BHUBANESWAR: A man suspected to have killed a 29-year-old woman in Bangalore and stuffed her chopped body in a fridge before fleeing to his hometown allegedly died by suicide in Odisha’s Bhadrak town on Wednesday, police said.
The manhunt launched by Karnataka police in Odisha to arrest Mukti Ranjan Ray, 30, for the brutal murder of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi, on Sept 21 met an unexpected setback.Ray, 30, allegedly hanged himself from a tree, apprehending arrest, police said. Police sources said Ray left behind a suicide note, purportedly confessing to the gory crime in Bangalore. After a post-mortem examination, his body was handed over to Bengaluru police.
“We strongly suspect that he ended his life apprehending arrest in connection with the Bengaluru murder. Bengaluru police had been zeroing on the suspect in Bhadrak and Balasore districts for the last three days. We extended all necessary assistance to them,” Bhadrak SP, Varun Guntupalli told TOI.
According to police, Ray is a resident of Dhusuri area and had been working in a cloth store at Bengaluru. Bengaluru police are trying to gather Ray’s family background and other details in his village.
Ray’s family members claimed that he reached Bhadrak on Sept 24. He left home in the early hours and was found hanging from a tree at Kuleipada village, a few hundred metres from his home, police sources said.
The maggot-infested body of the woman, who was identified as Mahalakshmi was found by her mother and elder sister at her Vyalikaval home on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara had said the police received a tip-off about the presence of the suspect in Odisha. “We have taken the case very seriously, as the murder had shaken the entire Bengaluru,” he said.