A wedding proposal, heated altercation, multiple affairs, and blind rage led to the gruesome murder of Mahalakshmi in Bengaluru.
Glaring similarities between the murders of Shraddha Walkar and Mahalakshmi have led the police to suspect that the prime accused, Mukti Ranjan Roy, may have drawn inspiration from the Walkar case by watching videos recreating the Delhi crime on social media.
For 18 days, Mahalakshmi’s body lay stuffed inside a refrigerator after it was cut into 59 pieces, allegedly with the help of a sharp cleaver knife by Mukti Ranjan Roy, who escaped from Bengaluru, days after committing the gruesome crime, News18 has learnt.
BENGALURU CASE: MUKTI RANJAN SAT WITH MAHALAKSHMI’s BODY ENTIRE NIGHT
Both Mukti Ranjan Roy and Mahalakshmi were allegedly in a relationship for nearly six months, but their affair was tumultuous. They often had arguments, and physical fights, and at times their disputes spilled into the street just outside her house in Vyalikaval, said local police sources.
Complaints regarding their altercations were lodged at the Malleshwaram police station, and there had been attempts to settle the matter amicably, explained an official.
On the fateful night of September 3, Mukti Ranjan Roy is said to have allegedly come to Mahalakshmi’s residence. Once again, they argued, as she had been pressuring him to marry her.
Mahalakshmi was already married to Hemanth and had a young daughter from that marriage. The couple had separated in September 2023 after she was suspected of having an affair with a man called Ashraf. Her husband named Ashraf as the reason for their separation in his statement to the police.
Mukti Ranjan Roy, who knew about the earlier marriage, also suspected that she had other affairs and refused to marry her.
“They would often argue on this issue,” an officer working closely with the case told News18. Mukti Ranjan Roy had once seen pictures of other men on Mahalakshmi’s phone and was upset about it. He had discussed her aggressive behaviour and the photographs on her mobile with his younger brother, Smriti Ranjan Roy, who lived in Bengaluru, the officer said.
Additional Commissioner (West), Sathish Kumar, told News18 that Mukti Ranjan’s younger brother had confessed to the police about Mukti contacting him after the murder, and his detailed statement was being recorded.
“We are recording his statement under Section 164 of the CrPC. His statements match to what the accused has mentioned in his suicide note,” Kumar said.
According to the police, Mahalakshmi was known to be “hot-tempered”, and complaints of physical assault between the two parties were lodged with the local police. There was also a similar case registered by her estranged husband Hemanth at Nelamangala police station. He had complained that she bit him during an argument and demanded money, said investigators working on the case.
The investigation further revealed that the murder took place between September 3 and 4. On that fateful night, after a heated argument, Mukti Ranjan Roy allegedly lost his temper. After assaulting Mahalakshmi, leading to her death, a furious Mukti Ranjan allegedly sat with the dead body through the night, planning ways to dispose of it. The police suspect that this is when he watched videos on how to dispose of the body.
MUKTI RANJAN BOUGHT A KNIFE TO CUT MAHALAKSHMI’s BODY
The next morning, on September 4 at 11 am, CCTV footage confirms Mukti Ranjan Roy going to a utensil shop in Malleshwaram and buying a cleaver knife.
“We have footage of the accused entering the shop, and later evidence indicated that the accused threw away an item, which was later discovered to be the knife’s cover,” said a police source.
After committing the heinous crime, Mukti Ranjan switched off his phone and went into hiding. His younger brother, Smriti Ranjan, who lives in Hebbagodi near Electronic City, tried to contact him but found his number switched off. After a few days, when Mukti Ranjan Roy switched his phone back on, Smriti Ranjan asked him why he had gone incommunicado.
“This is when Mukti Ranjan Roy confessed to his brother that he had committed murder. He asked him to immediately vacate the room where he was staying. He explained that he was very upset with the way Mahalakshmi treated him. He also complained to him about their constant fights and that her violent behaviour had frustrated him, leading to her murder,” explained an investigating officer.
Mukti Ranjan instructed his brother to flee the area, warning him that the police would come after him as well. The younger brother, Smriti Ranjan, confessed to the police that Mukti Ranjan even borrowed money from him after confessing to the murder, informing him that he was heading towards their hometown in Odisha to escape from the police.
The police traced Mukti Ranjan’s mobile in West Bengal. However, it was switched off. After more technical analysis, it was found that Mukti Ranjan’s number was active in Odisha, and the Bengaluru Police dispatched three teams to track and apprehend him.
“Technical data, scientific analysis, and CCTV images helped us track the prime suspect in this case. Based on the enquiry of Mukti Ranjan’s brother, residing in Bengaluru, we found that Mukti Ranjan had confessed to murder before him. Further, Mukti Ranjan had confessed to killing Mahalakshmi in his suicide note, which was found near his body. We will continue our investigation after receiving more details from our teams and our counterparts in Odisha,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar HT.
BENGALURU MURDER CASE: MUKTI RANJAN’s SUICIDE
On September 25, Mukti Ranjan Roy was found hanging from a tree in Bhadrak, Odisha, near his hometown. It is learnt that he had sought help from a friend in Balasore for a two-wheeler, promising to return the vehicle later that day.
In his handwritten suicide note, Mukti Ranjan confessed to murdering Mahalakshmi.
“I did it. I killed her. I was fed up with her. Her constant fights and demands for money were very frustrating,” the note, written in Odia, read, according to police sources in Odisha.
The police suspect that Mukti Ranjan Roy may have ridden the two-wheeler to Odisha in his attempt to escape. They are in the process of tracking down who provided him with the vehicle and what route he took.
The police teams from both states, Odisha and Karnataka, have been coordinating with each other to piece together this heinous murder, which has shaken the country much like the Shraddha Walkar case.
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