Mira Road killer taught himself online how to cut, store body

The alleged killer. Pic/Hanif Patel

Before and after allegedly killing his wife, the 56-year-old Mira Road resident searched the Internet for the deadliest pesticides and the weapon that would help him properly dismember a human body, said a cop privy to the probe. He also searched online how quickly a body rots, the cop added.

The 56-year-old man had pressure-cooked a few body parts for easy disposal, in the kitchen of his rented flat No. 704, at Geeta Akashdeep CHS in Mira Road. The police, following complaints of foul smell, detained him on June 7 and recovered some 35 dismembered remains of his 32-year-old wife.

With the police relying on circumstantial evidence to prosecute the man on the murder charge, the cyber cell of the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police combed through his internet searches to find some "grisly" details. An officer privy to the investigation told mid-day that four smartphones have been seized from his flat.

A cop carries plastic bags full of body parts from the accused man's flat at Geeta Akashdeep CHS in Mira Road, on June 7. Pic/Hanif Patel

A senior officer at the MBVV police department's cyber cell told mid-day, "On May 28 and 29, the killer searched on Google about poisonous pesticides to control insect infestation and diseases. On May 30, he purchased a liquid pesticide from Adarsh Stores at Babhai Naka in Borivli West."

According to the sources, the woman was poisoned and killed on June 3. The investigators believe that the killer mixed the pesticide in her food or drink and fed her. "The killer has been reiterating that the woman died by suicide after consuming poison," said the officer.

Another officer added, "He is trying to act smart, as he knows that the poisonous substance will be found in the forensic analysis of the woman's remains. He believes that we [police] will buy his theory of suicide. If she really died by suicide, he should have informed the police or fled. But he did nothing."

"Instead, he went on searching for grisly details on Google. He searched to know how to chop a human body; how to dispose of a human body; when does a human body start to rot; which part of the body rots faster; when does foul smell start emanating from the corpse; etc. These are the information we retrieved from the search longs on his smartphones," said the officer.

"The killer also searched for tree cutters on Google," the officer said. The police had seized a chainsaw from his home, which police suspect he used to dismember his wife.

Waited for 3 days

After killing the woman on June 3, the man waited three days before finally deciding to dispose of her body, said sources. "He would go out for meals and come back home quickly," said an officer.

According to sources, the man placed the dead woman on the floor of the kitchen, on her back and sliced the body in half using the chainsaw. He then dismembered the joints, cutting the two halves in multiple smaller pieces, they said. "He had covered the walls of the kitchen with newspapers to avoid staining while using the chainsaw. We have confiscated the bloodstained papers from the flat and sent it for forensic analysis," said another officer.

"Psycho killer Pintoo Sharma, who killed his friend Ganesh Kolhatkar in 2019 in Virar, had also broken all the joints using a hammer and used hacksaw blades. But this Mira Road killer is a way ahead and used an electric chainsaw to dismember the body, but he also broke all the joints for easy disposal," said another officer.

Missing body parts

The investigators said vital organs were badly destroyed, while "the abdominal portion and the brain are missing". "From the Google searches, the killer learned that the body parts which hold liquid and food rot faster than others. So, he disposed of the abdominal part and the brain first," cops said. He used the chainsaw during the day and disposed of body parts at night, the police said. The sources in the police said that this was a pre-planned murder.

June 3
Day police believe he poisoned his wife to death