Police have arrested the nephew of Odisha transport minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena on the charge of abetment of suicide of a woman student in a private engineering college in Ganjam district, an officer has said.

The accused was identified as Biswajit Jena, 24, the nephew of the minister and alleged boyfriend of the deceased 20-year-old woman student of Bachelor in Computer Application.

The woman was found hanging from the ceiling in her hostel room on Saturday, where she was staying with her sister and three other roommates.

Based on the report of the uncle of the deceased, a case was registered at Golanthara police station on the charge of abetment to suicide against Biswajit Jena, and an investigation was started, said SP Berhampur Saravana Vivek.

Senior police officers, including the SP, visited the scene of the crime, and the scientific team and an executive magistrate also visited the spot.

According to the complaint lodged by the deceased student's maternal uncle, Biswajit Jena was also a BCA student at the same college.

The SP said the exact cause of the woman's death would be ascertained after receiving the post-mortem report. Investigation is going on, and appropriate action will be taken, he said.

Neither the minister nor the accused nephew nor any of their family members were available for comment on the issue.

The opposition BJD demanded the immediate arrest of the accused. "The police must arrest the accused, notwithstanding his relationship with the minister. The law must take its own course," said former MLA Ramesh Chandra Ayyau Patnaik, the BJD's Ganjam district president.

The BJP's Ganjam district president Saroj Sabat said police were investigating the case.

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