Bhubaneswar, June 14: A 35-year-old man sustained injuries after being attacked with a blade in public view at Nayapalli today.

The victim, identified as Sushant Swain, from a slum at Jayadev Vihar, was rushed to Capital Hospital while he was bleeding profusely from his neck. His condition was stated to be stable later.

When police reached the spot of the crime, they found the victim lying in a pool of blood with a deep gash on his neck. “We rushed him to hospital,” said a police officer, adding that a woman was accompanying Sushant, who was drunk.

The woman, identified as Kajol, said she, along with Sushant, had gone to Nayapalli market to buy chicken. There, they met the accused person named Kalia. All three went to a nearby liquor shop. After having a boozing session there, Kalia suddenly attacked Sushant with a blade and fled the spot.

In the evening, the Nayapalli police arrested Kalia from Ganapati Nagar. “We are investigating into the matter. We will forward Kalia to court tomorrow,” said a police officer.

Sources said that Kajol, who had married Kalia a few years ago, had deserted him and was living with Sushant. But Sushant, who is a daily wage labourer, said he did not know the Kalia and had met him for the first time today.

However, the Nayapalli police said that they were yet to find out the reason behind the incident. They are still interrogating the accused.

In another development, the Nayapalli police recovered the body of a carpenter, who died after falling into a drain in the Saliasahi area around noon. The police registered a case of unnatural death and sent his body for postmortem.

According to the police, the deceased, Khalia Patra, lived at Nilachakra in Saliasahi slum. He was a native of Digapahandi in Ganjam. He was drunk when he fell into the drain. Local residents rescued him from the drain, but he died within minutes.