Cuttack, Nov. 21: Lure of gold jewellery worth around Rs 1 lakh was the prime reason behind the murder of a 27-year-old youth who was recently found dead at his room in Jobra, police said today.

Ramachandra Behera, 30, the deceased’s friend, slit the throat of Amir alias Amarendra Nayak with a sharp knife on November 17 at Jobra Majhi Sahi. Ramachandra has been arrested under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and was produced before court this evening.

“The deceased was killed by his friend Ramachandra Behera for the gold ornaments whose market price is around Rs 1 lakh,” said deputy commissioner of police S. Praveen Kumar. The police said the deceased, who was from Munishpentha village in Chhatrapur, had brought around 30 grams of old jewellery from his mother to sell and buy new ornaments for his wedding, which was scheduled to be held in a couple of months.

Amarendra, who was a small silver trader, had been staying in Cuttack and Choudwar for the last seven years. He had moved into his rented house at Jobra only one-and-a-half years ago.

The prime accused, Ramachandra Behera, who is a childhood friend of the victim, had come to Cuttack to attend the Bali yatra festival and was staying at Amarendra’s house at Jobra.

It was during his stay at Amarendra’s house that Ramachandra came to know about the jewellery which was kept in a suitcase.

On November 14, Ramachandra, Amarendra and one of their close friends, Sukuta, had gone to Bali yatra fair and had returned home around 10pm. Sukuta and Ramachandra left Amarendra’s house the next day for Chhatrapur, but Ramachandra came back on November 16 and bought a sharp knife from the Bali yatra fair for Rs 15.

“Ramachandra had left for his native village. But he got off the train and returned to Cuttack on November 16. The same night, he slit Amarendra’s throat with a sharp knife and decamped with the gold jewellery and his mobile phone,” said Kumar.