Rourkela: The Sundergarh police arrested one person on Wednesday and claimed to have cracked the double murder case that took place on December 25 in which a mother and daughter were strangled to death at Tiklipara in Hemgiri police limits.

The inspector in charge of Hemgiri, Shrandhanjali Subudhi, said the accused has confessed to the crime. The accused identified as Salil Behgra, 27, a resident of Redha, in Manoharpur police limits in Jharkhand, is said to have murdered the woman after she turned down his overtures to have a physical relationship. He had attacked two of her children, while one died the other survived with injuries.

A police source said Salil, the accused, knew Patrick Minz, 36, the husband of the deceased and had landed up at their place.

Finding her alone, he had allegedly tried to have a physical relationship with her. The police had recovered the dead bodies of Nadia, 28, and daughter Smuti, 6. She had fought with the assailant before succumbing. However, the body of the daughter did not show such signs. He had strangled her to death.

The two-year-old son Sumit had suffered injuries. A lead from Minz led to the arrest of Behgra.