A 34-year-old woman, whose family believed she was studying in London, was found dead in a rented apartment in Pune after food delivery transactions alerted her parents that she was in India, news agency Press Trust of India reported on Friday.Mugdha Deshmukh had left for the UK in July 2025 to pursue an MBA but secretly returned to India in August. She was found dead on Thursday, with no visible injury marks, at a residential complex in the Gahunje area of Pimpri Chinchwad, police said.Deshmukh, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, lived alone in London and had taken up part-time jobs, according to police.Her family had remained in contact with her through phone calls and messages.

However, they were unable to reach her on October 24, after which her mobile phone was switched off, her father, Avinash Deshmukh, said in a complaint filed with the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police earlier this week. The family then contacted one of her friends in London, who said she had last exchanged messages with Deshmukh on October 22, an official told PTI.The friend approached the London police to report her missing but was told that Deshmukh had left the UK around the end of August.

Her family then contacted Indian authorities and the Indian High Commission for assistance. Her father examined her bank statements and found several transactions on food delivery and online service platforms between October 8 and 25, police said.One transaction was suspected to have originated in the Osmanpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, leading the family to believe that she could be in India.Concerned about her safety, the family approached the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar crime branch.“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 at Shirgaon Police in Pimpri Chinchwad, told PTI.Chavan said there were no visible injury marks on the body. Samples from her internal organs were preserved to determine the exact cause of death.Police also found that Deshmukh had rented the apartment in April but began living there only after leaving the UK in August, Chavan said.Further investigation is underway.- Ends