Bengaluru fridge horror: Was Mahalakshmi's killer inspired by Shraddha Walkar murder case?

Bengaluru murder case: On September 25, the accused Mukti Ranjan Roy was found hanging from a tree in Bhadrak, Odisha, near his hometown.

Bengaluru murder case: The striking similarities between the murders of Shraddha Walkar in Delhi and Mahalakshmi in Bengaluru have raised police suspicions that the prime accused, Mukti Ranjan Roy, might have been influenced by the Walkar case after watching videos on social media that reenacted the Delhi crime, News18 reported.

Mahalakshmi's body, cut into 59 pieces, was stuffed in a refrigerator, the police said.

Shraddha Walkar, who was in a live-in relationship with the accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala, was allegedly strangled by Poonawala on May 18, 2022. According to the 6,629-page chargesheet filed by Delhi Police in January last year, Aaftab Poonawala allegedly dismembered her body, kept it in a fridge, and disposed the pieces in desolate places across the city over several days to avoid getting caught. The body parts were discovered later.

The body of Mahalakshmi, 29, was chopped into 59 pieces with her remains stuffed in a fridge for 18 days bears resemblance to the case of Shraddha Walkar.

The accused, identified as Muktiranjan Pratap Ray (31), was found dead under the Dhusuri Police Station limits in Bhadrak district of Odisha.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar said in Bengaluru that the man was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday morning. In a purported suicide note found from the spot, he has confessed to the crime, according to Odisha police.

According to police in Bengaluru, the suspect and the woman were working in a garment shop where they met and become friends. The two were in a relationship.

Mahalakshmi was allegedly pressuring him to marry her. This led to constant arguments between them and led to an altercation. Apparently irked over this, the accused, who is allegedly very short-tempered, killed Mahalakshmi and later dismembered her body, police said, citing preliminary investigation.

News18 reported that Mukti Ranjan Pratap Roy spent the entire night, after the murder, with Mahalakshmi's body, contemplating how to dispose of it.

The report also suggested that he may have drawn inspiration from the Shraddha Walkar case, leading him to dismember the body with a sharp cleaver knife, stuff it in the fridge, and flee the crime scene.

Investigations indicated that the murder occurred between September 3 and 4.

More details on what led to the murder

Mukti Ranjan Pratap Roy, a 31-year-old man from Odisha, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Mahalakshmi, whose body was discovered on September 21.

Mukti Ranjan and Mahalakshmi were reportedly involved in a tumultuous relationship for nearly six months, frequently engaging in arguments and physical fights, with some disputes spilling out into the street just outside her home in Vyalikaval, according to local police sources cited by News18.

Complaints about their altercations were filed at the Malleshwaram police station, and, as an official explained, attempts were made to resolve the issues amicably.

He had discussed her aggressive behaviour and the photographs on her mobile phone with his younger brother, Smriti Ranjan Roy, who resided in Bengaluru. On the night of September 3, Mukti Ranjan allegedly went to Mahalakshmi's home, where they had yet another argument, triggered by her pressure for him to marry her.

Mahalakshmi was previously married to Hemanth and had a young daughter from that marriage. The couple had separated in September 2023 after suspicions arose regarding her affair with a man named Ashraf, whom her husband cited as the reason for their breakup in his police statement.

Mukti Ranjan, aware of her previous marriage, also suspected her of having other affairs and declined to marry her. He had previously seen pictures of other men on Mahalakshmi’s phone, which upset him.

Police say Mahalakshmi was known to be ‘hot-tempered’

According to the police, Mahalakshmi was known to have a “hot-tempered” personality, and there had been complaints of physical assaults from both sides filed with the local authorities.

A similar case was registered by her estranged husband, Hemanth, at the Nelamangala police station, where he reported that she had bitten him during an argument and demanded money, according to investigators on the case.

On that tragic night, following a heated argument, Mukti Ranjan Roy reportedly lost his temper. After assaulting Mahalakshmi, which led to her death, a furious Mukti Ranjan allegedly remained with her body throughout the night, contemplating how to dispose of it. The police suspect that it was during this time that he watched videos on methods for body disposal.

Mukti Ranjan purchased a knife to cut Mahalakshmi's body

On September 4 at 11 am, CCTV footage confirmed that Mukti Ranjan Roy visited a utensil shop in Malleshwaram and purchased a cleaver knife, according to the News18 report.

“We have footage of the accused entering the shop, and later evidence indicated that the accused threw away an item, which was later discovered to be the knife’s cover,” a police source was quoted as saying.

After committing the heinous crime, Mukti Ranjan turned off his phone and went into hiding. His younger brother, Smriti Ranjan, who lives in Hebbagodi near Electronic City, attempted to reach him but found his phone switched off. A few days later, when Mukti Ranjan turned his phone back on, Smriti Ranjan inquired why he had been unreachable.

“This is when Mukti Ranjan Roy confessed to his brother that he had committed murder. He asked him to immediately vacate the room where he was staying. He explained that he was very upset with the way Mahalakshmi treated him. He also complained to him about their constant fights and that her violent behaviour had frustrated him, leading to her murder,” the investigating officer said.

Mukti Ranjan instructed his brother to flee the area, warning him that the police would also pursue him. Smriti Ranjan later confessed to the police that Mukti Ranjan even borrowed money from him after admitting to the murder, stating he was heading to their hometown in Odisha to evade law enforcement.

The police traced Mukti Ranjan’s mobile phone to West Bengal, but it was switched off. After further technical analysis, it was discovered that his number was active in Odisha, prompting the Bengaluru Police to send three teams to locate and apprehend him.

“Technical data, scientific analysis, and CCTV images helped us track the prime suspect in this case. Based on the enquiry of Mukti Ranjan’s brother, residing in Bengaluru, we found that Mukti Ranjan had confessed to murder before him. Further, Mukti Ranjan had confessed to killing Mahalakshmi in his suicide note, which was found near his body. We will continue our investigation after receiving more details from our teams and our counterparts in Odisha,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar HT.

Muktiranjan committed ‘suicide’

On Wednesday, September 25, Mukti Ranjan Roy was discovered hanging from a tree in Bhadrak, Odisha, near his hometown. Reports indicate that he had asked a friend in Balasore for a two-wheeler, assuring him he would return the vehicle later that day.

In his handwritten suicide note, Mukti Ranjan confessed to murdering Mahalakshmi. “I did it. I killed her. I was fed up with her. Her constant fights and demands for money were very frustrating,” the note, written in Odia, read, according to police sources in Odisha.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central Bengaluru, Shekar H Tekkannavar, stated that the accused, Mukti Ranjan Roy, took his own life while being pursued by law enforcement.

The police suspect that Mukti Ranjan Roy may have used the two-wheeler to escape to Odisha. They are currently working to identify who provided him with the vehicle and the route he took.

Police teams from both Odisha and Karnataka are coordinating efforts to piece together the details of this heinous murder.