Cops arrest man for killing live-in partner, he wanted to dispose body in Odisha

The Mumbai police have claimed to have solved the case of the woman whose body was found in a suitcase near Kurla on Sunday November 19 The police have found that the womanrsquos livein partner allegedly killed her after a fight over his suspicions about her character on SaturdayThe suitcase with the womanrsquos body was spotted by a passerby on Sunday morning at a Metro construction site at CST Road Kurla The woman was estimated to be aged between 25 and 30 yearsAccording to the postmortem the body was dumped just a few hours before its discovery The Kurla police have filed a case under Sections 302 murder and 201 disappearance of evidence of the Indian Penal Code IPCKiller was caught while trying to flee to his hometown OdishaApart from the local police crime branch units were also engaged in the casersquos investigation The woman had a rosary around her neck which led the crime branch to a church in Dharavi The womanrsquos pictures circulated in the area prompted a family to contact Crime Branchrsquos Unit XI The woman was then identified as Pratima Powel Kispatta 25 a native of Odisha Kispattarsquos sister told the police that she had been living with a man in Dharavi for two monthsThe crime branch started tracking the man and received information that he was trying to flee the city A team rushed to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus LTT and nabbed Askar Manoj Barla 22 During preliminary questioning Barla admitted that he killed KispattaMet during lockdownAccording to Barla he and Kispatta met during the COVID19caused lockdown while returning to Odisha from Mumbai A police officer told midday ldquoKispatta and Barla were travelling in the same bus while returning to Odisha They started talking and realised that they belonged to the same village They stayed in touch while in Odisha and after returning to Mumbai Two months ago Kispatta moved in with Barla at his residence on MG Nagar Road Dharavi However in just a few days Barla started suspecting her characterrdquoPlanned to flee with bodyOn the night of November 18 Barla and Kispatta got into an argument ldquoBarla suspected that Kispatta was having an affair with someone in the villagerdquo said Raj Tilak Roshan deputy commissioner of police DCP detection An enraged Barla strangulated Kispatta When he calmed down and realised what he had done he began planning the next step ldquoHe noticed the suitcase he had at home He stuffed Kispattarsquos body in the suitcase and left home around midnight He first thought of returning to Odisha with the bag and dumping it somewhere However upon reaching LTT he saw the baggage scanner and dropped the ideardquo a police officer saidBarla then left LTT and hailed an autorickshaw Around 2 am while passing CST Road Kurla he saw barricades in the middle of the road He asked the auto driver to stop kept the bag behind a barricade and left The bag was recovered by the police around 1130 am on Sunday after some passersby noticed itldquoCrime branch units started investigations without any clues in hand and worked hard day and night to nab the accused even as he was attempting to flee the cityrdquo DCP Roshan said Barla worked at a sweet shop in Sion Kispatta also worked in the area as a domestic worker but left the job a month ago after a fight with her employer Barla has been handed over to Kurla police for further legal processesBodies found in the pastSimilar cases were found in 2023 where dead bodies were discovered within the city some were identified and the accused apprehended However the dead body found at Worli remains unidentified and the case remains unsolvedWadala caseWadala police with the accusedOn October 26 2023 Shrikant Sonawale from Bombay Port Trust notified Wadala police about an unidentified burnt body found between gates 4 and 5 After registering an FIR the police circulated the deceased womanrsquos photo leading her family to identify her as Sugrabi Mulla 75 Following diligent investigation the police arrested one accused Mohammad Sayeed 27 who confessed to killing her out of frustration over failing to rob her jewelleryKandivli caseNallah where Gambhirrsquos body was foundKandivli police identified the body found near Country Club as Ashika Gambhir a 43yearold resident suffering from depression Missing since July 6 she was receiving treatment and had informed her family she was going to the market but never returned Her husband filed a complaint at Samta Nagar police station resulting in an ADR being registeredWorli caseOn July 5 2023 a womanrsquos body was found inside a gunny bag near the Worli Sea Face area Four months later the body remains unidentified and the murder case remains unsolved The body was dumped into the sea postmurder Forensic experts estimated a 56 day gap between the murder and the bodyrsquos discovery Facing difficulties in identification due to the condition of the face police sought assistance from experts for facial reconstruction A monetary reward of R25000 was announced for any leads regarding the womanrsquos identity While crime branch unit 3 investigated 12 missing womenrsquos cases the woman and her killer remain unidentifiedMulund casePolice at the spot where the halfburnt body of a woman was foundOn October 30 2023 locals reported smoke coming from a public toilet in Mulundrsquos Vasant Garden leading the police to discover an unidentified burnt female body in the washroom Initially classified as an accidental death further investigation revealed the womanrsquos identity as Snehal Bobde 35 CCTV footage helped cops to confirm the woman is from Thane who allegedly intended to die by suicide after her dispute with a friend and husbandUttan caseOn June 4 2023 Naigaon police arrested two accused for allegedly murdering a woman whose headless body was found on Uttan Beach in a suitcase Identified as Anjali Singh 27 through a tattoo on her left hand her husband Mintu confessed to the crime after interrogation He admitted to dismembering the body with his brotherrsquos help12 amTime on Sunday Barla left home with the suitcase1130 amTime on Sunday police recovered the suitcase