Bhubaneswar, Oct. 3: A 26-year-old has been arrested for allegedly killing a 22-year-old woman and later burying her in a heap of stones near Tapang in Khurda Sadar police limits, 45km from here.
Though the murder took place on Friday evening, the victim's body was retrieved today.
Police said the accused, Akshya Kumar Mallick, a native of Jajpur district and a truck driver by profession, came in contact with the victim, Sukumari Das, nine months ago when she worked at a crusher unit in Jajpur district. 'Both of them were in a relationship though the accused was married and has three children. Mallick later brought her to Tapang and both of them stayed near a crusher unit,' said a police official.
The police said both of them used to fought over petty issues and had a heated argument on Friday evening.
'The accused crushed her head with a stone and later buried her in the heap of chips as the crusher was closed for Durga Puja,' said inspector in charge of Khurda Sadar police station Bikram Keshari Jena.
Jena said the matter came to light on Monday after the accused spoke about killing the woman to another truck driver working in the crusher unit. 'The other truck driver informed the matter to the crusher unit owner who, in turn, informed us. By that time the accused was preparing to escape by train. He was nabbed from the Tapang railway station,' Jena said.
The police dug the heap of stones today in presence of a magistrate and the family members of the deceased and found the body. 'The victim had sustained severe head injuries. We are interrogating the accused who will be produced in court on Wednesday,' said a police official.
Artha property
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached properties worth Rs 12.64 crore of Pradip Sethy, CMD of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, in connection with the money laundering scam. Earlier, the ED had attached the firm's properties worth Rs 120.55 crore. These include assets of the firm and its employees Sambit Khuntia, Rahul Kanwal and Manindar Parmanik that were transferred to several unrelated entities and individuals.
