Bhubaneswar: More details are emerging in the alleged death by suicide of the prime suspect, Mukti Ranjan Ray of Odisha’s Bhadrak, in the gruesome murder of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi, whose body was found chopped into 59 pieces and stuffed into a refrigerator in a one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru.
While Ray has reportedly confessed to the crime in a suicide note, his brother Satyaranjan Ray said that he was head-over-heels with Mahalaxmi and wanted to marry her. However, Mahalaxmi accused him of kidnapping and handed him over to police. “She accused him of kidnapping and got her beaten by public when they were en route to Kerala on a motorcycle. He was then handed over to the police. He was thrashed by the cops, who allowed him to leave only after taking Rs 1000 bribe,” Satyaranjan alleged.
He further alleged that Mahalakshmi’s brother along with his friend threatened Ray. “In a fit of rage, he held her neck and choked her. He then got scared and tried to hang her to pass it off as a case of suicide. When he failed to do so, he chopped the body into pieces and put it in the fridge before fleeing to Odisha,” he told a local channel.
Ray had alleged dragged her body to the bathroom and chopped her into pieces with an axel blade. He then stuffed the body parts into the fridge and cleaned the bathroom with acid to erase evidence. He had also cleaned up the house, according to the police.
“He was here with me in Berhampur and then he left for home. He was very nervous and was feeling guilty of having destroyed our family,” Satyaranjan added.
Bengaluru Police, which had been searching for Ray for two days, had detained his brother during the investigation. His absence at the workplace after the recovery of Mahalaxmi’s chopped body parts in the fridge had made police suspicious.
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Sources, quoting Ray’s family, further said that Mahalaxmi was allegedly blackmailing him and demanding money. He was troubled as all was not well between them for the last one and a half years. She had taken a gold necklace, a gold ring, and a costly mobile phone from him. Because of his relationship with Mahalaxmi, he was not able to send money home and support his brother’s education.
Ray was found hanging from a tree near Bhuinpur village under Dhusuri police limits in Bhadrak district on Wednesday morning.
