Bhubaneswar: A gruesome murder has stunned the coastal town of Puri in Odisha, after police recovered the body of an elderly woman buried beneath a concrete slab under a kitchen counter in a rented house in Kumbharapada area.
The deceased, a 65-year-old woman who earned a living selling bottled water near Shree Jagannath Temple in the city, had been renting the premises with her son for about two months.
Police suspect her son, Madan Dalei, aged around 40 to 45 and originally from Parlakhemundi in Gajapati district, murdered her, placed the body on the ground, built a brick structure around it, covered it with utensils and additional bricks, and then plastered over it with cement before fleeing.
A knife was also reportedly seized from the spot.
The incident came to light after landlord Manorama Sahoo, who lives in another portion of the house, grew suspicious upon noticing a strong foul odour from the locked room.
Acting on her complaint, Kumbharapada police along with a scientific forensic team and an executive magistrate, arrived at the scene on Monday night. It took them three hours to break the box-like structure under the slab and retrieve the body, which was then sent for postmortem to determine the exact cause and time of death.
Speaking to reporters, Puri SP Prateek Singh confirmed the details: “The police, scientific team, and executive magistrate reached the spot after the landlord reported a foul odour emanating from a box-like structure under the kitchen slab. Following a four-hour operation, the body of an elderly woman was recovered. Evidence such as cement bags, buckets, and clothing found in the room points toward deliberate concealment.”
He further stated, “The mother and son had taken the house on rent about two months ago. They were untraceable since Aug 21. We tried contacting Dalei’s phone, but it was switched off,” adding, “The manner in which the body was hidden shows a deliberate attempt to mislead investigators. Efforts are on to trace and arrest him.”
Special squads and dedicated investigative teams have been formed to track the absconding suspect, who remains at large. The motive is still under investigation.
Local residents and the landlord expressed shock and disbelief at the brutality of the crime, describing it as unprecedented in the area. “We never saw them quarrelling. Nothing in the son’s behaviour seemed suspicious. What shocked us most was that we had no inkling of the murder or the slab being built inside our own premises,” said landlord Manorama.