Bengaluru: The Odisha man who allegedly killed his girlfriend and cut her body into 59 pieces in Bengaluru had purchased a heavy-bladed knife from a local store on September 3, according to police, as more details tumble out in the ghastly murder case.
A day earlier, the suspected killer, Mukti Ranjan Ray, had fatally attacked Mahalakshmi, who is of Nepalese-origin, at her home in Vyalikaval. After the murder, Ray bought the knife from the shop and used it to dismember the body, police said.
Mahalakshmi's maggot-infested remains were discovered stuffed in the fridge of her home three weeks later, on September 21.
On September 25, Ray was found hanging in his native village of Bhuinpur in Odisha's Bhadrak district even as the police were hot on his heels, bringing the sensational case to a close.
Heated exchange
While details are not available of what exactly transpired on September 2, Bengaluru police believe that Ray killed Mahalakshmi after a heated argument at her home.
"Investigation shows that Ray committed the ghastly act in her house," a top police source in Bengaluru told DH.
Ray, said to be short-tempered, is suspected to have struck Mahalakshmi a fatal blow. He then went on to destroy the evidence. Around 11 am the next day, he bought the knife from the local shop, returned to Mahalakshmi's home and began butchering her. He also cleaned up pools of blood, police surmise.
Investigators are awaiting the forensic report to determine if any chemicals were used to wipe away the blood.
Police recovered the knife's plastic wrapping, which helped trace it to the shop. "The shopkeeper identified Ray as his first customer that day," another senior police officer said.
First breakthrough
During the investigation, police zeroed in on several persons of interest, including Mahalakshmi’s colleagues, and discovered that Ray was missing. He had not shown up to work since September 1.
"His call records showed he made a phone call to a place in Bengaluru after the murder. The number was his younger brother's," the officer said.
Ray and his brother had rented a room in the Electronics City area. The brother worked in JP Nagar while Ray had been Mahalakshmi’s colleague at a clothing outlet in Malleswaram.
Police picked up Ray's brother. He revealed that Ray had called him up after the murder, saying he was leaving Bengaluru, and had asked him to vacate the room. The brother stayed put in Bengaluru, giving the police their first breakthrough, the officer said.
After contacting his brother, Ray switched off his phone. Investigators discovered that the call was made from West Bengal. Police sent a team to West Bengal and two more to Odisha.
The final day
On the evening of September 25, a Bengaluru police team waited at the Balasore railway station, about 140 km from Ray's hometown. They had been informed by local sources that Ray might board a train from Balasore.
But earlier that day, Ray had been found hanging in Bhuinpur. "As our team waited, news of Ray’s death came in," the first officer said.
Ray had reached Bhuinpur around 10 pm on September 24 in a state of panic. Six hours later, he left home on a scooter without informing anyone. His family found him hanging from a tree round 7 am and informed the police at 8.30 am, Shantanu Kumar Jena, Station House Officer (SHO), Dhusuri police station, told DH.
A bagful of clothes, a black Yamaha Fascino registered in the name of Ray’s father and a purported suicide note with the confession were recovered from the scene, Jena said.