Noida: A software engineer accused of stabbing a 19-year-old woman to death at a PG in Barola landed in police custody in Bihar on Tuesday, days after allegedly locking her blood-soaked body inside a room and fleeing across three states.Autopsy showed that Mahak Ahmed, who was from Dibrugarh in Assam, was killed in the early hours of Sunday after being stabbed multiple times. She died of excessive blood loss. Raj Raman, according to police, locked the room from outside after the fatal attack and left the PG. A noisy cooler outside the room may have helped mask any sound of the assault, police said.Raj allegedly travelled by bus to Varanasi on Sunday and reached a relative’s house that evening. He left for Jharkhand on Monday morning, stayed with his sister and travelled to Katihar later that night. Police suspect he deliberately kept moving to avoid being traced.Sources said police in Katihar arrested Raj late on Tuesday with around four litres of liquor in his possession. Sale and consumption of liquor is prohibited in Bihar.Noida police learnt of his custody and began the process of bringing him back to the city in connection with the murder. On Thursday, Noida cops completed formalities for a B-warrant from Surajpur court and sent it to the Katihar district judge and jail authorities. Raj is likely to be brought to Noida soon.Police said they want to question him about the motive, recover Mahak’s mobile phone and locate the weapon allegedly used in the killing. A dispute linked to a dating app is suspected to have triggered the confrontation. Police are also examining a possible argument over a remark Mahak allegedly made about Raj’s former girlfriend. Neither theory has been established yet.Mahak arrived in Noida on July 3 with her friend Sanjana, seeking work. On Aug 8, the two allegedly argued with Raj, who lived in a room in the same PG. Sanjana left the next day. When she returned, Mahak was missing. On Aug 10, a foul smell led residents to Raj’s locked room, where they found Mahak’s blood-soaked body.
