Fact-check: Communal claim about the prime accused in Bengaluru’s Mahalakshmi murder case goes viral. Here are the facts

A claim regarding Bengaluru’s Mahalakshmi murder case is going viral on social media. Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), users are claiming that a person named Ashraf is the prime accused in this murder case.

An account with the username @epanchjanya posted some images on X and wrote: “Ashraf broke Mahalakshmi into 30 pieces! The horrific truth of the Bengaluru massacre has come to light. Mahalakshmi had a constant dispute with her husband, which Mohammad Ashraf took advantage of. The brutal murder of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi in a flat in Bengaluru has shaken everyone. The body of Mahalakshmi was found in 30 pieces, which is a crime that shocked humanity. Mahalakshmi was living separately from her husband Hemant Das for the last few months and was in a relationship with a young man named Ashraf. Ashraf is a native of Uttarakhand and worked at a barber shop in Nelamangala area of ​​Bengaluru. Mahalakshmi’s husband, Hemant Das, said that he had last seen Mahalakshmi a month ago, when she had come to the shop to meet his daughter”

Furthermore, other users also shared this claim and made similar claims. The link can be viewed here, here and here.

Fact-check

The DFRAC team fact-checked the above viral claim. A keyword search in this regard led us to Aajtak’s report published on Sept 26, 2024. As per the report, the culprit identified by the police is Muktiranjan Pratap Ray (31). The police found his body hanging from a tree in Dhusuri of Bhadrak district. The police claimed that they had also found a suicide note in which Muktiranjan had confessed to the crime.

The report further stated that Muktiranjan had confessed to his younger brother about this murder The victim & the accused used to work in the same mall. The police had also questioned Mahalakshmi’s husband Hemant Das & Ashraf in connection with this brutal murder. The woman had been living separately from her husband for some time.

Moreover, another report by ABPNews dated Sept 25, 2024, cited that the accused had confessed the murder to his brother & the hairdresser Ashraf had no connection with the murder of Mahalakshmi, quoting Police sources.

Following these reports, a report by Dainik Bhaskar on Sept 26, 2024, the prime accused in the Mahalakshmi murder case of Bengaluru committed suicide by hanging himself in a village of Odisha’s Bhadrak district. On Sept 20, the body of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi was found in a three-story house near Basappa Garden in Vyalikaval area of ​​Bengaluru. Her body was cut into 59 pieces and kept in the fridge.

Conclusion

It is clear from DFRAC’s fact-check that the claim regarding Bengaluru’s Mahalakshmi murder has been misleadingly shared on X. According to reports, the prime accused of this murder, Mukti Ranjan Roy, has committed suicide in Odisha. Mukti Ranjan has confessed to Mahalakshmi’s murder in a suicide note. Further, it is also mentioned that the accused had also informed his brother about this murder.

Analysis: Misleading