Mira Road man broke saw while chopping up body; had it fixed and resumed cutting

The accused went to Karthika Enterprises in Bhayandar East to get his chainsaw fixed. Pic/Hanif Patel

He looked tense and smoked non-stop until I fixed the chain saw," said Fahim, an employee of Karthika Enterprises in Bhayandar East from where the 56-year-old Mira Road resident bought a chainsaw to dismember his live-in partner's body. He had returned to the hardware shop two days later, as it broke while chopping her body, cops said.

According to the police, the accused purchased a chainsaw of the Dongcheng brand from Karthika Enterprises at Anjali Estate in Bhayandar East for Rs 4,000. The machine is ideally used by the logging industry to cut huge trees. Police said that he also used the tile cutting machine to cut the bones.

mid-day spoke to Fahim, an employee of the hardware shop who said the electric chainsaw was sold to the accused on June 4. "Two days later, he returned with the machine. The chain had broken and come off the blade completely. When I asked him how the chainsaw broke, he said it happened while cutting a tree. I was surprised, because it's a new machine that is difficult to break. I told him that the repair will take some time, but he insisted on staying at the shop until it was fixed," he added.

"He looked tense and smoked cigarettes continuously until I fixed the machine. He paid me for the repair and left," Fahim said, adding, "When he brought the machine, it was clean and there was no bloodstain on it."

A society member sanitises the floor, outside the accused's flat. Pic/Hanif Patel

The investigators also seized from his home five bottles of Nilgiri oil that's used while boiling the chopped bones of the deceased. One big hammer, which was used for breaking the skull and joints, tile cutter that was used to cut the bones, cooker, spoon, plastic tub and bucket were among other items seized by the police. They caught the man on June 7.

In the court, police sought his custody for 14 days, stating that the alleged murder of the woman was serious and brutal in nature. Police also told the court that they wanted to find out why he allegedly killed his live-in partner and also needed to recover the missing body parts.

Police said the accused disposed of the clothes he was wearing at the time of the alleged murder. He is not cooperating with the investigation and constantly changing his statement, they told the court.

The accused still claims that he did not kill his live-in partner. He claimed that he found her dead on the morning of June 4 and tried to dispose of her body fearing he would be blamed. Police have, however, refused to buy his theory.

Meanwhile, residents of Geeta Akashdeep CHS in Mira Road, where the accused lived, sanitised the entire society after the police left. "The entire building was giving off a foul smell even after his flat was cleared," said a society member.