Landlord Chops Tenant's Body Parts, Hides Them In Freezer; Uses Air Freshener To Remove Stench

A 48-year-old landlord in India has been arrested after police found the body parts of his tenant near a river and inside a refrigerator, according to a report.

The suspect, identified as B. Chandra Mohan, was arrested at his home in Chaitanyapuri Wednesday, a week after the decapitated head of a woman was found on a footpath on the banks of Musi river in Malakpet on May 17, the Times of India reported.

Mohan was identified as the suspect after police reviewed CCTV footage between May 10 to 17 and saw him around the victim's place.

Police identified the victim as 55-year-old Yerram Anuradha Reddy, a private financier who also worked as a nurse in a private hospital.

On May 15, Mohan allegedly went to Anuradha's house and stabbed her with a knife on her chest and stomach, killing her.

In order to cover up the crime, Mohan allegedly chopped Anuradha's body into six pieces and began disposing of the parts one at a time.

After dumping the head near the river, he put the other body parts in a fridge in the victim's home. Police said the suspect allegedly regularly sprayed air fresheners to remove the stench of the rotting corpse.

When police searched the victim's house, they found her body parts in the refrigerator and recovered a knife, two stone cutters, and cleaning agents like phenyl and Dettol, according to the report.

Mohan was a stock investor who had borrowed money from Anuradha for his investments, according to Southeast Zone deputy commissioner of police C.H. Rupesh.

However, when the pandemic hit, Mohan's investments were affected, and he could not pay his loans. Anuradha was pressuring Mohan to return her money, and that's when he allegedly hatched a plan to kill her, Rupesh said.

"Since 2018, Mohan had borrowed up to Rs 7 lakh ($84,000) from Anuradha and invested in various stocks but lost a lot of money during the COVID-19 pandemic. He failed to return her loan. In recent times, Anuradha began pressuring Mohan to return her money and that's when he hatched a plot to kill her," he told reporters.

Police confirmed that Mohan looked up on Google how to dispose of a body and what tools he would need.

"He read up on Google on how to dispose of the body. He also researched on what tools could be used to cut her body. That's how he got the stone-cutters. It was all pre-planned," police said.

"He not only preserved the body parts in the fridge but also stocked room fresheners and perfume spray bottles to suppress the foul smell emanating from the corpse," police added.

During their search of the victim's home, police found her two hands and two legs in the fridge, while her torso was already wrapped in a polythene cover and in a suitcase ready to be dispatched.

"Neither the neighbors nor Mohan's mother with whom he stayed had a clue of the murder. Mohan was always a step ahead and even used Anuradha's phone to text people to make them believe she was still alive and staying somewhere," authorities said.