Balasore, Dec. 27: Three persons were arrested after the body of a 20-year-old woman was found near Gangapada in Khurda district last week. The prime accused, Niranjan Pradhan, 24, the husband of the deceased, is still at large.

Investigations revealed that the woman had been a victim of dowry torture by her husband and in-laws.

Her husband, in connivance with a friend, killed her last Sunday. The body was later dumped near Gangapada.

Investigating police officer Abhimanyu Das said: "The involvement of the accused came to light after analysing the call details of the suspected persons."

Das said Niranjan committed the crime as his wife had opposed his extramarital affair.

Niranjan's close friend, Bijay Jena, was involved in the conspiracy. "Niranjan is absconding. The in-laws were forwarded to court on charges of demanding dowry and torturing her," Das said.

Jena was also arrested for murder, suppression of evidences and common intention. The other two accused - Prabhakar Pradhan, 54, the father-in-law of the woman and Chittaranjan Pradhan, 22, the brother-in-law, were also arrested from Dhobapada village in Balasore Sadar police station limits.

The murder victim, Nandini Das, was married to Niranjan, a driver by profession, in 2013 after their relationship blossomed. However, her in-laws did not accept the marriage as she belonged to a scheduled caste family.

This forced the couple to stay in a rented house in Balasore town. After Nandini became pregnant, Niranjan dropped her at his in-laws' place.

She returned to Niranjan's house after giving birth to her child.

However, marital discord gripped the couple as Niranjan had developed an illicit relationship with another woman and wanted to marry her.

On Sunday night, the accused dragged Nandini into a Bolero and throttled her to death in the vehicle with the help of Jena. Later, they dumped Nandini's body near Gangapada.

Nandini's mother Kabita Das, 45, lodged a complaint at Sahadevkhunta police station alleging that Pradhan had abducted her daughter.

The police began the probe by tracking the suspects' cellphone records. This led to the recovery of the victim's body.

"The post-mortem report confirmed that Nandini had been strangulated. It was conducted at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack," said Das.