Bhubaneswar, May 15: Two brothers and the brother-in-law of a newly-wed girl were today arrested in Rourkela city for suspected honour killing.

The Plant Site police arrested Ranjan Singh, 32, Sandeep Singh 24, and Aravind Singh, 35 for the alleged murder of Amrita Singh.

Amrita, 27, was the sister of Ranjan and Sandeep. Aravinda was her brother-in-law. They allegedly killed her to save the honour of the family as she had eloped and got married to her long-time boyfriend belonging to another community, a resident of Sector-1 here. Amrita's brothers and the their families, who stay near Power House Road, were opposed to the marriage that had taken place around two-three years ago after she had eloped with her boyfriend.

"They moved around and never stayed anywhere for long after the marriage and never came to Rourkela as the girl was scared of her brothers," said inspector-in-charge of Plant Site police station Upendra Pradhan.

However, Amrita's family members contacted the couple over the phone and said they wanted to settle the issue and formalise the marriage. "The couple trusted them and came to the city four to five days ago," said the IIC. The boy went to his house and the girl to her parents' home.

"On May 10, her husband received the information that his wife had died and her body was cremated at Ved Vyas. He grew suspicious about the whole thing and formally lodged a complaint with us," said Pradhan. The complainant said: "I became suspicious when I got the news that she died all of a sudden. She was perfectly okay when she reached home and there was no sign of any illness, as the family claimed. From the contradictory versions about her illness, I grew even more suspicious and informed the police."

Acting upon the complaint, the police started its investigation. From the family members they learnt that Amrita had been cremated at Ved Vyas. Soon the bones were collected for forensic investigation. "The family's version especially the brothers made us suspicious and further investigation strengthened our worst fear," said Pradhan.

The IIC said: "The trio have so far not admitted to their crime and we have today forwarded them to court which remanded them in judicial custody. We will bring them on remand for further probe."