Bengaluru/Bhadrak, 26 Sept

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 following frequent arguments between them over her insisting 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, they said.

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.

After the killing, Ray called up his younger brother and told him to vacate the rented house immediately but when asked for the reason to do so, the deceased told his brother he could not communicate to him over phone and would meet him at home and tell him, a senior police officer said.

When the accused's younger brother was interrogated, he revealed that after killing the woman, when Ray returned to his rented home here, he confessed to his brother about the murder and said he cannot stay in the city anymore and was leaving for their native place, he 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. He changed places in Odisha.

Police are waiting for the final post mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death.

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. -PTI