The two accused " advocates-cum-struggling actors " had strangled Meenakshi Thapa and then severed her head from the torso; they dumped the torso in Allahabad and the head on the Allahabad-Varanasi highway

A team of Mumbai police aided by Allahabad cops traced the headless torso of Meenakshi Thapa, a budding Bollywood actress who was abducted on March 30, to a septic tank here, police said yesterday.

The murder accused — Amit Jaiswal and Preeti Sarin —have confessed to killing Thapa lured by ransom.

The duo first befriended Thapa noting her high profile lifestyle and then brought her to Allahabad under the pretext of fixing a meeting with a Bhojpuri producer. Later, she was abducted by Jaiswal and Sarin, police said.

The accused, who have dabbled with some modelling assignments as well, called up Thapa's mother in Dehradun demanding Rs 15 lakh as ransom to let her off. However, the parents could cough up only Rs 60,000. It was then that the duo decided to kill Thapa, police said.

According to police, the duo strangled the actress and then severed her head from the torso. They dumped the torso in a septic tank in the Darbhanga Colony area of the city and the severed head in the Vindhyasani area on the Allahabad-Varanasi highway.

While the torso of Thapa was fished out of the septic tank after the accused led the police team to the area, efforts are on to trace the head of the slain starlet.

Plot of the deadly real life story

Jaiswal and Surin had come to Mumbai last year and were staying in Virar. The two were advocates from Allahabad and were running a coaching class there. The duo had befriended Thapa at a film shoot.

Thapa had told them that she was from a rich family and was working in Bollywood as a hobby. The couple then came up with a plan to kidnap Thapa. The two on March 13, lured Thapa to Allahabad on the pretext of a film shoot.

After killing her in Gorakhpur, they acquired her ATM card and mobile SIM card. The two then made calls to the victim's mother and demanded a ransom. They threatened the family that they would shoot an obscene film of Thapa and then kill her if their demand was not met.

The family had given the kidnappers Rs 60,000 even as cops were on the lookout for the duo. Following a tip-off, they were arrested from Bandra.