Man’s dismembered body found in fridge: Friend held

According to police, the accused — identified as Badal Mandal, alias Swapan Singro — was arrested from a relative’s house in Rourkela (Representational Image)

Days after the dismembered body of a man was found inside the refrigerator at his friend’s house in south Delhi’s Mehrauli, police have arrested the friend. According to police, the accused — identified as Badal Mandal, alias Swapan Singro — was arrested from a relative’s house in Rourkela. “During questioning, he told police that he suspected his wife was having an affair with the victim, Vipin Chand Joshi. He confronted his wife and they had a fight. He sent her back to his hometown in West Bengal and decided to confront Joshi,” a senior police officer said.

Mandal told police that he called Joshi home. “The two consumed liquor and got into an argument. Mandal then attacked Joshi with a meat cleaver and stabbed him to death. He dragged his body inside the bathroom and chopped it into pieces. He later went to the local market to buy black plastic bags and stuffed the pieces in them before putting them inside the refrigerator,” the officer added.

During investigation, police found that Mandal’s real name was Swapan Singro. Ten years ago, he changed it on the instructions of an astrologer. On October 12, Vipin’s brother had lodged a missing person’s complaint with police. During their search, police found that both Joshi and Mandal had not showed up at work for a couple of days. Both were last seen together near Mandal’s house.