Bhubaneswar, March 10: Police today recovered the body of a woman, aged between 25 and 30 years, stashed away in an iron trunk in Dharangagada forest within Tirtol police limits of Jagatsinghpur district.

The police suspect that the unidentified victim was strangulated to death and the body was later dumped in the forest.

The police said forest range officials spotted the iron trunk yesterday.

"They suspected foul play as bad smell was coming from the box and informed us. We opened the box today in the presence of a magistrate," said a police officer.

The body was wrapped in a cloth with the hands and feet of the woman tied up. She was wearing a shirt and black jeans, but the police did not find any material on her to establish her identity.

"The victim has strangulation marks on her neck. Prima facie, it appears that the murder took place two to three days ago. We cannot rule out sexual assault before the murder yet," said Tirtol police station inspector-in-charge Balaram Nayak.

Nayak said they had sent the body for autopsy and were awaiting the report to ascertain the exact cause of the woman's death.

The police said they were scrutinising missing persons reports in various police stations of the district and adjoining ones to identify the victim. "We suspect the victim was killed at some other place and the body was dumped here. We have registered a murder case and begun a probe," said a police official.