The main suspect in the brutal killing of a 29-year-old woman whose dismembered body was found in a refrigerator in Bengaluru died allegedly by hanging in Odisha, police said.
Police said the man was in a relationship with the victim, Mahalakshmi, and killed her after they fought over her insistence to get married.
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.
He said the man was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday morning.
According to Odisha police officials, Ray had also confessed to the crime in a purported suicide note recovered from the spot where his body was found, PTI reported.
According to police in Bengaluru, the suspect and the woman were working in a garment shop where they met, struck up a friendship and began their relationship.
Preliminary investigations had revealed that Mahalakshmi was allegedly pressurising Ray to marry her. This led to constant arguments between them and led to an altercation, police said.
The accused, who was, according to police, allegedly "very short-tempered”, killed Mahalakshmi and later dismembered her body.
Ray had reportedly called his younger brother after the murder and asked him to immediately vacate the house the two rented.
When his brother asked him why, Ray had said he could not share the information over a call and would tell him when they met at home, a senior police officer said.
When Ray’s younger brother was interrogated he revealed that after killing the woman Ray returned to his rented accommodation and confessed to him about the murder, saying he could not stay in the city anymore and was leaving for their native place, the officer said.
"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," he added.
Ray changed places in Odisha.
Police are waiting for the final post mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of his death.
Mahalakshmi’s dismembered body, hidden in the refrigerator, 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.
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