SINGAPORE — After they allegedly killed Indian national Jasvinder Kaur, 33, in a Balestier Road dormitory where she and her husband were staying, Gursharan Singh and another unidentified man were believed to have carried the decapitated body in a bag as they walked about 1km — past budget hotels, HDB blocks and Hong Wen Primary School, crossing an expressway via an overhead bridge in the process — to dump the body in Sungei Whampoa. They then sat down on a nearby bench to talk before parting ways.

Gursharan, a forklift driver on an S Pass, was arrested on Wednesday and charged yesterday with murder. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

His friend — Jasvinder’s husband Harvinder Singh, 33 — is wanted by the police to assist in investigations. Both Gursharan and Harvinder are Indian nationals.

Yesterday, the police took Gursharan, 25, to the scene where Jasvinder’s headless body — which was in a black trash bag — was spotted floating in the canal on the morning of Dec 12.

Curious onlookers gathered as he led the police officers along the route he took. At certain points, Gursharan, who mainly kept his head bowed, stopped and gestured as he answered questions from the investigators. The session lasted about 1.5 hours before he was taken away into a police vehicle.

The hands of the headless body were severed at the wrist and the police have yet to find the missing body parts. No weapons have been discovered so far. The murder allegedly took place sometime between 10pm on Dec 10 and 7.33am on Dec 12.

Based on immigration records, Harvinder crossed the Woodlands checkpoint and entered Malaysia at about 7am on Dec 12, half an hour before the police received a call about the gruesome find.

Tenants at the Balestier Road dormitory told TODAY the couple only just moved in earlier this month. One of the tenants, who wished to be known only as Mr Zhuo, said he had heard fierce arguments between the couple at least two to three times, usually after midnight and each lasting about 30 to 40 minutes. “I could hear loud quarrels, followed by sounds of someone being beaten and the wife’s crying after that,” he said. But things would be fine between the couple the next morning, he added.

Mr Zhuo, a construction worker from China, said that after the last argument, which happened in the wee hours of the night, he bumped into Harvinder the next morning at about 6am in the corridor.

Harvinder, who was carrying a luggage and a white trash bag, was outside his room and appeared flustered, said Mr Zhuo, who stays in the opposite room. When asked where he was going, Harvinder said he was leaving for Malaysia for a day, Mr Zhuo said.

Mr Zhuo said he has shared the information with the police. He added that after he knew about what happened, he “could not sleep the entire night” in his room. “I’ve now moved to another room to sleep,” he said.

The police have sought the assistance of their counterparts in neighbouring countries to trace Harvinder’s whereabouts.

Harvinder, who works as a senior logistics coordinator, came to Singapore in February on an Employment Pass. His wife arrived here on a Dependant’s Pass in September. At the Mythilis Salon and Beauty Parlour along Serangoon Road where she used to work, customers and people working in the area said they did not know her well.

The police are appealing for anyone with information on Harvinder to contact them at 1800 255 0000 or submit the information online at http://www.spf.gov.sg/CrimeStopper. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TIARA HAMARIAN