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Bengaluru fridge horror: Mahalakshmi's body was ‘chopped into 59 pieces’, accused's diary found | Chilling details
Bengaluru murder case: The accused, Muktiranjan Pratap Ray, was found dead under the Dhusuri Police Station limits in Bhadrak district of Odisha.
Bengaluru fridge murder suspect found dead in Odisha: Muktiranjan Pratap Ray, the main suspect in the brutal killing of a 29-year-old woman, Mahalakshmi, whose dismembered body was found in a refrigerator in Bengaluru, died allegedly by hanging in Odisha.
The accused was found dead under the Dhusuri Police Station limits in Bhadrak district of Odisha, the police said.
Why did Muktiranjan Pratap Ray kill Mahalakshmi?
The Odisha Police said Muktiranjan Pratap Ray, 31, was in a relationship with Mahalakshmi and killed her following frequent arguments between them over her insisting to get married.
Deputy commissioner of police (Central), Shekhar H Tekkannavar, said in Bengaluru that a man was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday morning.
A purported suicide note recovered from the scene, according to the Odisha Police, revealed that Muktiranjan Pratap Ray had confessed to the crime.
The Bengaluru Police reported that the suspect and the woman, Mahalakshmi, had met while working in a garment shop and had developed a relationship. Mahalakshmi was allegedly pressuring Ray to marry her, which led to frequent arguments.
According to initial investigations, Ray, known to be short-tempered, killed Mahalakshmi following one of their disputes and later dismembered her body.
What accused said in his diary
Bhadrak SP Varun Guntupalli said the police recovered a diary of Ray in which he confessed that he had dismembered the body of the Bengaluru woman to 59 pieces after killing her.
What happened after the murder?
After the murder, Ray reportedly called his younger brother, instructing him to vacate the rented house immediately. When questioned for the reason, Ray told his brother he would explain in person but couldn't over the phone, a senior police officer said.
Upon interrogation, the younger brother revealed that after committing the murder, Ray returned home and confessed to him about the crime, stating that he could no longer stay in the city and was leaving for their native place.
How did police locate the accused?
“With the help of technical analysis and Call Record Details, the accused was identified and his mobile location was initially traced to West Bengal but later he switched it off. However, with the help of technical surveillance, his location was traced to a village in Odisha where we sent our teams to nab him,” the police said, adding that he changed places in Odisha.
Police are waiting for the final post mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Earlier on the day, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara had said the police have information about the presence of the suspect in Odisha, and teams formed to crack the case have been sent there to nab him.
Mahalakshmi's chopped body found inside fridge
The maggot-infested body of Mahalakshmi, chopped into several pieces and stuffed into the fridge, was found by her mother and elder sister at her Vyalikaval home on Saturday.
The deceased woman's estranged husband on Sunday expressed suspicion about the involvement of a man known to Mahalakshmi, who had been living alone, in her neighbourhood.
(With inputs from agencies)
