Baripada, Dec. 27: Town police arrested a jeweller for killing a 26-year-old mason, a native of Bihar, in the town.

The accused has been identified as Biswajit Dey, 42, of Madhuban area. He has been booked under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (suppression of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. Dey was sent to jail after rejection of his bail petition.

The police said the accused killed Sailendra Mahato, a mason working for laying marbles and tiles.

According to the police, Dey had engaged Mahato for marble laying at his house for Rs 50,000.

On completion of the work, Dey paid Mahato Rs 24,500 and promised to pay the rest of the amount later. The police said he had tried to escape paying the balance amount on some pretext or the other.

As Mahato was insisting on the compensation, Dey, in order to get rid of him, hatched a conspiracy and killed him.

According to the plan, he invited Mahato to a dhaba in the town on the night of December 16. After they met there Dey offered him dinner and alcohol, following which Mahato fell unconscious.

The accused then took the victim out from the dhaba and killed him with a sharp knife. Next morning, Mahato's body was found lying with multiple injuries.

Suspecting it to be a murder case, the police had engaged forensic team and sniffer dog for investigation.

The dog gave a lead to Dey's house. Subsequently, the police detained Dey and other persons for interrogation. During the probe, Dey broke the silence and confessed to the crime.

The police seized the knife, the murder weapon, which the accused had thrown after committing the crime near the Budhabalanga river.

Inspector in charge of Baripada town police station Ratikanta Giri said: 'The accused had killed Mahato to get rid of the payment, and he has confessed to the crime.'