Keonjhar: Police on Tuesday arrested a 37-year-old man for allegedly killing a woman by slitting her throat at Sadangi village within Bariha police limits in the district.

The accused, who has confessed to his crime, is called Sudam Charam Sahu, alias Tulu. He was the ex-boyfriend of the victim, Shakuntala Mahakud, 25.

"My wife was alone at home on Monday night when Sudam, who is from our village, came to our house and knocked on the door. When my wife opened the door, he attacked her and slit her throat," said Rabindra Mahakud, Sakuntala's husband.

The neighbours noticed the body of Shakuntala, a mother of two, lying in a pool of blood early on Tuesday and informed the police.

The accused, who was also married, killed the victim by slitting her throat with a pocket knife.

"The accused slit her throat with a knife leading to instant death of the victim," said inspector in charge of Baria police station Suryamani Mohanty.

The accused was unrepentant during police interrogation. The knife used for the crime has been seized.

Sahu was booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code was forwarded to court. Later he was sent to jail after a court in Keonjhar dismissed his bail application, the police inspector said.

Sahu, who owns a grocery shop, killed the victim after she had refused to carry on a relationship with him.

Headmaster held

Police arrested headmaster of a government-run primary school for allegedly selling rice allotted for the midday meal scheme in the open market in the district. The accused has been identified as Rameswar Mohanta, the headmaster of Kalinga Nagar Nodal Upper Primary School at Barbil. The cops held him after local people informed them that he was taking away two bags of rice meant for the meal scheme to the nearby market to sell. The Barbil block education officer has started a departmental inquiry into the incident.

Additional reporting by A.K. Pati