Bengaluru woman’s murder: Prime suspect found dead in Odisha, police say ‘suicide note has confession’

On Saturday, police had discovered Mahalakshmi’s body stored inside a fridge at her residence in Bengaluru’s Vinayaka Nagar. Police had formed special teams to nab the accused, and they eventually zeroed in on Ray as the prime suspect.

Bengaluru DCP (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar confirmed to The Indian Express that Ray had died by suicide. Shantunu Kumar Jena, the officer-in-charge of the police station in Odisha’s Dhusuri, told The Indian Express that they received a report about a suicide, and identified the victim as Ray.

“We received the report at around 8:15 am. His body was found near Bhuinpur (where he lived). We sent it for post-mortem at around 9 am and then handed it over to the family,” Jena told The Indian Express.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Odisha’s Additional Director General, Law and Order, Sanjay Kumar said the police have recovered a suicide note in which Ray purportedly admitted to committing the crime.

Prime suspect Muktirajan Pratap Ray. (Special Arrangement)

“The Odisha Police have already registered an unnatural death case. Based on the suicide note, the Bengaluru police have confirmed he is the accused in the gruesome murder case,” Kumar told The Indian Express.

Asked whether the Odisha police have handed over the suicide note to the Bengaluru police, Kumar said it’s now a court document. “The Bengaluru police have to submit a requisition first and take permission of the court, following which we will hand over the suicide note,” said Kumar.

A police officer said Ray had visited his village around 4 am with his laptop bag, and left home on a two-wheeler a while later.

The Bengaluru city police, who were in Odisha as part of their probe, are believed to be en route to the village.

Mahalakshmi and Ray, police say, worked in the same mall and had been friends since 2023. Mahalakshmi, who worked as a team leader with a costume outlet in Malleshwaram, was separated from her husband.

While the police questioned several people associated with Mahalakshmi, including her husband and colleagues, they found Ray missing from his Bengaluru residence.

The police then contacted his brother, who told them Ray had called him over the phone and confessed to the murder. He told the police he had asked Ray to leave the state. Police said Ray made the call to his brother from West Bengal, and that was his last location.