The prime suspect in the alleged murder of 29-year-old Bengaluru woman, H Mahalakshmi Das, has been identified and cops are trying to arrest him. Bengaluru police said that he is an “outsider”.
The woman hailed from Nepal and worked as a salesperson at a shop at a mall. Mahalakshmi was found murdered in her home in Pipeline Road in Vyalikaval. He body was reportedly chopped into nearly 50 pieces and stuffed inside the 165-litre single-door refrigerator that was turned on.
She was staying in the rented apartment alone for the past five months, police said.
“The prime suspect has been identified and efforts are underway to arrest him,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said on Monday.
“He’s an outsider,” the senior cop said, adding that the person is not a native of Karnataka but had been residing in Bengaluru.
“We can’t give more information as of now as it may help the accused,” the police commissioner said.
Is the culprit from West Bengal?
Earlier on Monday, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the police have collected a lot of information regarding the woman’s death and went on to say that the cops suspect a man reportedly from West Bengal to be behind the murder but added that more evidence is needed to confirm his role.
“The police have collected a lot of information, a lot of clues. One individual is also been…kind of they say he is the one. Unless we collect more information we can’t really say. He is from West Bengal they say,” Parameshwara said.
Possible suspect
Police said that there was a man who used to visit her often and picked and dropped her.
Her call record details are being analysed to track down the male friend, who is a prime suspect in the case, a report by The Hindu said.
The police are checking with Mahalakshmi’s workplace and why the management did not try to check on her when she was not reporting to work.
Bengaluru woman’s chopped body stuffed in fridge
The murder came to light when Mahalakshmi’s neighbour complained of a foul smell emanating from the locked house. Following this, the police reached out to the house owner to collect the contact number of the victim’s family member.
The family members then came home and unlocked the door. They were shocked to find body parts cut into several pieces and kept it in the fridge, a police officer said.
The cops suspect the murder could have taken place a fortnight ago as the body was highly decomposed and worms were found in them.
As per The New Indian Express report, Mahalakshmi’s severed legs were stuffed on the top shelf of the refrigerator and the rest of the body parts were in the middle and lower sections.
Mobile switched off since September 2
The police and forensic science laboratory (FSL) team analysing the crime scene recovered Mahalakshmi’s mobile phone, which, as per the cops, was switched off on September 2.
Four special teams have been constituted to probe the case.
The police have also found a blue suitcase and were probing if the culprit wanted to shift the body out of the house.
About the Bengaluru woman murdered, body chopped?
According to a report by The Hindu, Mahalakshmi was married five years ago to one Hemanth Das. The couple has a four-year-old child.
As per the cops, she and her husband had differences and Mahalakshmi left him from Nelamangala and started staying alone in Bengaluru.
She did not communicate much with her neighbours and her husband used to visit her once in a while, police said.
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