Representative image of arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police have apprehended a 21-year-old Kerala man for fatally stabbing a teenage girl from Assam in Indiranagar last weekend.
The suspect, Aarav Hanoy, was arrested from Devanahalli, North Bengaluru, around 4 pm on Friday after he returned from a four-day circuitous escape, the police said.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) D Devaraj, the suspect fled to Varanasi via Raichur and Madhya Pradesh after stabbing 19-year-old Maya Gogoi Deka on November 24. The two had met on the dating app Bumble six months ago, he added.
Hanoy, a native of Kannur, was interning at a private company in JB Nagar for a monthly stipend of Rs 15,000. Maya, originally from Guwahati, worked at a private company in Jayanagar, police investigations showed.
On November 23, the two checked into a serviced apartment in Indiranagar 1st Stage and stayed in room number 101 on the first floor. They were supposed to check out around 11 am on November 26.
While the police earlier suspected that the murder was premeditated, they now believe it likely happened in the heat of the moment following an argument over a personal matter.
On November 24, Hanoy ordered a knife and a nylon rope through the quick-commerce app Zepto. And later that night, he allegedly stabbed her to death.
Police investigations showed that Maya had multiple stab injuries and a head injury, but the likely cause of death was a deep gash in her chest.
Hanoy stayed with the partially decomposed body for more than a day before sneaking out of the hotel at 8.19 am on November 26. He then took a cab to a railway station in the city, switched off his mobile phone and boarded a train to Raichur. He later travelled to Madhya Pradesh and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh before heading back to Bengaluru on Friday, when he was arrested.
Maya’s body was discovered from the blood-stained bed of the serviced apartment on the morning of November 26 after housekeeping staff arrived to prepare the room for the next guest. They had opened the room using a spare key after detecting a foul odour from the inside.
The police formed three teams to track Hanoy down: One went to Kerala, another followed his trail, and the third pursued technical leads.
Devaraj, the DCP, said formal arrest procedures would be completed by Saturday morning.