Handbag hunt after Indian's murder

London: London police are looking for the missing handbag of a young Indian woman who they believe was murdered on her way to work on a dark winter morning two weeks ago. The police have released a CCTV image of Pardeep Kaur, 30, returning home from work on the evening before she disappeared. Pardeep, who walked to work from her home in Harlington, west London, to a nearby hotel, was first reported missing at 8pm on October 17 after she failed to return home that night. Police immediately began a "missing person investigation", which was taken over quickly by the "homicide and major crime command". On October 22, shortly after 4.30pm, detectives discovered the body of a woman concealed on waste ground under the Harlington High Street flyover in Hayes. Pardeep was formally identified on October 26. A post-mortem examination had been carried out on October 25 but the police say the cause of death is "inconclusive" and the results of further tests are awaited. Most women in the Punjabi community go out to work, often doing early morning shifts at hotels or at Heathrow airport. The prospect of a killer on the loose is causing a great deal of alarm. Two men, aged 30 and 31, were arrested on October 19 in connection with Pardeep's disappearance. They have received bail, pending further inquires, till a date in early December. Detective chief inspector Mark Lawson, who is leading the investigation, said: "One line of enquiry that my team is progressing... is that Pardeep was attacked by a stranger on her way to work that morning." He noted that the body had been concealed on waste ground "very near to the route we know she took to work". He issued an appeal to people who were out in the Carlton Avenue and Bedwell Gardens area at about 6.30am on Monday, October 17: "Did you see Pardeep on her journey, or see someone following her?" Detective inspector Jamie Stevenson said that Pardeep had left her home at about 6.10am. With winter setting in, it would have been pitch black at the time. "We have carried out extensive CCTV and house to house enquiries piecing together information about Pardeep's last known movements. We know that she never arrived at work," Stevenson said. "We are releasing a CCTV still showing Pardeep on her way home from work on Sunday, 16 October ---- the day before she went missing. It shows her wearing the same clothing and carrying the same handbag that she had on the morning she went missing." He emphasised: "We have yet to find Pardeep's handbag -- it was a black shoulder bag -- and I would like to hear from anyone who has found a discarded handbag matching that description abandoned in the street or in their garden." Chief superintendent Colin Wingrove, in charge of policing in Hillingdon, said extra officers were patrolling around the Pinkwell and Harlington areas and those patrols would continue. "I can understand why such an unusual crime may cause concern within our community," he added.