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The man accused of killing and dismembering a Bengaluru woman earlier this month was found dead in Odisha on Wednesday. A ‘suicide note’ left behind by the suspect suggests that Mahalakshmi was killed following a heated altercation with Muktiranjan Pratap Ray at her residence in Vyalikaval. A diary recovered by the police also had the suspect confessing to the murder and subsequently dismembering the woman into “59 pieces”.
The two had met while working in a garment shop and entered into a relationship. According to the police, Mahalakshmi was pressuring him to marry her — which led to constant arguments and finally an altercation. Preliminary investigation suggests that the short-tempered accused had killed her and later dismembered her body.
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.
A senior police officer told PTI that Ray had called up his younger brother after the killing and asked the latter to immediately vacate the rented house. He did not give a reason but insisted that he would share details once they met.
During an interrogation the younger brother of the accused revealed that Ray had confessed to the crime upon returning home. He had also said that he was unable to stay in the city any longer and would be leaving for their native place.
Ray returned to the Odisha village in the days following the murder with the police hot on his trail.
“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,” a senior police officer said.
News of his death also came mere hours after Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara indicated that the police had information about the presence of the suspect in Odisha, and teams formed to crack the case have been sent there to nab him.
(With inputs from agencies)