Rourkela, Sept. 8: A 30-year-old woman was found dead in her house at Bank Colony here late yesterday evening.

The deceased, Janaki Oram, was found lying in blood on the floor when her husband Kamal Kumar Oram, who works as a deputy manager in a nationalised bank, returned home around half past eight in the evening.

Oram said he found the front gate and the front door of his house open. "On entering the house, I found my wife lying dead on the floor with her throat slit open. My baby daughter was crying," he said.

As Oram realised that his wife had already died, he did not take the body to any medical facility but informed police, suspecting it to be a murder case. Earlier in the day, he had come to the house dur- ing lunch break and returned to office after having food with Janaki. He went back to the bank around 2.30pm. He said: "She used to lock the door and the front gate, once I go out of the house. There was no sign of breaking in, nor had anything been stolen from the house." Oram suspected that the assailant was well known to the family and had managed to enter the house without raising anyone's suspicion.

However, Janaki's family members have accused her elder sister-in-law and her son of being involved in the incident. The deceased's father Jagabandhu Das said: "Janaki's sister-in-law had ill treated her in the past. She had threatened that she would get rid of her."

Janaki's mother Bijli Das alleged that her nephew had beaten up Janaki in the past.

Lathikata police station inspector in-charge Pradeep Das said: "It was too early to say anything concrete. We have sent the body for post-mortem. Janaki's family members have made the allegations, but no name has been mentioned in the FIR."

Loot bid

A group of 20 armed criminals last night entered a steel melting shop of the Rourkela Steep Plant and made an attempt to loot two containers carrying 500kg of ferrolibium, a highly reactive chemical. Ferrolibium is sold at Rs 3,000 per kg. But, they escaped after having a brief gunfight with the Central Industrial Security Force personnel, leaving the chemical containers behind.