Cuttack, March 14: Two persons have been arrested in connection with twin deaths of mother and son that had sent shockwaves through Khalarda village, some 15km from the city.

The accused have been identified as Subodh Jena (44), husband of the deceased, and his elder brother Kedar Jena (47).

While Kedar was detained the day after the incident took place, Subodh had been absconding. Police arrested Subodh from Sinhala village on Saturday. The media were only informed of the arrest today.

“We have arrested two persons in connection with the death of a woman identified as Sandhya Rani, whose charred body was recovered along with that of her son from inside Khaleswar temple on March 11,” deputy commissioner of police Amitendra Nath Sinha said today.

Sandhya Rani Jena had allegedly immolated herself after setting her two-year-old son on fire at Khaleswar temple near Pratapnagari.

The incident occurred around 2.30pm on Thursday and the charred bodies of Sandhya Rani and her son Abhijit were recovered from the temple premises the next day.

Police had recovered a kerosene jar, a match box and other items from the spot.

Sandhya Rani’s husband and his elder brother were arrested after the family members of the deceased cried foul.

“We suspect that my sister has been killed for dowry as her in-laws used to torture her. We had given them Rs 50,000 in cash when they married in 2008 but her in-laws continued to demand more money. Recently, I had given them a colour television,” said Sandhya Rani’s brother, Pratap Jena.

Based on the complaint of the family members, Sadar police had registered a dowry torture case against Sandhya Rani’s husband and his elder brother Kedar Jena under Sections 498 (A), 304, 302, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

While Kedar Jena was detained on the same day, his brother Subodh had been absconding until he was picked on Saturday by the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police.

Although the two persons have been arrested in connection with the case, the motive behind the alleged killing remains unclear.

“Basing on the FIR registered by the deceased’s family, we have arrested two persons including her husband. As there is also a report of family feud, we are investigating all aspects,” Sinha said.