with his wife Jumunarani and son Gautham.

Ramesh, with the help of his son, opened the lid of the Sintex tank and found a sack. “He was shocked to find severed hands and legs in a decomposed state. In another tank, nearby, he took out a sack, which had the severed head of a woman. On the terrace of a neighbour, there was another sack which had the chopped body of the woman. In all, the assailants had chopped the woman into seven parts and packed them in sacks to be thrown into the tanks,” police said.

On receiving information, the Pallapatti police rushed to the spot and traced the identity of the woman through a missing complaint with the Hasthampatti police station. After scrutinising the CCTV footage in the neighbourhood, police secured a man, working as a cook, for inquiry. Further investigations are on.