An Indian citizen was arrested for killing a compatriot whom he believed reported him to immigration authorities for overstaying his visa. He also dismembered the body to conceal his crime.
The mutilated remains of Mahesh Singh, 52, were found in two pieces on Soi Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok 18, in Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani around 11am yesterday.
The suspect, Raviprakash Singh, 29, brought officers to the location where he dumped the body himself, after having confessed his guilt to the police, Provincial Police Region 1 commissioner Amphon Buarapphon told a press briefing yesterday.
Police also confiscated two motorbikes, a helmet, a knife and a 50-centimetre-long metal bar.
Pol Lt Gen Buarapphon said the suspect had been arrested twice for overstaying his visa, for which he was freed on bail — set at 80,000 baht by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court.
However, on Monday, as the court ruled to deport him and ordered Khlong Luang police to detain him, police learnt that Surya Pratap Shahi, the dead man’s brother, had filed a missing person report.
Investigators then found that Raviprakash had ties to the dead man, so they decided to interrogate him for clues for what was then a missing person case.
During questioning, Raviprakash admitted to investigators that he murdered Mahesh.
His motive, Pol Lt Gen Buarapphon said, stemmed from a land dispute back in India, before adding Raviprakash believed the victim was the one who reported him to immigration authorities.
He told police that on Sunday, he invited Mahesh to his room in Soi Khlong Luang 8, where he used the metal bar to bash the victim’s head.
The victim’s brother, Suria, also told the police Raviprakash had asked his brother to meet him for lunch at his room.
To conceal his crime, Raviprakash cut the body into two parts and dumped it under a nearby bridge.
He also kept the dead man’s motorbike’s keys, Pol Lt Gen Buarapphon said.
After admitting the crime, the suspect handed over the victim’s motorbike’s keys to investigators, before agreeing to take investigators to where he dumped the remains.
Besides overstaying, Raviprakash is facing charges of premeditated murder and moving or destroying a corpse to conceal a crime, he said.
