Bhubaneswar/Puri: A man allegedly murdered his elderly mother, buried her body in the kitchen inside their rented home and then built a concrete structure over it. The chilling scene stumped police when they exhumed the body around 10.30 pm on Monday in the Kumbharapada area of Puri city.While the deceased’s identity is being verified, her son, Madan Dalei, who is in his 40s and originally from Parlakhemundi in Gajapati district, is on the run. The motive behind the murder is being investigated.The incident came to light after landlord Manorama Sahoo, who lives in another portion of the house, alerted police when a foul smell began emanating from the locked room.“The mother and son had taken the house on rent about two months ago. They were untraceable since Aug 21. We tried contacting Dalei’s phone, but it was switched off. Efforts are on to trace and arrest him,” said Puri SP Prateek Singh, adding that the murder could have been committed on or before Aug 21.Acting on the landlord’s complaint, police broke open the door and discovered a freshly built elevated platform inside the kitchen. Investigators suspect Dalei killed his mother, placed her on the ground and then built a structure made of bricks around her. He covered her body with utensils and more bricks, and then plastered it with cement.Senior officers said forensic teams have been deployed to examine the site and collect evidence. “The manner in which the body was hidden shows a deliberate attempt to mislead investigators. We are verifying the son’s whereabouts and motive,” Singh added.The discovery stunned neighbours. “We never saw them quarrelling. Nothing in the son’s behaviour seemed suspicious. What shocked us most was that we had no inkling of the murder or the slab being built inside our own premises,” said landlord Manorama.
