Berhampur: The BNPur police on Thursday arrested a primary school teacher Prafulla Chandra Pradhan, 50, who had allegedly killed a pregnant woman Subhadra Pradhan, 42, and tried to cremate her.
The woman was eightmonth's pregnant, said SDPO Berhampur Prabhat Kumar Routray.
Prafulla, who is a teacher at Srirampur Primary School in Patrapur block, is married and claimed that Subhadra was his second wife.
Prafulla and Subhadra were from Kharanipada village and lived in a rented house at Rajeev Nagar 4th lane in Khodasingi since 2009.
Prafulla and Subhadra were blessed with a daughter in 2010. Prafulla's first wife stays at Chikiti and she had a property dispute with Subhadra, said inspector in-charge of BNPur police station Jaya Krushna Patnaik.
Routray said Prafulla had admitted tochoking Subhadra to death at his Rajeev Nagar home on August 5.
"Without informing anyone, Prafulla took the body in an ambulance to Chikiti for cremation to destroy the evidence. But the matter came to light when the K Nuagaon police detained the ambulance on suspicion and sent it to BNPur for further inquiry.
"During post-mortem at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Dr Dilip Kumar Mallick found external and internal injuries in the neck that were ante-mortem in nature. It was caused by constriction or compression of the neck and the woman had died due to asphyxia. The deceased was pregnant and carried a male dead foetus of gestational age of eight months," the SDPO said.
However, Prafulla told reporters that he did not kill Subhadra.
"I admitted Subhadra in a private clinic. I took her in an ambulance. She was in severe pain and some specialist doctor gave her medicine. I have all the prescriptions. I will record my statements in the court and not to the police," Prafulla said.