The 25-year-old woman found dead in a blue plastic drum near the DMW flyover in Patiala on Tuesday was strangled to death by her boyfriend, police said on Saturday.Patiala superintendent of police (SP) Palwinder Singh Cheema said the accused claimed that Neha had been pressuring him to marry her. (HT)Cracking the case in four days, police arrested the accused, Virat Kashyap, 25, who they said was a widower and father of two children.The accused, identified as Virat Kashyap, allegedly strangled his girlfriend, Neha, to death on the night of May 25 following a heated argument.According to police, the couple, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, had been in a relationship for over a year and lived in the Anaj Mandi area of Patiala. Both lacked stable occupations and took up odd jobs to make ends meet.Detailing the motive behind the crime, Patiala superintendent of police (SP) Palwinder Singh Cheema said the accused claimed that Neha had been pressuring him to marry her. “On May 25, they had an argument, which turned violent. During the altercation, both assaulted each other and he strangled her to death in a fit of rage,” Cheema said.After the murder, Kashyap purchased a blue plastic drum and stuffed her body inside it. He then hired an e-rickshaw and transported the drum to the area near the DMW flyover, where he dumped it under the cover of darkness, said investigators.The body came to light the following morning when a passerby noticed a human hand protruding from the drum and immediately alerted the police. Investigators initially struggled to establish the identity of the deceased and the body remained unidentified for nearly 48 hours.A breakthrough came when the victim’s brother came across news reports and photographs related to the case on social media. He approached the police and identified the deceased as his sister. Investigators said the identification was further aided by distinctive tattoos on the victim’s body. Neha had her name tattooed on one hand and a heart-shaped tattoo bearing the initials “N” and “A” on the other.According to the victim’s family, Neha had married a Dhuri-based man, Arun, around five years ago, but got separated from him a year later.Virat is facing charges under Sections 103 (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The accused will be produced before a court to seek police remand for further interrogation.