Two held for murder of college girl

Nayagarh: Eleven days after the brutal murder of a college girl, police today arrested the prime accused in the case and his associate.

The arrested two have been identified as Muna alias Laxmidhar Behera (24) and his associate Pradip Pradhan of Barapalla village under Sadar police station limits.

Talking to media persons, Nayagarh SP Manoranjan Mohanty said the prime accused Laxmidhar Behera is a chief mason. He was working in Kerala for some years and had come to Odisha recently and was working in Bhubaneswar.

“In the course of investigation, we found that the accused after failing in his attempt to marry the deceased Manini Pradhan (21), brutally murdered her by slitting her throat in a paddy field near Bijipur under Itamati police station limits on the night on May 11. Police also arrested his associate Pradip for assisting him in the murder,” the SP said.