Bengaluru murder case prime suspect Mukti Ranjan Pratap Roy, who was found to have ended his life near his hometown in Odisha. Photo: Special Arrangement

Bengaluru murder case suspect ends life in Odisha

The victim was killed on the first floor of a three-storey house and chopped body parts were stuffed in a fridge.

by · The Hindu

Four days after the gruesome murder of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi was discovered at her house in Vyalikaval, the prime suspect in the case Mukti Ranjan Pratap Roy who was on the run was found to have ended his life near his native place in Odisha on Wednesday (September 25, 2024).

Mahalakshmi was killed on the first floor of a three-storey house and chopped body parts were stuffed in a fridge. The murder had sent shockwaves in the city due to its gruesome nature. 

The police who were on the trail of the suspect had sent a team to Odisha to track him down.  However Roy stayed at home situated in Bhuinpur in Bhadrak district till Tuesday night stating he had come on emergency work. He left on his scooter and later his body was found in a graveyard situated around 1.5 km away from his village. Dhusuri police personnel ascertained his identity based on the bike registration and other belongings and alerted the Bengaluru police. 

A team of Bengaluru city police led by an inspector had reached Bhadrak on Wednesday (September 25, 2024). The Bengaluru team was suspecting him to be either in Bhadrak or Balasore. They were zeroing on him and before they could reach him, Roy died by suicide, said Bhadrak police.

Though the police had questioned three other male friends of Mahalakshmi, they soon zeroed in on Ranjan, as he was also missing, almost from the day of the murder. Ranjan worked at a cloth shop in Malleshwaram where Mahalaskhmi was also working earlier. Mahalaskhmi later shifted to working at a shop in Mantri Mall. He used to pick up and drop her to work at the mall. The police soon tracked down his younger brother to Hebbugodi, who said his brother confessed to the crime with him before fleeing the city. He used to fight with Mahalakshmi after realising that she had many male friends but Mahalakshmi started ignoring him. Jealousy led him to commit the gruesome murder, the police said. 

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Published - September 25, 2024 11:32 pm IST