New Delhi/IBNS: The man suspected of being involved in the murder of a woman and then refrigerating her body after chopping it into 30 pieces in Bengaluru has been found dead in Odisha, media reports said.

The accused has apparently died by suicide, NDTV quoting sources in the Odisha police said.

The man, Mukti Ranjan Roy, was found hanging on a tree in Odisha's Bhadrak district on Thursday.

Roy was one of the woman's three key friends in Bengaluru and was the prime suspect in the case.

The chopped body of the woman, Mahalaxmi, was recovered inside the fridge, on Saturday, shocking the city.

About 30 pieces of body parts were partially decomposed, leading the police to believe that she was killed at least two weeks before.

The victim used to live in a one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru's Vyalikaval area.

Despite being married, she was reportedly not staying with her husband.