Cuttack: Mystery continues to shroud the identity of a woman three months after her body was found in a gunny bag near Government Press High School in Madhupatna police limits.

Though the chemical report has concluded that it was a case of poisoning, the police have neither been able to identify the body nor understand clearly the circumstances in which the woman had been poisoned.

The police had retrieved the body on March 12 after local residents complained of foul smell emanating from an abandoned gunny bag near a field close to the school.

They had registered a case of unnatural death and sent the viscera of the body to the State Forensic Laboratory (SFL).

The chemical report was received a week ago.

Assistant commissioner of police Anil Mishra said the report had helped ascertain that the death was caused by poisoning.

"In the course of the investigation, we circulated photographs, but no one has come forward so far. As a result, we still do not have a clue about the identity of the woman," Mishra said.

"When someone comes forward to claim relationship with the woman, we can go for DNA profiling to confirm her identity."

The police said the post-mortem report by SCB Medical College and Hospital's forensic and toxicology department had indicated that the woman had died more than 72 hours before her body was found. She had lost all her teeth, so could have been over 70 years old.

As no injury was found on the body and nothing suggestive of the cause of death was found, the post-mortem report had reserved opinion till the chemical report was available.

The chemical report had clearly indicated that the woman had died after consuming a poisonous substance along with food.

But the police have no clue if the woman had committed suicide by poisoning herself or the poison was administered.

"If it was a suicide, then we will have to find out who abandoned her body in the bag," a police officer said.