A doctor in Hanoi has been suspected of throwing the body of a woman who died after a cosmetic surgery at his own beauty salon into a river, local police said.   

Nguyen Manh Tuong, 40, owner of Cat Tuong beauty salon located on Hai Ba Trung district, was arrested on Tuesday on murder charges.

Besides running the salon, Tuong works for the state-owned Bach Mai hospital in the Vietnam's capital.

Police in Hanoi held a press conference the same day during which Colonel Giap Van Duong, chief of the Hanoi Criminal Investigation Department, revealed many details of the murder.

According to the senior police officer, Huyen, the victim, came to Cat Tuong beauty salon to undergo a breast implant surgery on Saturday morning (Oct. 19). She was anesthetized by three nurses including Le Ngoc Van, Bui Thi Hoa, and Thu before being operated on by Tuong.

After the surgery, Huyen had difficulty breathing and even started foaming at the mouth. The nurses injected her with some unidentified medicine. But her body later turned blue. Tuong then gave her oxygen and other emergency treatment but failed to save her life.

To cover up the crime, Tuong instructed his employee Dao Quang Khanh, a security guard at his salon, to leave Huyen's scooter on Co Linh street in Long Bien district’s Thach Ban ward which is far away from his salon. The duo later transported Huyen’s body into Tuong’s car to Thanh Tri Bridge and threw it into Hong (Red) River.

Colonel Duong added that at 23pm on October 19, Vu Van Tuan, a resident in Thach Ban ward, found the victim’s bike and handbag. Tuan found two ATM cards, one cell-phone, and an ID card named Le Thi Thanh Huyen in her handbag.

Tuan contacted Huyen’s husband using the victim’s cell-phone to inform him of the case.

Huy, her husband, told investigators that Huyen left home at 8:45am on October 19. After receiving the phone call from Tuan, Huy and other family members managed to look for her everywhere but did not succeed in so they reported her missing to local police.  

Initial investigations found that Huyen told her co-workers at a travel firm based in Hanoi that she wanted to undergo a cosmetic surgery to increase the size of her breasts.

According to some reports, Huy also found a receipt issued by Cat Tuong beauty salon in his wife’s clothes. And based on this tip, local police summoned Tuong and his employees for questioning. Tuong later confessed to police that he threw Huyen's body into the river to destroy the traces of crime.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, chief inspector of the Hanoi Health Department, told Tuoi Tre on Tuesday that Cat Tuong beauty salon offered many cosmetic services which were not licensed by authorities and charged from VND30 to 60 million (US$1,442 to $2,845) each.

As of 7pm on Oct. 22, police announced they have just arrested security guard Dao Quang Khanh, Dr. Tuong’s accomplice in the murder. Before that, police issued a warrant for the arrest of Khanh and summoned 15 employees at Cat Tuong salon to determine whether or not they are involved into the case.