A 30-year-old man, who was the prime suspect in killing 29-year-old Bengaluru woman, Mahalakshmi, and chopping her body into 59 pieces before storing them in a fridge, has allegedly died by suicide in Bhadrak district, Odisha.
The prime suspect in the Bengaluru woman murder case, identified as Mukti Ranjan Ray, allegedly hanged himself from a roadside tree near Bhuinpur, where he lived, fearing arrest, police said.
A massive manhunt was launched by Bengaluru police in Odisha to arrest Ray but they were informed by local cops about his death by suicide.
A bag, notebook, and a scooty (two-wheeler) were recovered by the police from the crime site.
A purported suicide note was found inside the notebook in which he allegedly confessed to killing and dismembering Mahalakshmi’s body into pieces in Bengaluru.
In the suicide note, Ray allegedly stated that he had killed Mahalakshmi and kept chopped pieces of her body in a fridge.
‘Ended life fearing arrest’
A report by Times of India quoted Bhadrak SP Varun Guntupalli as saying that the cops “strongly” suspect that Ray ended his life “fearing arrest” in connection with the Bengaluru murder.
“Bengaluru police had been closing in on the suspect in Bhadrak and Balasore districts for the last three days. We extended all necessary assistance to them,” Guntupalli said.
“The Odisha Police have already registered an unnatural death case. Based on the suicide note, the Bengaluru police have confirmed he is the accused in the gruesome murder case,” a report by The Indian Express quoted Odisha’s Additional Director General, Law and Order, Sanjay Kumar, as saying.
When asked if the Odisha police have handed over the purported suicide note to the Bengaluru police, Kumar said it’s now a court document. “The Bengaluru police have to submit a requisition first and take permission of the court, following which we will hand over the suicide note,” the senior police officer said.
How Ray & Mahalakshmi met
As per police, Ray, who was a resident of Dhusuri area, used to work in a clothing store in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram in the same mall where Mahalakshmi worked as a team leader with a costume outlet.
The cops further informed that Mahalakshmi and Ray had been friends since 2023.
Mahalakshi was married to Hemant Das for six years and the couple has a daughter. They started living separately about nine months ago due to domestic disputes.
Recently, Das claimed that Mahalakshmi had an extra marital affair with Ashraf from Uttarakhand who could be behind her murder.
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How Bengaluru Police got to know about Ray’s death
As part of investigation, the Bengaluru Police questioned several people associated with Mahalakshmi, including her colleagues, when they found Ray missing from his residence in the city.
The cops then contacted his brother, who revealed that Ray had called him over the phone and confessed to the murder, Indian Express report said.
He further told the police that he had asked Ray to leave Karnataka. Cops further said that Ray called his brother from West Bengal and that was his last location.
The Bengaluru Police team, on reaching Bengaluru, had detained Ray’s brother.
According to a report by India Today, the cops got to know about Ray’s alleged suicide after Odisha Police called his brother to inform him about brother. He later told Bengaluru Police about his death.
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50 body pieces, foul smell: How shocking murder of Bengaluru woman found inside refrigerator unravels
A report by ToI quoted police sources as saying that Ray’s family members claimed he arrived in Bhadrak on September 24. He left home early in the morning and after a few hours, he was found hanging from a tree, a few hundred meters from his home.
The maggot-infested body of Mahalakshmi was found chopped into 59 pieces in a single-door refrigerator in her one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru’s Vyalikaval area on September 21.
With inputs from agencies.
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