In a shocking incident a 71-year-old retired army doctor in Bhubaneswar hacked his wife to death and then chopped her body into around 300 pieces, each as small as six inches.Retired Lt. Col. Dr. Somnath Parida (71) was arrested by police on Friday night from his posh IRC Village residence. The police found the body parts of his 62-year-old wife, Ushashri in a trunk in the house which was stinking badly. The doctor was sleeping with airconditioner running full blast at the time of the raid. The cause of the murder remains a mystery.Police said that the body parts dipped in preservatives had been wrapped in polythene bags some of which were placed in casseroles. Forensic officer, Achyutanand Baliarsingh, who visited the spot for examination of evidence, said that lung bones of the victim had been preserved with chemicals and kept in a plastic bag in the bathroom.Police also seized a chopper, knife and two cutters from the spot. The doctor, who had been trying to fend off relatives for the past few days, is said to have confessed to the crime saying that he killed Ushashri on June 3.The couple had a son who lives in the US and a daughter based in Dubai. The doctor, according to one of his relatives, was short tempered and flared up at the slightest provocation. His brother-in-law Ranjan Samal, however, refused to speculate on the motive behind the crime. " I have never seen them quarreling. I can't guess what happened," he said.The suspicion of the relatives was aroused when Ushashri did not respond to the phone calls of her son from the US. While her mobile phone was in a constant switch-off mode, there was no response from Somnath either. Left with no option the son called Samal who happens to be Ushashri's brother and lives in Bhubaneswar. He requested his uncle to visit his parents.When Samal and other relatives reached Somnath's residence on Friday evening, he did not let them enter the house and tried to fend them off saying that Ushashi had gone to Dubai where their daughter lived. But the relative smelled a rat and what further confirmed their suspicion was the foul smell emanating from the house.Left with no option they lodged a complaint with the Nayapalli police station which raided the house at night. Police had to enter the house by breaking open the door as the doctor did not respond to their persistent knocking. Somnath broke down under interrogation and confessed to his crime. With his help the police recovered the trunk containing the body parts of Ushashri and other incriminating evidence from the spot. The doctor was immediately taken into custody.