After a foul smell started emanating from the first floor of the house where the deceased, Mahesh Gupta, lived with his wife, Gagandeep Kaur, the police were informed. When the police broke the door lock, the man's decomposed body was found inside.

"The two students who lived in another part of the house informed me that there were a lot of flies on the window outside Mahesh Gupta's house and that they could not sleep the whole night because of a bad odour. We informed his relatives and the police," the deceased's landlord said.

Mahesh, who ran a Desk Top Publishing business from his house, and his wife had shifted to Sector 11 on July 17. The two had come to Chandigarh after their marriage on May 3 this year. On Saturday, after the two quarrelled, Gagandeep had gone to the house of Mahesh's uncle, Dinesh Goel, who lived a couple of streets away, police said.

The woman had since been being staying there. SSP C.S.R. Reddy said a dagger with a nine-inch long blade was also found besides the body. Interestingly enough, the door was locked from outside and both keys to the lock were found inside the house, he added. "The woman, in a statement, said that it was common practice that whenever she went out while her husband was working, she would lock the door and slide the key inside. The day they had a fight, she had done the same," Reddy said. However, the police weren't sure of more duplicate keys.

Reddy said the woman admitted that she and her husband had been smack addicts and while she had quit, she was helping her husband to get rid of the habit. "According to her statement, on Saturday, they quarrelled after he had sold off a stereo system. She said he threatened to kill her and himself. After that, she went to his uncle's house," the SSP said.

Dinesh Goel confirmed that Gagandeep had been staying at his house since Saturday. "We expected that Happy (Mahesh) had gone out of station. On Saturday, I sent my son to his house twice. The door was locked and no one responded to the door call. After that, his wife would go and check up everyday. We thought he was still away," Goel said. He alleged his nephew had been murdered: "Happy and his wife were not on good terms and he suspected that she had relations with someone else. It is cent per cent murder."

Though the police have not registered a case, they are exploring two possibilities -- self-stabbing and murder. "Our line of action will depend on reports from various quarters and the opinion of doctors whether the injuries were self-inflicted. Investigations are on and we will register a case of murder, if required," Reddy said.