Mumbai, Aug. 9: A 25-year-old lawyer with roots in Bengal and whose father is an IAS officer who once served in Calcutta was today found murdered in her rented central Mumbai apartment, police said.

Late tonight, sources said Sajid Pathan, a security guard at Himalayan Heights in Vadala where Pallavi Purkayastha lived with friend Avik Sengupta, had been detained in connection with the murder.

The sources said they were also probing the role of an electrician who had fixed the connection after power had gone off in the flat last night.

Officials said Pallavi was a manager, legal affairs, at production house Excel Entertainment. Pallavi’s father Atanu, an IAS officer posted in Delhi, and her mother, also a central government official, have reached Mumbai.

Investigators said Sengupta, 26, who is also a lawyer, told them he found the door of their 16th-floor apartment ajar when he returned from work at 5.30 this morning. On entering, he found Pallavi lying in a pool of blood with her throat slit.

Sengupta, who is from Jamshedpur, is an associate with a corporate law firm, and conference calls with international clients often keep him out till late.

According to police sources, Sengupta said Pallavi had called him up many times after the electricity connection to their flat went off last night. She also made calls to the security guards, after which the electrician fixed the connection.

The sources said Pathan allegedly misbehaved with her and killed her in a fit of rage.

Pallavi had studied in the same law college as Sengupta in Pune.“They had been living together since last year and, according to the statement given by Sengupta, they were to get married soon,” ACP Praveen Salunkhe said.

Pallavi’s father Atanu, a 1983-batch IAS officer who opted for central deputation in February 2009, is a joint secretary in the agriculture department. Before that he held several positions in Bengal, including the post of secretary in the agriculture, minority affairs and disaster management departments.